Harbor Freight "#33" Bench Plane - I like it. Especially for less than $10.

[Nick Sorenson]

Well I picked one of these up this week during a trip to town and I think it was the best $7.50 (with a 20% off coupon) I've ever spent on a tool. I bought the Stanley (they call it a #4) at Lowes a few weeks ago and this plane is better. I also just picked up a Type 18 Stanley (1946 maybe) #4 smoothing plane. This makes curls just as well if not better. I'm quite impressed with it. It's got the dual knobs (one for each side) that have to be fine tuned to get the blade to cut evenly on both sides. At first I thought I wouldn't like this, but I put a little vasoline on the threads and it's smooth as silk and easy to fine tune. Once I have it set to take just a fine see through shaving, I tighten the chipbreaker screw down tight and it's ready for use.

The sharpening out of the box wasn't nice (just rough) but with a quick secondary edge I had it making nice shavings. After I could see it'd work well, I spent a couple hours and tuned it. I put a nice polished sharpening on the blade (80-2500 grit then buffed), flattened the sole (the closest I've seen out of the box), polished the sole, and a few other minor preferential things. But all in all, I'm happy to say it's working great. I used it to smooth some surfaces out of the planer today and it works easily as good as my original vintage Stanley #4. I'd like to try a better iron in it eventually but really, it cuts nice as is so why not leave it be.

Also interesting is that the exact plane is sold in Lowes under the stanley name for $25 or so and this one has wood handles where the Stanley has plastic. Nothing wrong with that necessarily but one more little detail that I liked about this cheapy. I was quite surprised.

http://www.harborfreight.com/no-33-b...ane-97544.html

[James Scheffler]

I've been curious about that one. Let us know if the blade holds an edge ok.

Jim S.

[Zach England]

For what I spent on my favorite smoothing plane I could have bought almost 40 of those.

Just sayin'.

[Nick Sorenson]

For what I spent on my favorite smoothing plane I could have bought almost 40 of those.

Just sayin'.

No doubt... good planes are expensive these days, regardless, I felt this was a good value. Infact I almost bought a few more (still considering it) But... what would I do with them? I guess maybe a sharp backup when I don't feel like stopping to sharpen.

[Zach England]

The first hand plane I owned looked similar. I bought it before I was really into woodworking. It said "stanley" on it and came from Lowes for about $15 as I recall. I sharpened the blade freehand on one of those black oil stones you use in boy scouts. It worked ok for trimming my doors. When I got into woodworking and began to be curious about hand tools I flattened it and sharpened the blade properly and it worked pretty well. The two knurled nuts on either side of the plane are a logical and cost-effective way to adjust the blade.

That having been said I have no buyer's remorse over any of my Lie-Nielsen, Veritas or Bed Rock planes.

I harvested the knurled knobs and screws for a (still incomplete and probably abandoned) wooden plane project and threw the rest away.

[Peter Pedisich]

Nick,

That is a nice copy (from India) of this plane - see pic - I have 2 of them, one is called Brillant 300 and the Other is branded as a Kunz, and both say made in Germany. My understanding is that it was originally a toolbox or carpenters plane. The mouth on mine is wide like a mail slot, but I flattened the sole and sharpened the blade and it makes very fine shavings. I bet the HF 33 is even better - the castings look thicker! I find the spokeshave type blade is easy to adjust.
I bought mine for $8 plus shipping so you paid less! what a deal. I really like the handles on the HF. India is a respected as far as iron castings go.

Pete

[Tony Zaffuto]

On a lark a few years back, I bought one of these, to see how much I could make it perform. In short, I got it to perform damn near as well as anything commonly available, including any LN, LV or Clifton.

First, I surface ground the sole and then the sides. Next I touched up where the blade bedded to make sure contact was full. After that, I purchased a blade for it from a guy over at Woodnet (blade was 1/8" thick). Finally, I touched up the cap to give even pressure to the blade. Allowing for about $30.00 for the new blade, and about $30 if I were to put a cost to grinding, and another $20 for time to tune other portions of the plane, with the cost of the plane itself, I had a very high performing plane for well under $100.00, that could take sub .001" shavings easily in the cherry I typically work (measured with a micrometer and not calipers).

I also stripped the finish off the tote and handle, refinishing with boiled linseed oil and painted the plane body a green similar to a Clifton. I gave the souped plane away about a year ago to a fellow SM-creeker.

In short, this plane had all the basics to be a super performed!

[jeff vanek]

HF has their big tent sale this weekend, I will check these out, thanks!

[Brian Kent]

I admit - I am very surprised, especially hearing about some usability from people who use more respected planes.
I have an Anant 4-1/2 that now works quite well. On the other hand, when I had 2 Buck Brothers from Home Depot they were not redeemable for me.

[john brenton]

I have always been put off by anything HF, but I bought the 40" lathe, the HSS turning chisels, and a set of japanese carving chisels. They are all great. The shape of the grind on the chisels is good, and the carving chisels come honed to a mirror shine.

[Zach England]

I bought come c-clamps from HF online once just because I needed a certain size for a one-time use. They are in the shape of a C and they clamp, so I guess they are pretty decent.

I have actually never been inside a Harbor Freight store.

[Nick Sorenson]

I bought come c-clamps from HF online once just because I needed a certain size for a one-time use. They are in the shape of a C and they clamp, so I guess they are pretty decent.

I have actually never been inside a Harbor Freight store.

I buy lots of their rubber handled adjustable clamps. They work GREAT and are like $3-$12 depending on size. There is quite a bit of junk there. That's for sure. I guess that's one good thing about their return policy. I've used tools that have had major issues right away or fresh out of the box. They either go into the trash or usually back to HF. I can usually tell how a tool will work right away fortunately. Seems like they've gotten better than they used to be in general. But still plenty of junk. You don't have to search too hard obviously. Their spray guns are decent for the price. I bought their 4 pack of chisels for $5 and they were decent. Their drills have been so so. I'll stick to Bosch and DeWalt on drills and impacts. Not worth messing with the HF stuff in my experience so far.

[Zach Dillinger]

Their drills have been so so. I'll stick to Bosch and DeWalt on drills and impacts. Not worth messing with the HF stuff in my experience so far.

I've actually owned two corded drills from HF, use them in car restoration work / some home carpentry. One literally caught fire within 10 minutes of plugging it in, the other has worked well for 2 + years. Very hit or miss with their electronic stuff.

[john brenton]

The smell is something else. When I walk in it always reminds of my plumbing days. The whole store smells like they just cut a cast iron fitting on a chop saw. The iron, and the oils PERMEATE every fiber of your being. I feel sorry for the wives of the employees that work there. You know they can't get that stink off.

I bought come c-clamps from HF online once just because I needed a certain size for a one-time use. They are in the shape of a C and they clamp, so I guess they are pretty decent.

I have actually never been inside a Harbor Freight store.

[Zach England]

I should go down to Harbor Freight and check out their spray guns. I don't use spray guns in woodworking, but I use them a lot in my ceramics studio, which is my main pursuit right now. The glaze particles are very abrasive and wear out the spray guns pretty quickly.