Steve Knight Planes

[Mike Holbrook]

I have heard positive things about these planes in the past. I thought Knight made planes for sale but all I see on his site are kits for sale? I am actually interested in building a kit so this may be a good thing.

I was especially interested in the Jointer, Jack & Coffin Finish/Smoothing Plane. I would like to hear from anyone who has built or owns one of these planes. I am also interested in opinions regarding: Padauk vs Purpleheart for the plane body & mouth. Steve's kits also come with a fixed or adjustable mouth and I am wondering why one might choose one over the other?

[Andrew Gibson]

I talked with Steve a few years ago when he had more ready made planes on his site. I ended up not getting one, because I didn't have the cash. I would love to pick up something of his at some point.
I like the purpleheart. In my experience it is a bit heavier the padauk. I also like the adjustable mouth.

[Trevor Remster]

I bought one of his small 50deg smoothers & one of his 50deg jointer planes second hand, both purpleheart. They both have the adjustable mouths. I have only used the jointer, and can report it is a fine plane. I really haven't worried about fine tuning the adjustable mouth much because the wood I was working with just didn't require a tight mouth to get the desired results(didn't require 50deg bed either). The smoother has set screws on the sides to help in centering the blade, but I can't report on how well this works because I really haven't used it much. I bought them at a very fair price to provide a comparison with some woodies I want to build myself. The provided blades are nice thick beasts, and hold a fine edge.

[Mike Holbrook]

Trevor,
Sounds like the ones you have were made by Steve? I was also wondering how well adjusting screws set in wood worked over time, although it sounds like you have not had them long enough to form any judgement? I assume they are use the wood threads?

I was particularly interested in how the set screw/bolt for the adjustable mouth might hold up over time, again assuming it is threading into wood. I like the idea of the adjustable mouth too Andrew, should make it easy to replace the mouth area too, which should get the most wear. I am a little uncertain if keeping the plane surface flat, in the area of the mouth, might be more difficult with an adjustable mouth though? I guess I could break down & call Steve. I was hoping to hear from someone who has built one of his kits first though. I'm wondering whether I could make a tool of high quality, doing it myself, or not.

[Maurice Ungaro]

I have a purple heart coffin smoother. I can tell you that the tool works wonderfully.
Steve uses a monster thick blade which gives great heft to the tool, and helps it glide through wood.

[Tom Vanzant]

Mike,
I have four of Steve's older planes (made by him). As for "adjustment screws in wood", the screw for the adjustable mouth is not threaded into wood but into a threaded metal insert. The iron-centering setscrews in the cheeks are set at the factory and seldom if ever need to be moved. Should the adjustable mouth need flattening, set the mouth, retract the iron and set the wedge, then flatten the entire sole and mouth with sandpaper on a flat surface such as granite slab or iron tablesaw or jointer.

[john brenton]

I'm not sure if it's common, or ever used, in infill planes, but that bloodwood I handled over at a fellow creekers place was very dense and heavy.

[John P Lewis]

Mike-

I bought one from Steve over 5 years ago. It is a 10" ipe coffin smoother with the iron at 55 degrees and a fixed mouth. It doesn't have problems with many woods and the fixed mouth is still tight after years of use. Setup and use have always been easy. Good luck with the kit and post pictures when you are done, please.

[Andrae Covington]

Steve Knight posts here occasionally, perhaps he'll chime in.

Steve used to make the planes himself and also offered kits, but now he only does the kits. In early 2009 I bought a razee jack that was probably one of the last few planes that he completed. I chose padauk as I preferred the color over purpleheart, but the impression I got was that he thinks the purpleheart works better. The adjustable mouth is ipe. The only screw problem I had was that the brass screw holding the handle in place stripped out. Fortunately he had drilled and tapped quite a bit deeper into the body so I simply bought a longer screw, no big deal.

Sadly I must admit that I have not used the plane very much. I bought it during a purchasing phase when I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted or needed. I was mostly buying metal planes, so I decided I would try one wooden plane as a comparison. It seems that I prefer fiddling with knobs and levers over tapping with hammers. Not trying to start a flame war!

[Mike Holbrook]

Sounds good guys,
The picture of the parts ( jointer plane ) in the kit only shows one screw/bolt/metal insert...and I do not recognize the part from the picture.

The kit appears well thought out. I guess the two halves of the body of the plane need to be sawn out, maybe with a band saw. The rest looks like chisel, plane, rasp, scraper, sand paper work.

[Terry Beadle]

[ATTACH]bloodWoodSmoother.jpg[/ATTACH]I've bought two planes from Steve and once visited his shop in Portland. The first plane I bought is a razee jack made in cocobolo 17 inches long, O1 blade, rock maple tote, adjustable mouth, ipe sole, naval brass lever cap. This plane has worked wonderfully. The mouth has been adjusted for jack work but only expecting about 4 thou shavings. I've not had to adjust it again since I first put this to work. Really an excellent plane by Steve.

The second plane I bought was a small smoother in bloodwood. It has an adjustable mouth with ipe sole. There are two blade screws that are tapped in the side of the plane and have not had any problems. I've adjusted these two screws a bit as I upgraded the blade to a chinese made laminated blade by Galoots in Texas. This blade is their medium priced blade and performs like a japanese laminated blade. Excellent edge retension and makes a very fine cutting edge. It is a modern blade and not hollowed out in the back or wedge shaped like a Japanese blade. Therefore still easy to sharpen but requires no tapping out etc.

The smoother just takes a few light taps with a small wooden plane hammer and takes less than 1 thou shavings if desired. I leave it at about 2 thou. The bloodwood is heavy enough and stable. Almost no movement in the three years of use.

I have not bought any of Steve's kits but I'm sure they are good. I've made a couple of home made planes using some of his plane ideas and a couple of mine. A very good design. In my opinion, his planes are the best buy for performance and price period.

I am not affiliated with him in any way other than being an avid satisfied customer. I'm not saying they are perfect but they sure deliver and at a very reasonable price. He stands behind his products too.

[John Padgett]

I ordered the smoothing plane kit about 3 weeks ago and and still waiting on it. I will post when it arrives and use it.

[john davey]

I have 3 of Steve,s planes and they are well made. My jointer and Smoother are about 4 years old. Both Purpleheart. I have to be honest I did not like them at first and ignored them for a while. I was mostly power tools them and just could not get the hang of the adjusting. The last 6 month I have been mostly hand tools and have a solid grasp on the adjustments now (thanks mostly to this site). Both of these work well and are well made. The third plane I picked up here last month. It is the pocket plane. It has the adjustable mouth that the other 2 do not have. I have this thing adjusted to almost nothing and it takes a fine shaving. It is purpleheart as well. Between the knight smoother and my 4 1/2 I have not found a need for this little guy yet. I have mostly just been working Cherry that does not have much figure in it. I can't wait to get it in a place where I need it though as it does cut a smooth finish . So I am a firm believer in Steve's planes and would recommend them...John

[David Turner]

I have communicated with Steve a number of times in the last month (his wife just had an operation) and although he is making me up a kit, he did say that he does not sell many kits anymore. In fact that is why he indicated it would be a couple of weeks for my kit as he did not have much kit stock on hand. Drop him an email. I have found he always answers his mail in about a day. I am sure he would be able to provide what ever you might want be it a kit or finished plane.

David Turner
Plymouth, MI.

[Mike Holbrook]

Lots of gooe reviews on Steve's planes here. Strange though, if he is not doing kits, as that seems to be all his site shows. Maybe he has built up a strong word of mouth business.