Spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17fbZs5qsZbaDJFSM6xHQCDhTYDVwNDKGVPDJfKa9SfM/edit?usp=sharing 00:17 History of the test 01:49 How the test was conducted 09:01 close look at the planes 22:58 Factory Comparison 25:56 Spreadsheet explained 31:02 final score
Thank you for doing all that work. Your in depth studies (planes, chisels etc) don't just help us pick a good tool, they also teach us about what makes the tool good.
I adjusted the rankings by deciding which problems I could fix. Modifying the handles, not a big problem. Making the thing hold its settings is a big problem. Packaging, I just recycle, who cares unless I am doing an unboxing video. I appreciate the ability to do this in all your tests.
Packaging, depending on how easily can you refund the item if its broken, can be a very important thing especially at higher price points. You would be suprized to see how awfull and non protective these chinese packaging can be.
You are thorough, detailed and concise. Mostly, however, in my opinion, you are honest. I put a lot of faith and weight into your reviews. Thanks so much.
You’re the man! I’m so glad that I got to participate in a Wood by Wright test with the Groz hand plane. I suggested it after seeing it come up in amazon searches, and right when I committed to sponsoring one, they sold out on Amazon and on the Groz site. I nearly gave up after making the suggestion that it might be different than my Grizzly plane or others from the same factory. They got back in stock briefly for me to get an example sent. It is so nice to see someone who knows what he’s doing show how the QC on this level of planes is why some reviews have raved about a particular brand being great value only to have floods of comments about how terrible they are. I’m planning to donate mine after using it on a project myself. Looking forward to it.
I had a coworker ask if he could try my plane out - being the only broke woodworker he knew using a hand plane. I lent him my Kobalt (which I had spent a TON of time tuning) and he wasn't very impressed. It made me reassess how much time I'd spent on that thing and learning the quirks to know how to keep it running. I realized it's essentially useless to anyone but me. After seeing this video, I'm glad I had ultimately suggested he go for the Taytools plane. I did put a Taytools iron/chipbreaker on it and a Reed plane yoke (you were out of town when I ordered it - moving I think, thank you for the email heads up!) Those two things really improved the plane, but wouldn't have been worth it if I hadn't worn out the originals. I'm glad to see I wasn't quite as crazy as I had thought with all the adjustments and cursing it took to get it working well. Excellent job good sir!
This is not a snide comment, but perhaps it is side comment. James, along with everyone else, I sincerely appreciate your doing this in depth, well-thought-out, labor intensive review. Thank you for this.
First, thanks to you James for conceiving this exhausting and time consuming test. Incredibly informative and helpful to woodworkers on a budget. Fortunately I have been buying mostly older Stanley planes for 15-20 years when they were still cheap and plentiful. And 4 years ago I bought my only new plane, a Lie Nielsen bronze #4 which I love! Second, a shout out to the sponsors who purchased the planes, thank you very much much. Third, I want to commend you on your maturity as a presenter. Years ago I watched a number of your early videos and the respect and appreciation you now show towards those who came before you is good to see. You have come far Grasshopper.😊
Thank you! The JORGENSEN No 4 I bought yesterday is really heavy and has some really nice parts, but parts do not fit together. They used a thinner blade than advertised (2.5 mm instead of 1/8 in). The result is that the disc of the lateral adjustment is to thick and the blade does not touch the frog. The blade does not touch the frog near the mouth, too. And the frog can not be moved without causing additional problems with the depth adjustment.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I finally managed to fix the plane by adding two strips of cardboard (brass would be preferable) under the frog and replacing the blade with a 1/8 inch thick blade. The new blade is about half the price of the plane.
You and rex convinced me to buy a cheap plane, and put in the work to get it working, i ended up buying the irwin record out of a lack of options at the time, it took some doing but i got it set up and taking fairly good shaving last night! Seeing this video finally come out the day after, im assured i made at least an acceptable purchase and it is worth a little more tinkering to get the most out of this first plane. Thanks for the great videos!
You hit the nail on the head with your comments on inconsistency with these planes. The Grizzley is my daily driver, and I had nothing but problems with my chip breaker and lateral adjuster. The stock iron I got with it was garbage, and I had to clean the cosmoline out of everything to get it to adjust right. I even had to trim a couple threads off to get the tote to stay tight. I've figured it out, but it took a while. My dad bought the same one this last year and had me do the setup on it. His plane was immaculate compared to mine. 😂
I am probably not qualified to comment on this video, but I loved it nonetheless. I saw your short and have been waiting for this video to drop. I don't really have any professional woodworking skills, but I do general handyman stuff. I've built a workbench, shelves, boxes, etc.. I want to slowly expand my tools and i feel that there have been a few times where a plane could have been a godsend. Glad to have a comprehensive comparison 😊
Wanted to say thank you so much for this, I’ve been wanting to get my first plane for a while now but was having trouble because with needing to buy so many little bits and bobs to get started I knew I didn’t have it in me for my first plane to be an old one and I needed something with minimal set up plus my birthday was coming up and I wanted to be able to just pick a plane and put a link in the gift idea list I give my family and sure enough my mom got it for me and I’m so happy with it. I think this plane is going to last me a good few years and it’s so nice getting to put my mental effort into my projects instead of my tools now.
Hi James, I’m new here just getting into woodworking as I need a relaxing hobby while I recover from a knee injury. Just wanted to say thanks for the cool beginner-friendly content and boost your engagement numbers a little.
Thank you for spending your time and providing this valuable information. I have been looking for an inexpensive plane to make into a scrub plane. You certainly have helped me with my decision to continue to stick with vintage planes. Thanks again.
James, knowing how long it took me to tune up my meager collection of bench planes (#1,3,4,5,& 7) , I have to SALUTE you for this monumental, and so useful, effort! Thank you.
One of, if not the coolest review videos I've ever watched. Thanks sponsors!!! It takes a village to find a good cheap plane. Not too ashamed to say I've bought more than one of those planes myself. I concur with your findings, though I haven't tried my scratch and dent number 5 grizzly i got for 25 bucks.
James, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.😂 love the frustration. 🤣🤣 This will be a video I show my friends that really want to get into hand planes But always want to Save a buck or a 100.
This is so informative. Thanks. I use HF 33 plane as a scrub plane, and it does a good job. For 13 bucks, it's cheaper than crap. I also like the wooden handle and tote, which I stole for my new Stanley.The new Stanley is okay once you get it tuned, and for 35 bucks at HD you can't go wrong with it. Vintage Stanley is a great choice too, and restoration really teaches a noob a lot. In short, many of us don't want to spend over 100 on a single plane, and there are a lot of good cheaper options for hobbiests.
Hooray! I've been looking forward to this video since you announced it last year. Thanks again for putting in the time. :) Your experience with the Taytools vs. the Grizzly #4's quality mirrors what I saw a couple of years ago, so it's good to see that borne out by your data.
Maybe you can do a "Frankenstein" video. Meaning....for $75, $100, $150, etc. what plane parts can you buy and build a good, functioning plane. Starting with either an old used plane or all new parts. Maybe have a contest with Rex Krueger and others to see who can make the best Frankenstein/hot rod planes.
Great video! I really appreciate the time and comprehensive analysis you put into this. I have been watching your videos since I started woodworking a couple years ago. I think a good addition to this comparative review would be a few known "high performance/quality" plane like a Veritas or Lie-Nielsen. That way folks can understand what the bar for a generally regarded "good" plane is and how close these low cost planes come to it. Aging, really appreciate all the work you do to make woodworking a fun and approachable activity.
Great reviews!!! First i think that i am not surprised from Tay Tools because its small shop for woodworkers and everything that i have purchased from them ( sometimes i bought after your review) was spot on , great condition and affordable!! My first no.4 and 5 was the Irwin with plastic handle and all that i know on how to set and what to expect from hand planes came after setting them and tuning them up. For the Infinity wooden plane i bought long one ( i think it like no 7) don't use it much only for rough working all the disadvantages you have managed - i took out the Norris mechanism i am using an hammer, the chip breaker needed attention, and the blade. There is a less expensive option by buying it without the Norris mechanism.
Props to you and your sponsors. What a huge task. This tells me that a used Record or Stanley off of eBay from back in the day - way back - would be a better deal. In most cases. Dang, what a job. :bow:
Thank you for this! I am currently in the market for my first hand plane and this is perfect timing. I did notice The busy bee has increased significantly to $149 plus tax
Bear in mind that is Canadian dollars, so while it has increased, it's only ~110 USD now. (and regularly goes on sale, probably for the listed purchase price).
Thanks for all the work. I am sorta glad i am not the only one that's struggled with cheap chip breakers... My smoother is a 70's Rapier (English budget brand...) and could not get the chip breaker not to clog up... Ended up driving to Lee Valley and bought an iron and chip breaker for way more than i paid for the plane...
I received a Taytools #4 a few years ago as a gift, and had the same experience with flatness and general feel of the plane. I think the batch mine was from had some QC issues. The lateral adjuster hole was drilled off-center from the frog and at an angle, so I could barely adjust one direction. The blade has been less than easy to remove the burr when sharpening, and the chip breaker is extremely soft. All that being said, I still love the feel of the plane, so I will likely just upgrade the blade and finish tweaking the frog. Side note: Mike from Taylor Toolworks has made several improvements in the several years since I got mine, and their customer service likely would have replaced it had I asked.
Well done! I had bought the Jorgenson a while backout of curiosity based on a UA-cam suggestion and pretty found the same thing you did...not too expensive and fairly decent quality. I already have several Stanley #4s so it pretty much sits gathering dust until I can find a friend or family member that needs a plane.
as a beginner i was fortunate enough to have a friend that had a spectrum of pricepoint planes, in essence, even as a beginner, spend more, get a low angle plane, learn how to put a proper bevel on the iron, avoid conventional planes and you'll be happier, less stuck in tuning something that should work. The conclusion: spend more, there's no place for a plane that's under 200 bucks.Still, a lot of work went into this and I love the video
I've had the odd affordable hand plane over the years. Never liked them, never found them useful, very frustrating and ended up just sitting in a drawer somewhere. Then during covid, I purchased a good quality hand plane and learned how to sharpen it properly. Wow! what a difference it makes having a good quality tool and knowing how to use it and maintain it. Now I find myself using it all the time. In fact, now I have 3 hand planes. 2 Woodriver and 1 Veritas.
Your comment about carpenter's use struck a note with me. After framing my workshop we couldn't get one sheet of drywall to sit correctly and found that one crossbrace was slightly thicker than the studs on each side. Out came my old #5 and a few minutes later the drywall sat correctly.
one of the nicer things about the jorgensen is that if you buy it local at lowes then you can return it if you get a particularly bad unit. i've setup over 50 of the previous version and a few of the current version. only had a couple that were out enough to return but it was easy enough to do.
impressive video, that's a huge amount of work ! 11:40 : hey i own this one :D, agreed on everything you said a few i can add from my personal experience (that isn't already in the sheet or the video) : - there was a injection blob next to the mouth adjustment screw that i had to file off - undernearth the whole metric milimeter of lacquer there was a lot of tearout, but the wood is beautiful and the handles are comfortable after refinishing (i have small hands) - the brass (?) screw on the lever cap is wearing down fast, it now has a lot of play - handles were loose, had to add washers to make them tight - i had to threadlock the depth adjuster screw into the frog because it had a lot of play and was unscrewing itself all the time
I just have to put this out there, if you ever come across a cheap old Este (made in germany) plane at an antique store, don’t sleep on it! The plane is crap, but the blade steel is amazing! I made a wooden smoother with an Este blade and I took a hundred or two shavings on figured African Ebony, and shaved hair perfectly afterwards!
This is a great, comprehensive video! Thanks for all the hard work on it. I bought the Grizzly No 4 as well as a No 5 from Amazon several years ago and they did take some tuning, but for mine it wasn't too bad. They were good users, but they are pretty heavy because the casting is so thick. I've now been restoring and collecting old Stanleys, so I passed the Grizzlies on to new owners, but overall I would say they are a good choice. But like you point out, QC is not consistent so it is kind of a gamble. Thanks again for the video!
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I watched the whole 2:40:00 video in about one minute. I am about 3 months late to the joke! But while we are on a boring subject, I have never seen anyone reproduce 18th century bits, other than some spoon bits, and them not the best quality. I have seen people reproduce all manner of 18th century items, but why no bits? What they had must have worked pretty well, but I have never gotten my hands on any originals to test out.
Center bits work okay but they are very very slow. And they were prone to wobbling if you were not very careful. I never seen anyone make one in a video but I I've seen a few blacksmith made originals.
Loved this video. I was thinking of getting the Spear & Jackson but now that Tay Tools plane is looking pretty good even though their prices have gone up to $100. For my first plane if it needs more than a little sanding on the bottom and blade sharpening/honing then I really don't want to be bothered to "Jack" with it.
Impressive amount of work, given what you went through, the video is almost an anti-climax. But SO incredibly worth it. It's interesting to plot score vs cost, that really shows up the Rali as a very bad deal, the Groz as a good deal and a very large spread in all the rest.
Two minutes in and very interested to hear what you think about the Busy Bee plane. EDIT: Thanks James for doing this! I bought a Busy Bee 4 1/2 a year ago and haven't gotten to tuning it up and using it. I've been focusing on my vintage and antique Stanley's This has given me the motivation to get it up and running. Thanks!
This must have been a ton of work. Thanks for doing this, as I'm a newer wood worker that has been exclusively sanding until recently in a wood working class I learned how much time I could save with a plane. I wonder if the Taytools shoulder and block planes are also high value items for a fair price.
Amazing study and I know how much work went into this. If budget is the issue, get a vintage plane as you've said many times before. I live in the midwestern US where they are easy to come across, but even on E-bay you can get a vintage plane for a reasonable amount. they need work as well, but if you don't know how to clean them up, you likely don't know how to use them either and will never get good results. Using a hand plane takes a little skill and a little maintenance, but is satisfying, fun, and totally worth the investment IMO. Don't be afraid to try.
I have the taytools no 4 and it's OK but I don't really like the screw type lever cap. It seems to be a bit fiddly between not tight enough so the iron moves or to tight and you can't move the depth adjuster knob. I also have a couple of vintage Stanley's and I much prefer the lever style lever lever cap. Any thoughts or suggestions for the taytools?
The problem with the liver cap is that it is very difficult to manufacture in a repeatable manner. It requires very precise measurements to get the right pressure on the cam. So using the screw type is more reliable in general for production sake. But if you want the liver you can always go pull one off of any Stanley and slap it on there.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thanks James. I had actually tried one from another plane and like the way it worked. I guess I'll just have to go to a tool store and buy some tools. Drat :)
Thank you for doing this, James. I have been on the fence over a Busy Bee No.7 since they came out (Tay Tools get expensive in Canada due to duties). Based in this test, for all I use a jointer plane, I think its my best choice. It might be interesting to compare the performance of the top five to LN, Veritas and say Wood River.
Hi James... I really like your videos. With your advices and your instructions I had finally made my hand plan work. The question is do I have to disassemble my hand plane at the end of the day or can I let it adjusted for very long time?
I own the Jorgensen. Had to go through a few to find one worth putting the work into, but so far so good. James, do you know if the Reed adjustment knob will work on this? Perhaps the one intended for the Lie Nielsen no 4? I have found that for the 60 1/2 And the 101, they can use the same parts. Thanks!!
@@WoodByWrightHowTo ok so I tried the Stanley adjuster and it won’t fit as the screw is too narrow. I think Rob Cosman’s adjuSTAR for Lie-Nielsen might work so I’ll try that and provide feedback.
I purchased a Mastercraft block plane from Canadian tire. It needed 0 tuning and it took hairs clean off my arm right out of the box. For me, it was set it and forget it. I've had it for a couple years now and I'm super happy with it.
I think it depends on what you’re using it for. For light chamfers and even jointing, your plane doesn’t need to be as flat or sharp. On the face there are so many factors that lead to a clean and finish-able surface.
I have a Truper jack plane. After whatching Matt Estlea tuning an Amazon basic plane I would say it might be the same plane and I had that same yoke/chipbreaker problem, had to remove the yoke and hit it with a hammer on an "anvil" to make it longer. It totally worked and even got rid of some backlash but it was an annoying repair. I got what I paid
RALI: "Any monkey can grab one of these and make shavings out of the box." - Exactly why I bought one (but not this model). It does everything I need a plane to do.🐒
If it's a serious question then it's a tool you use on wood to get it flat and smooth but it only does it one fine shaving at a time. Look up a video on how to use a plane and you will see exactly what it does.
Spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17fbZs5qsZbaDJFSM6xHQCDhTYDVwNDKGVPDJfKa9SfM/edit?usp=sharing
00:17 History of the test
01:49 How the test was conducted
09:01 close look at the planes
22:58 Factory Comparison
25:56 Spreadsheet explained
31:02 final score
Thank you for doing all that work. Your in depth studies (planes, chisels etc) don't just help us pick a good tool, they also teach us about what makes the tool good.
Agreed!!
I adjusted the rankings by deciding which problems I could fix. Modifying the handles, not a big problem. Making the thing hold its settings is a big problem. Packaging, I just recycle, who cares unless I am doing an unboxing video. I appreciate the ability to do this in all your tests.
packaging is about if your plane is going to arrive broken from shipping or not
Packaging, depending on how easily can you refund the item if its broken, can be a very important thing especially at higher price points. You would be suprized to see how awfull and non protective these chinese packaging can be.
You are thorough, detailed and concise. Mostly, however, in my opinion, you are honest. I put a lot of faith and weight into your reviews. Thanks so much.
thanks man. that means A lot. I will do what i can to keep on that track.
Aman!
Plethora (it means a lot). 🙂
As a power tool woodworker wanting to get into hand tool woodworking, I thank you for putting in all the work for this video🙏
You’re the man!
I’m so glad that I got to participate in a Wood by Wright test with the Groz hand plane. I suggested it after seeing it come up in amazon searches, and right when I committed to sponsoring one, they sold out on Amazon and on the Groz site.
I nearly gave up after making the suggestion that it might be different than my Grizzly plane or others from the same factory. They got back in stock briefly for me to get an example sent. It is so nice to see someone who knows what he’s doing show how the QC on this level of planes is why some reviews have raved about a particular brand being great value only to have floods of comments about how terrible they are.
I’m planning to donate mine after using it on a project myself. Looking forward to it.
thanks for the support man!
I had a coworker ask if he could try my plane out - being the only broke woodworker he knew using a hand plane. I lent him my Kobalt (which I had spent a TON of time tuning) and he wasn't very impressed. It made me reassess how much time I'd spent on that thing and learning the quirks to know how to keep it running. I realized it's essentially useless to anyone but me. After seeing this video, I'm glad I had ultimately suggested he go for the Taytools plane. I did put a Taytools iron/chipbreaker on it and a Reed plane yoke (you were out of town when I ordered it - moving I think, thank you for the email heads up!) Those two things really improved the plane, but wouldn't have been worth it if I hadn't worn out the originals. I'm glad to see I wasn't quite as crazy as I had thought with all the adjustments and cursing it took to get it working well. Excellent job good sir!
I love that there are an option for us folks in Canada that is decent, thanks for the video and all the testing you did.
This is not a snide comment, but perhaps it is side comment.
James, along with everyone else, I sincerely appreciate your doing this in depth, well-thought-out, labor intensive review. Thank you for this.
Great video and the usual thorough and fair assessments. James was definitely not plane around.
First, thanks to you James for conceiving this exhausting and time consuming test. Incredibly informative and helpful to woodworkers on a budget. Fortunately I have been buying mostly older Stanley planes for 15-20 years when they were still cheap and plentiful. And 4 years ago I bought my only new plane, a Lie Nielsen bronze #4 which I love!
Second, a shout out to the sponsors who purchased the planes, thank you very much much.
Third, I want to commend you on your maturity as a presenter. Years ago I watched a number of your early videos and the respect and appreciation you now show towards those who came before you is good to see. You have come far Grasshopper.😊
That's an impressive test. I mean - REALLY impressive. Well done...!
Thank you! The JORGENSEN No 4 I bought yesterday is really heavy and has some really nice parts, but parts do not fit together. They used a thinner blade than advertised (2.5 mm instead of 1/8 in). The result is that the disc of the lateral adjustment is to thick and the blade does not touch the frog. The blade does not touch the frog near the mouth, too. And the frog can not be moved without causing additional problems with the depth adjustment.
Wow. Yours has a LOT more issues.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I finally managed to fix the plane by adding two strips of cardboard (brass would be preferable) under the frog and replacing the blade with a 1/8 inch thick blade. The new blade is about half the price of the plane.
You and rex convinced me to buy a cheap plane, and put in the work to get it working, i ended up buying the irwin record out of a lack of options at the time, it took some doing but i got it set up and taking fairly good shaving last night! Seeing this video finally come out the day after, im assured i made at least an acceptable purchase and it is worth a little more tinkering to get the most out of this first plane. Thanks for the great videos!
You hit the nail on the head with your comments on inconsistency with these planes. The Grizzley is my daily driver, and I had nothing but problems with my chip breaker and lateral adjuster. The stock iron I got with it was garbage, and I had to clean the cosmoline out of everything to get it to adjust right. I even had to trim a couple threads off to get the tote to stay tight. I've figured it out, but it took a while. My dad bought the same one this last year and had me do the setup on it. His plane was immaculate compared to mine. 😂
I am probably not qualified to comment on this video, but I loved it nonetheless. I saw your short and have been waiting for this video to drop. I don't really have any professional woodworking skills, but I do general handyman stuff. I've built a workbench, shelves, boxes, etc.. I want to slowly expand my tools and i feel that there have been a few times where a plane could have been a godsend. Glad to have a comprehensive comparison 😊
Wanted to say thank you so much for this, I’ve been wanting to get my first plane for a while now but was having trouble because with needing to buy so many little bits and bobs to get started I knew I didn’t have it in me for my first plane to be an old one and I needed something with minimal set up plus my birthday was coming up and I wanted to be able to just pick a plane and put a link in the gift idea list I give my family and sure enough my mom got it for me and I’m so happy with it. I think this plane is going to last me a good few years and it’s so nice getting to put my mental effort into my projects instead of my tools now.
Hi James, I’m new here just getting into woodworking as I need a relaxing hobby while I recover from a knee injury.
Just wanted to say thanks for the cool beginner-friendly content and boost your engagement numbers a little.
This was the most amazingly helpful video, I am a woodworker on a budget and you just saved me literal hundreds of dollars with this
Wow. What a *tremendous* amount of work, and all so, so useful. Thanks, James!
This man is a national treasure. I’m not kidding.
That's an understatement. INTERNATIONAL.
Thank you for spending your time and providing this valuable information. I have been looking for an inexpensive plane to make into a scrub plane. You certainly have helped me with my decision to continue to stick with vintage planes. Thanks again.
James, knowing how long it took me to tune up my meager collection of bench planes (#1,3,4,5,& 7) , I have to SALUTE you for this monumental, and so useful, effort! Thank you.
One of, if not the coolest review videos I've ever watched. Thanks sponsors!!! It takes a village to find a good cheap plane. Not too ashamed to say I've bought more than one of those planes myself. I concur with your findings, though I haven't tried my scratch and dent number 5 grizzly i got for 25 bucks.
James, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.😂 love the frustration. 🤣🤣 This will be a video I show my friends that really want to get into hand planes
But always want to
Save a buck or a 100.
This is so informative. Thanks. I use HF 33 plane as a scrub plane, and it does a good job. For 13 bucks, it's cheaper than crap. I also like the wooden handle and tote, which I stole for my new Stanley.The new Stanley is okay once you get it tuned, and for 35 bucks at HD you can't go wrong with it. Vintage Stanley is a great choice too, and restoration really teaches a noob a lot. In short, many of us don't want to spend over 100 on a single plane, and there are a lot of good cheaper options for hobbiests.
Thanks! I appreciate all you do.
Thanks man! I will put that toward shipping all of these back!
Thanks James. Take care & stay safe.
“This one’s not even a plane…”
Best quote of all time, James.
Hooray! I've been looking forward to this video since you announced it last year. Thanks again for putting in the time. :) Your experience with the Taytools vs. the Grizzly #4's quality mirrors what I saw a couple of years ago, so it's good to see that borne out by your data.
Maybe you can do a "Frankenstein" video. Meaning....for $75, $100, $150, etc. what plane parts can you buy and build a good, functioning plane. Starting with either an old used plane or all new parts. Maybe have a contest with Rex Krueger and others to see who can make the best Frankenstein/hot rod planes.
Thanks!
Huge thanks man! I will put that toward shipping them all back.
Fantastic testing and comparison, James! Thanks! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Great video! I really appreciate the time and comprehensive analysis you put into this. I have been watching your videos since I started woodworking a couple years ago.
I think a good addition to this comparative review would be a few known "high performance/quality" plane like a Veritas or Lie-Nielsen. That way folks can understand what the bar for a generally regarded "good" plane is and how close these low cost planes come to it.
Aging, really appreciate all the work you do to make woodworking a fun and approachable activity.
Very much so. I am looking for a number 4 or 5 for basic smoothing duties. This was a fantastic work. Thank you for your effort.
The work you put in this video, the information... AMAZING!! You are great in what you do! Congrats and thank you!
Love this video xxxx I think I'll stick with my vintage planes 😀
Great reviews!!! First i think that i am not surprised from Tay Tools because its small shop for woodworkers and everything that i have purchased from them ( sometimes i bought after your review) was spot on , great condition and affordable!!
My first no.4 and 5 was the Irwin with plastic handle and all that i know on how to set and what to expect from hand planes came after setting them and tuning them up.
For the Infinity wooden plane i bought long one ( i think it like no 7) don't use it much only for rough working all the disadvantages you have managed - i took out the Norris mechanism i am using an hammer, the chip breaker needed attention, and the blade. There is a less expensive option by buying it without the Norris mechanism.
Props to you and your sponsors. What a huge task. This tells me that a used Record or Stanley off of eBay from back in the day - way back - would be a better deal. In most cases. Dang, what a job. :bow:
Thank you for this! I am currently in the market for my first hand plane and this is perfect timing. I did notice The busy bee has increased significantly to $149 plus tax
Bear in mind that is Canadian dollars, so while it has increased, it's only ~110 USD now. (and regularly goes on sale, probably for the listed purchase price).
Thanks for all the work. I am sorta glad i am not the only one that's struggled with cheap chip breakers... My smoother is a 70's Rapier (English budget brand...) and could not get the chip breaker not to clog up... Ended up driving to Lee Valley and bought an iron and chip breaker for way more than i paid for the plane...
I received a Taytools #4 a few years ago as a gift, and had the same experience with flatness and general feel of the plane. I think the batch mine was from had some QC issues. The lateral adjuster hole was drilled off-center from the frog and at an angle, so I could barely adjust one direction. The blade has been less than easy to remove the burr when sharpening, and the chip breaker is extremely soft. All that being said, I still love the feel of the plane, so I will likely just upgrade the blade and finish tweaking the frog. Side note: Mike from Taylor Toolworks has made several improvements in the several years since I got mine, and their customer service likely would have replaced it had I asked.
Well done! I had bought the Jorgenson a while backout of curiosity based on a UA-cam suggestion and pretty found the same thing you did...not too expensive and fairly decent quality. I already have several Stanley #4s so it pretty much sits gathering dust until I can find a friend or family member that needs a plane.
This was an awesome video. Thank you so much for this video
as a beginner i was fortunate enough to have a friend that had a spectrum of pricepoint planes, in essence, even as a beginner, spend more, get a low angle plane, learn how to put a proper bevel on the iron, avoid conventional planes and you'll be happier, less stuck in tuning something that should work.
The conclusion: spend more, there's no place for a plane that's under 200 bucks.Still, a lot of work went into this and I love the video
I've had the odd affordable hand plane over the years. Never liked them, never found them useful, very frustrating and ended up just sitting in a drawer somewhere.
Then during covid, I purchased a good quality hand plane and learned how to sharpen it properly. Wow! what a difference it makes having a good quality tool and knowing how to use it and maintain it. Now I find myself using it all the time. In fact, now I have 3 hand planes. 2 Woodriver and 1 Veritas.
Excellent job...love your attempts at humor at the end...lol
I bought one of those Irwin-Records from Menards. It was $20 and I made it into a scrub plane. Works well for that.
Your comment about carpenter's use struck a note with me. After framing my workshop we couldn't get one sheet of drywall to sit correctly and found that one crossbrace was slightly thicker than the studs on each side. Out came my old #5 and a few minutes later the drywall sat correctly.
one of the nicer things about the jorgensen is that if you buy it local at lowes then you can return it if you get a particularly bad unit. i've setup over 50 of the previous version and a few of the current version. only had a couple that were out enough to return but it was easy enough to do.
Spreadsheet time! James is...Happy! :D
impressive video, that's a huge amount of work !
11:40 : hey i own this one :D, agreed on everything you said
a few i can add from my personal experience (that isn't already in the sheet or the video) :
- there was a injection blob next to the mouth adjustment screw that i had to file off
- undernearth the whole metric milimeter of lacquer there was a lot of tearout, but the wood is beautiful and the handles are comfortable after refinishing (i have small hands)
- the brass (?) screw on the lever cap is wearing down fast, it now has a lot of play
- handles were loose, had to add washers to make them tight
- i had to threadlock the depth adjuster screw into the frog because it had a lot of play and was unscrewing itself all the time
Wow!!!!! Finally!!! Good job. 😁
Great video! Thank you for your time and attention to detail!
Thank you for this James.
I just have to put this out there, if you ever come across a cheap old Este (made in germany) plane at an antique store, don’t sleep on it! The plane is crap, but the blade steel is amazing! I made a wooden smoother with an Este blade and I took a hundred or two shavings on figured African Ebony, and shaved hair perfectly afterwards!
Great test!
Excellent post. Thank you for doing this.
This is a great, comprehensive video! Thanks for all the hard work on it. I bought the Grizzly No 4 as well as a No 5 from Amazon several years ago and they did take some tuning, but for mine it wasn't too bad. They were good users, but they are pretty heavy because the casting is so thick. I've now been restoring and collecting old Stanleys, so I passed the Grizzlies on to new owners, but overall I would say they are a good choice. But like you point out, QC is not consistent so it is kind of a gamble. Thanks again for the video!
Just a plane ole video; have you ever thought of making a boring video?
Seriously, thank you for all the hard work!
Here you go. ua-cam.com/video/1KZ-QrF3ip0/v-deo.htmlsi=-GDavskJ8GmiSPRI
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I watched the whole 2:40:00 video in about one minute. I am about 3 months late to the joke!
But while we are on a boring subject, I have never seen anyone reproduce 18th century bits, other than some spoon bits, and them not the best quality. I have seen people reproduce all manner of 18th century items, but why no bits? What they had must have worked pretty well, but I have never gotten my hands on any originals to test out.
Center bits work okay but they are very very slow. And they were prone to wobbling if you were not very careful. I never seen anyone make one in a video but I I've seen a few blacksmith made originals.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thank you for letting me know. I have been curious about them.
A monumental effort, and I'm certain that this will be a great resource to everyone looking for an affordable plane.
I really appreciate the work that went into this video
Great Video as allways and thanks for putting in all the work! Best chanelon UA-cam!
Great informative video!
I enjoy all your videos and your efforts to inform woodworkers of great information!
Loved this video. I was thinking of getting the Spear & Jackson but now that Tay Tools plane is looking pretty good even though their prices have gone up to $100. For my first plane if it needs more than a little sanding on the bottom and blade sharpening/honing then I really don't want to be bothered to "Jack" with it.
Impressive amount of work, given what you went through, the video is almost an anti-climax. But SO incredibly worth it.
It's interesting to plot score vs cost, that really shows up the Rali as a very bad deal, the Groz as a good deal and a very large spread in all the rest.
Wow. Huge effort. Thanks for your work.
Two minutes in and very interested to hear what you think about the Busy Bee plane.
EDIT: Thanks James for doing this! I bought a Busy Bee 4 1/2 a year ago and haven't gotten to tuning it up and using it. I've been focusing on my vintage and antique Stanley's This has given me the motivation to get it up and running. Thanks!
Ikr I've been trying to find good info about that plane for so long
Really fantastic video I appreciate all the work you did. I can’t imagine how long it took you to do it all amazing
Impressive testing!!!
Well done Sir! 👍
This must have been a ton of work. Thanks for doing this, as I'm a newer wood worker that has been exclusively sanding until recently in a wood working class I learned how much time I could save with a plane. I wonder if the Taytools shoulder and block planes are also high value items for a fair price.
from the time I have spent with them they are about the same quality.
Very informative. Thank you!
Amazing study and I know how much work went into this. If budget is the issue, get a vintage plane as you've said many times before. I live in the midwestern US where they are easy to come across, but even on E-bay you can get a vintage plane for a reasonable amount. they need work as well, but if you don't know how to clean them up, you likely don't know how to use them either and will never get good results. Using a hand plane takes a little skill and a little maintenance, but is satisfying, fun, and totally worth the investment IMO. Don't be afraid to try.
Fascinating test, thank you, James!
I have the taytools no 4 and it's OK but I don't really like the screw type lever cap. It seems to be a bit fiddly between not tight enough so the iron moves or to tight and you can't move the depth adjuster knob. I also have a couple of vintage Stanley's and I much prefer the lever style lever lever cap. Any thoughts or suggestions for the taytools?
The problem with the liver cap is that it is very difficult to manufacture in a repeatable manner. It requires very precise measurements to get the right pressure on the cam. So using the screw type is more reliable in general for production sake. But if you want the liver you can always go pull one off of any Stanley and slap it on there.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thanks James. I had actually tried one from another plane and like the way it worked. I guess I'll just have to go to a tool store and buy some tools. Drat :)
Wow. Great comparison.
Thanks for testing, and sharing.
Thank you for doing this, James. I have been on the fence over a Busy Bee No.7 since they came out (Tay Tools get expensive in Canada due to duties). Based in this test, for all I use a jointer plane, I think its my best choice. It might be interesting to compare the performance of the top five to LN, Veritas and say Wood River.
Wow! I love the detail!
I've been waiting for this video!
again an informative video i have an Old plane someplace maybe i need to find it and clean it up????
This is great! Thanks for doing this.
Hello from West Virginia. Very interesting.
Good review
Well thank you good sir, for doing this properly
Hi James... I really like your videos. With your advices and your instructions I had finally made my hand plan work. The question is do I have to disassemble my hand plane at the end of the day or can I let it adjusted for very long time?
Just leave it the way it is. I only take mine apart if there's a problem.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thanks for the quick response. I'm going to leave them like you said. 😄
I own the Jorgensen. Had to go through a few to find one worth putting the work into, but so far so good.
James, do you know if the Reed adjustment knob will work on this? Perhaps the one intended for the Lie Nielsen no 4?
I have found that for the 60 1/2
And the 101, they can use the same parts.
Thanks!!
I believe it is the same threads but have not tested it. If the Stanley adjuster thread matches it then the REED adjuster will work.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo ok so I tried the Stanley adjuster and it won’t fit as the screw is too narrow. I think Rob Cosman’s adjuSTAR for Lie-Nielsen might work so I’ll try that and provide feedback.
Very helpful. Thank you.
The Busy Bee is currently listed at $140 on sale. The Tay tools is going for $90. That's a no-brainer.
I was expecting Jorgensen to be top 3 with taytools and busy bee. Groz looks like a plane I wouldn't bother picking up. What a surprise.
Thank you so much this is incredibly useful information.
I purchased a Mastercraft block plane from Canadian tire. It needed 0 tuning and it took hairs clean off my arm right out of the box. For me, it was set it and forget it. I've had it for a couple years now and I'm super happy with it.
I think it depends on what you’re using it for. For light chamfers and even jointing, your plane doesn’t need to be as flat or sharp. On the face there are so many factors that lead to a clean and finish-able surface.
I have a Truper jack plane. After whatching Matt Estlea tuning an Amazon basic plane I would say it might be the same plane and I had that same yoke/chipbreaker problem, had to remove the yoke and hit it with a hammer on an "anvil" to make it longer. It totally worked and even got rid of some backlash but it was an annoying repair. I got what I paid
RALI: "Any monkey can grab one of these and make shavings out of the box."
- Exactly why I bought one (but not this model). It does everything I need a plane to do.🐒
sorry to ask, What is a plane? I thought they might've been aeroplanes but then i saw a bunch of doorknobs
A plain old plane is just plain better than an aeroplane.
It's where the rains in Spain fall mainly
If it's a serious question then it's a tool you use on wood to get it flat and smooth but it only does it one fine shaving at a time. Look up a video on how to use a plane and you will see exactly what it does.
It’s a Spanish rain catcher.
…falls mainly on the aero plane.
Looking forward to the same test for low angle block planes and finger planes
There is a special place in hell for whoever decided a stamped mild steel plane was a good idea.
Good video, quite the endeavor! Do you have any thoughts on the Taytools #7?
a great low end jointer plane.
Informative video, but could you jazz it up next time it was a little plane...