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Thread: My First Impression of Woodriver Planes

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    I was at Woodcraft in Richmond today,and they had Wood River planes,saying that the blade problem had been fixed. I looked only at the block plane,though I didn't want to cut the clear plastic envelope the oily plane was in. I thought some customer might think the plane not "new". The plane looked a lot like a LN,though not quite as carefully finished.For the price,it seemed quite nice. It had the same blade adjustment as the LN. For some reason,the plating was reversed: The LN has a bronze blade cap,and plated knurled nut for blade adjustment. The Wood River was reversed.plated cap.brass blade nut.

    I wonder if the Chinese felt that reversing the plating was sufficient "difference" from the LN?

    I wasn't able to test the sole for flatness,and of course,the blade cannot be sharpened,tried with a smooth file,etc. to see of it is good steel.

    I thought it,from what I could see,to be a pretty good looking plane. Possibly a LN blade would fit it,if the blade proved bad. Then,I guess you'd have about 1/2 the price of the LN in it. I wish they'd remove some of the planes from the wrapper so the planes could be taken apart for inspection of the machining under the blades.

    I also could not do things like tighten down the throat adjustment to see if the sliding sole in front of the blade caved in when tightened from above. I did have that happen once,not with a LN,but sent the plane back for replacement. In the event that the bottom piece did cave in,wich would expose more of the blade,you could carefully file down a washer and put it on top of the movable sole,where it would be around the screw,and pinch against the upper casting to keep it from doing that.

    I wished the cap wasn't plated,because I felt that the cap could benefit from a little smoothing up around the edges on the end nearest the bevel of the blade. But,it was made to a much lower price.
    Last edited by george wilson; 02-28-2009 at 9:56 PM.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fayetteville, GA
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    437

    could not bring myself to purchase the #5

    I was keenly interested in the Woodriver #5 before it is available. Upon further reviews by fellow creekers and my own handling of the plane at the local WC, I decided to spring for a lightly used LN LA jack ($200 at the bay). For me, it comes down to fit & finish, expected performance, and resale value.

    In any case, I think I am slipping down the slope pretty quickly, amassing 5-6 planes in a few months, sold my power jointer, and learning to dimension lumber with hand tools and my DW734 planer. I love the extra space saved by not having the jointer in my small shop.

  3. #33
    Having followed this thread, while I was at Woodcraft yesterday I took an opportunity to examine the couple of planes they had out of the plastic wrap. They do appear to be fairly well made, but I quickly noticed that one of the planes (the one most accessible and I assume the one that had been handled the most) had developed a tremendous amount of "slop" in the lateral blade adjustment lever. I believe others have pointed this out, but as they say, "the devil is in the details" and I would be afraid that the fine points of quality manufacturing could be missing here.

    A bit off topic, but the other thing that concerns me with Chinese manufacturing (although I own several Griz machines) is that one never knows what really is in the cast iron. Do they just throw in whatever industrial waste they have on hand. Would be a good place to get rid of it!

  4. #34
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    Jan 2009
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    Unknown cast iron is a good point,John,and especially critical in things like vises,as they can break from being screwed down too tight,or struck with hammers. However,if the planes are malleable,I don't think the planes would be bad. Certainly not so easily broken as old American planes like Stanleys. I don't know if any of the old American planes were malleable.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Spring, Texas
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    578
    John,

    I also have concerns with any Chinese product. I've seen pictures of metal objects in BORG Chinese plywood, and I've seen pictures (on snopes.com) of male contaceptives (hope that's not too family un-friendly), yes you read that right, in pony tail bands. As for their cast iron, if anyone has a geiger counter, they could check for radio active waste.

    There is one interesting, yet heart-wrenching, video. I think the link was posted here a few days ago, http://www.popularwoodworking.com/ar...g_planes_video

    I hated to see the planes treated like that, but they're not mine.

  6. #36
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    I did read if an incident of a home shop machinist finding out his junkyard steel was radioactive. I actually got a geiger counter and checked mine out. No telling where Asian metal has been.

  7. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by James White View Post
    I picked up the Wood River low angle block plane yesterday. To my surprise it is not a low angle plane. It is a bevel up. But the angle of the bed is 19.5 not the claimed 12.5 on the box.

    James or anyone who has one,

    Could you please measure the angle and report back to us. I am hoping that it is a new model that just ended up in the wrong box.

    James
    I called woodcraft product support today. I was advised that the boxes were a mislabeled and there is no low angle block plane in this line. Looks like I am out of luck on getting an affordable low angle block plane. I also tried the Stanley contractor that is currently being offered. Made in Mexico and pure junk. The cap lever does not hold the blade properly. It losses its position from your hand being on the cap as you use it. Also the cast iron is very soft. Oak end grain is enough to scratch it. Perhaps next year I will be able to get a LN or LV. Not it the cards this year.

    James

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    Raleigh, NC
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    "Perhaps next year I will be able to get a LN or LV. Not it the cards this year."

    James - While I generally recommend the L-N 60 series block planes over the antique Stanelys (this is one case where the L-N is a vast improvement), you could still pick up one of them on the cheap to get you by. They're not great, but they're also not junk either if they were made prior to WWII. Good thing about one of these is that unless you drop it and break it, they won't depreciate, so you can sell it and get one of the LN or LVs when you can afford it.

  9. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    Unknown cast iron is a good point,John,and especially critical in things like vises,as they can break from being screwed down too tight,or struck with hammers. However,if the planes are malleable,I don't think the planes would be bad. Certainly not so easily broken as old American planes like Stanleys. I don't know if any of the old American planes were malleable.
    Ductile iron wasn't invented until 1943 but Vaughan & Bushnell made a series of planes with drop forged bodies (fairly low carbon steel I'd guess).

    Also, remember that ferrous scrap generally goes into the making of steel and not cast iron. The Chinese can make iron and steel equal to any. While there may be things to worry about in the Wood River planes, I doubt if the metal in the body is one of them.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Los Angeles
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    636
    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Crawford View Post
    John,

    I also have concerns with any Chinese product. I've seen pictures of metal objects in BORG Chinese plywood, and I've seen pictures (on snopes.com) of male contaceptives (hope that's not too family un-friendly), yes you read that right, in pony tail bands. As for their cast iron, if anyone has a geiger counter, they could check for radio active waste.

    There is one interesting, yet heart-wrenching, video. I think the link was posted here a few days ago, http://www.popularwoodworking.com/ar...g_planes_video

    I hated to see the planes treated like that, but they're not mine.
    Ceramics, finishes, and plastics can also be radioactive; not just metals. Technically everything emits radiation.
    If you are concerned you can buy a geiger counter for around $200.

  11. #41
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
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    The Chinese CAN do it,question is DO they do it? I have seen a few broken Chinese machinist vises,and they had terribly coarse grain.. Not that I really can blame them,we want extremely cheap stuff.

    I heard about a 2 man shop in Taiwan,about the size of a 1 car garage,where a father and son poured castings for Bridgeport size milling machines!!! That took some doing!! They must have been poured down in the ground,like cannon used to be cast hundreds of years ago.

    Williamsburg tried to pour a bronze mortar several months ago. It was about the size of a smallish fire hydrant. It cast,but had millions of little bubbles under the crust. I had a terrible time trying to saw the "Dead Head" off. Used up 2 HSS $40.00 each metal cutting bandsaw blades trying to get half was across,due to sand and other inclusions. The Dead Head is the top part of a cannon casting which is on the top of the casting,where all the sand and crud rise to the top. I was cutting right down at the muzzle,where it should have been cleaner.

    This was a first attempt at pouring as large a casting as that,and underground,too. The furnace plug was knocked out,and the bronze ran down a clay gulley into the mould.

    I wonder if the Taiwan casters could have helped?

  12. #42
    Quote Originally Posted by David Keller NC View Post
    "Perhaps next year I will be able to get a LN or LV. Not it the cards this year."

    James - While I generally recommend the L-N 60 series block planes over the antique Stanelys (this is one case where the L-N is a vast improvement), you could still pick up one of them on the cheap to get you by. They're not great, but they're also not junk either if they were made prior to WWII. Good thing about one of these is that unless you drop it and break it, they won't depreciate, so you can sell it and get one of the LN or LVs when you can afford it.
    David,

    I would not mind going that route. However, how do you know if what is being sold is pre WWII? With the block planes or the bench.

    James

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
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    2,854
    "I would not mind going that route. However, how do you know if what is being sold is pre WWII? With the block planes or the bench."

    James - There are a lot of resources on the web that you can use to date a Stanely, Millers Falls, Chapin-Union, Sargent, or other common bench and block planes. Jim Koepke just posted a index of these sites: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=104945.

    Something to look for at one of the tool dealer sites, flea markets, garage sales, etc... is a Sargent VBM plane (VBM = Very Best Made). This line of planes was the equal of Stanely in the 1900 - 1940 era in every way, but they don't have the name recognition nor collector's value of Stanley, so it's a good alternative for a user. One note about this, though - don't buy one with missing parts unless you can easily make, and care to make, a replacement. Stanely parts are findable, but the other brands are tough to come by.

    BTW - Brass City Records/Tools had a decent block plane up this morning for $15. Not great, but definitely, absolutely better than nothing and anything made past 1965 by Stanley.

  14. #44
    Thank you David. I lucked out. My neighbor sold me three planes yesterday for $35. One of them was a Stanley low angle contractor that was made before production moved to Mexico. So made in England. Although it may not be ideal. I found it is more usable than the new Mexican one.

    The other two are a Stanley 5 1/4 (see my other thread started last night) and a Miller Falls 900 #4. The MF has had the chip breaker ground down because the user was trying to using it bevel up. So it is unusable at this point. I don't know if it is worth getting a new breaker for this. Any opinions on that?

    James

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