Anyone seen one of the new Stanley planes yet

[Russianwolf]

I'm looking for them, but nada.

[atgcpaul]

I saw them the other night at the Rockville, MD Woodcraft. They were in a
glass case with the other hand planes.

I have 3 old Stanley planes (#4, #5, and block) and I'm not too impressed
with the look of the new ones yet. I think it's the black lever cap that
throws me. From what I could tell, the soles aren't corrugated either. I like
corrugated soles. I'm hoping one of the WWing mags will do a review against
Veritas and Lie Nielson, though. Maybe they're good users, but they're prices
are approaching Veritas range and I'd rather pay a little more for those if the
quality is better.

I'm hoping the shoulder plane is rated well. I've been wanting one of those
for a while. I think it was $99 while the larger bench planes started at $149.

Paul

[tkarlmann]

Woodcraft's video

Woodcraft has a small video on the website with Scott Pillips and some Stanley guys.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2021287/2021287.aspx

Looks like fun times ahead for hand-planers, yea, me too!

[kevincan]

I went to a Woodcraft last week and they had them out. I gave them a look over but that's it. They look and feel nice and solid.

I would like to get a rabbet plane one day. The Stanley 92 is $120 vs $195 for the Lie-Nielson. I think I would rather pay the difference for the LN plane.

[tkarlmann]

Had a look at the New Stanley Planes today...

I had a good session with a very knowledgeable Woodcraft person today and saw the new Stanley plane, a #4. The short version -- I would not buy one.

The new Stanley's, just so everyone understands, are NOT the cheap miserable excuse for a handplane the like of which are sold at HD. Those sold at HD are not handplanes, those are worse than junk! The new Stanley's have similar fit, finish, and quality to the likes of Lie-Nielsen, Veritas, etc. Well, they do from a cursory examination.

We compared a LN #5, #4 Stanley, and a #4 Wood River. The Stanley's handle is the first thing most folks are noticing. The handle is, well, chunky. It does not fit the hand well. Wood is OK, just not shaped well to fit the hand. It's thicker too. Fit, finish, japanning, blade: all look good. The Show Stopper is the blade adjustment. Stanley has used a "Norris"-style adjuster for the blade. This means the depth of cut AND the bevel angle are both controlled by a single lever/knob. This lever/knob sticks up, right behind the top of the blade assembly. It is NOT easy to adjust depth of cut one-handed while holding the plane as you would to actually plane. When you do adjust depth, you risk changing the bevel angle. Stanley has used this type blade adjuster to save on machining costs. UPDATE: OK, Veritas has this type adjuster too. Anyone know if Vertas's is better? The bevel adjust rattles slightly on the Stanley. These planes must have an adjustable mouth because the frog & body are the same casting.

Would the new Stanley work well for you? I would say maybe not IF you are accustomed to other handplanes, like old Stanley's bought off EBay or Lie-Nielsen. (UPDATE: Not Veritas) If you are willing to change how you work with handplanes, and are not familiar with other planes, and you are willing to rasp away on the handle a bit, the new Stanley #4 MIGHT work for you.

Comments on the Wood River: Feels nice, looks nice -- no obvious complaints from a cursory inspection. However, the knowledgeable Woodcraft guy stated that some Wood Rivers have been returned due to slightly out of square mouth (the rectangular hole the blade goes through to contact the workpiece). But for the price difference, I would choose LN or LV (Lee Valley == Veritas). Wood River planes are made in China. Update: It has been reported that the hardness of the steel in the Wood River planes is not as good as that in Veritas/Lie-Nielsen.

Important Side Note & News: Lie-Nielsen has just dropped Woodcraft!! The only LN planes Woodcraft will have are those they have in stock. The sales person I spoke of earlier used to rep for LN and told the story. Trying to get the gist of a conversation overheard, Lie-Nielsen has been upset with Woodcraft over the introduction of the Wood River line. Woodcraft, making matters worse, was sporadically putting either the Wood River planes or the Lie-Nielsen planes ON SALE at 20% off -- this was sporadic -- so don't run down to your local Woodcraft, then blame me because you paid full price on a plane. Anyway, Lie-Nielsen's top guy (with the same name) has had enough, and has dropped Woodcraft, period.

UPDATE: Some folks seem confused by this, so let me be clear: Lie-Nielsen dropped Woodcraft -- not the other way 'round.

Some LN Humor: Somewhere I saw a short video done by a Lie-Nielsen guy on toothed plane blades. He goes on about how well it can rough-smooth a gnarly grained board. Then the very first comment, gone unanswered, was: "How do you go about sharpening that toothed blade?

Manufacture locations:
Stanley --- Mexico
Lie-Nielsen --- U.S., I think
Veritas/ Lee Valley --- Canada, I think
Wood River --- China

[Hoover]

Interesting news about Woodcraft and Lie-Nielsen. The Woodcraft store in Seattle, had the full line of Lie-Nielsen in stock. They sold quite well there. Lie-Nielsen had the Craftsman Studio stop discounting their planes last year. Very Interesting!!!

[Al R.]

I had a good session with a very knowledgeable Woodcraft person today and saw the new Stanley plane, a #4. The short version -- I would not buy one.

The new Stanley's, just so everyone understands, are NOT the cheap miserable excuse for a handplane the like of which are sold at HD. Those sold at HD are not handplanes, those are worse than junk! The new Stanley's have similar fit, finish, and quality to the likes of Lie-Nielsen, Veritas, etc. Well, they do from a cursory examination.

We compared a LN #5, #4 Stanley, and a #4 Wood River. The Stanley's handle is the first thing most folks are noticing. The handle is, well, chunky. It does not fit the hand well. Wood is OK, just not shaped well to fit the hand. It's thicker too. Fit, finish, japanning, blade: all look good. The Show Stopper is the blade adjustment. Stanley has used a "Norris"-style adjuster for the blade. This means the depth of cut AND the bevel angle are both controlled by a single lever/knob. This lever/knob sticks up, right behind the top of the blade assembly. It is NOT easy to adjust depth of cut one-handed while holding the plane as you would to actually plane. When you do adjust depth, you risk changing the bevel angle. Stanley has used this type blade adjuster to save on machining costs. These planes must have an adjustable mouth because the frog & body are the same casting.

Would the new Stanley work well for you? I would say maybe not IF you are accustomed to other handplanes, like old Stanley's bought off EBay or Lie-Nielsen or Veritas planes. If you are willing to change how you work with handplanes, and are not familiar with other planes, and you are willing to rasp away on the handle a bit, the new Stanley #4 MIGHT work for you.

Comments on the Wood River: Feels nice, looks nice -- no obvious complaints from a cursory inspection. However, the knowledgeable Woodcraft guy stated that some Wood Rivers have been returned due to slightly out of square mouth (the rectangular hole the blade goes through to contact the workpiece). But for the price difference, I would choose LN or LV (Lee Valley == Veritas). Wood River planes are made in China.

Important Side Note & News: Lie-Nielsen has just dropped Woodcraft!! The only LN planes Woodcraft will have are those they have in stock. The sales person I spoke of earlier used to rep for LN and told the story. Trying to get the gist of a conversation overheard, Lie-Nielsen has been upset with Woodcraft over the introduction of the Wood River line. Woodcraft, making matters worse, was sporadically putting either the Wood River planes or the Lie-Nielsen planes ON SALE at 20% off -- this was sporadic -- so don't run down to your local Woodcraft, then blame me because you paid full price on a plane. Anyway, Lie-Nielsen's top guy (with the same name) has had enough, and has dropped Woodcraft, period.

I have the VERITAS #4 and all I can say is really good. The handle fit my hand just right. I also have not big hands, but there is quality on it and it is 100 dollars less expensive than the Lie Nielsen. I bought it together with the router plane with a fence they have which is something that will last for yrs as well.
Woodcraft is putting then 20% off probable because they are losing too much money. They usually have inflated prices on many things that are not worth the price, then people go to other places to buy then and never return, causing a major loss. I think.

[tkarlmann]

I have the VERITAS #4 and all I can say is really good. The handle fit my hand just right. I also have not big hands, but there is quality on it and it is 100 dollars less expensive than the Lie Nielsen. I bought it together with the router plane with a fence they have which is something that will last for yrs as well.
Woodcraft is putting then 20% off probable because they are losing too much money. They usually have inflated prices on many things that are not worth the price, then people go to other places to buy then and never return, causing a major loss. I think.

The thing I like about Veritas planes is that you can get a long plane for jointing and add an accessory 90 degree fence to it! I fail to see why no one else that I have seen has this. It is a great feature, for jointing the edge of a board at exactly 90 -- not just your own guesstimate of 90. Would you not use the fence on your powered jointer because you "knew" where 90 was?

[Al R.]

The thing I like about Veritas planes is that you can get a long plane for jointing and add an accessory 90 degree fence to it! I fail to see why no one else that I have seen has this. It is a great feature, for jointing the edge of a board at exactly 90 -- not just your own guesstimate of 90. Would you not use the fence on your powered jointer because you "knew" where 90 was?

You are very right; and there are things like the planes that even if you have some cheap ones (as I have it also), it is good to have the main ones from a respectable maker for a good finish on quality wood, otherwise it will be a constant frustration, it happened to me.
Other than the #4 from Veritas, I have from them also the Veritas Router-plane with fence, the Veritas scrub plane, the Veritas Scraper plane and I’m planning to buy soon the Veritas #6 Fore Plane, if you compare it with Lie-Nielsen it has a much better price and it has an excellent quality as well; and I think the Veritas chisel plane, for just $47 dollars is a useful one to use your chisels in an easy way when needed.

[chopnhack]

You know, good for LN! They are expensive, and if it wasnt a requirement for a class I took, I dont think I would have ever paid what I did for them...but it was well worth it, they are certainly the Cadillac of handplanes, IMHO. The craftsmanship and materials that go into making them are far above the average out there.

[pelligrini]

I still haven't heard from anyone who has bought and used a new Stanley for a time yet.

I've got a woodriver #6 and I do like it. I did have to do a little tuning, but it wasn't too bad.

[Al R.]

You know, good for LN! They are expensive, and if it wasnt a requirement for a class I took, I dont think I would have ever paid what I did for them...but it was well worth it, they are certainly the Cadillac of handplanes, IMHO. The craftsmanship and materials that go into making them are far above the average out there.

Chopnhack...do not forget to oil them every time you use it!!!

[Al R.]

Chopnhack...do not forget to oil them every time you use it!!!

As useful information for any interested there is a book I read “The Handplane Book” by Garrett Hack that taught me much about handplanes. There are some “cheap” handplanes like the Buck Bros for instance that if you learn how to tune them (it can include grinding here or there), level the sole, etc, they can work very good and been used for (let say) wood-that-is-in-disadvantage; much better if you add a blade with more quality, like the Hock for instance.
At least I have experienced that; so do not give up on your not so expensive planes as well; you do not have to have only LN or VERITAS.

[Al R.]

I still haven't heard from anyone who has bought and used a new Stanley for a time yet.

I've got a woodriver #6 and I do like it. I did have to do a little tuning, but it wasn't too bad.

The Stanleys that are on the "common market" like LOWE'S for instance, are not only cheap, but poor quality.

[pelligrini]

Yea, I'm aware of those. I was refering to the new improved SW ones in the OP. I haven't seen any reviews from people that have really put them to use.