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

[Bill Houghton]

I know this is an old thread, but...

I've got one of these beasties. Assuming I get it tuned up and like the way it works then i also assume I'll be wanting a better blade. is there any reason I couldn't find a quality blade that has the same geometry (mostly the width) and grind two slots in it to fit the adjusters on this plane?

Sure, why not? Plane irons are mostly parallel in their thickness (the same thickness all the way along), and if you've got the tooling and ability to grind the needed slots, I'd give it a shot.

If I recall the reviews correctly, some folks even thought the iron was decent; so I'd try it out first.

[Jerome Hanby]

Thanks for the confirmation. If the blade turns out decent, I'll buy a few spares next time I'm at HF and just call it a day. I received my Klingspor Worksharp (compatible) disks and extra glass wheels and this weekend I'll be spending most of my shop time waiting for glue and shellac to dry, so I may get my sharpening operation setup and give this plane and its blade a little test run.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Certainly making good steel for blades shouldn't be exceedingly difficult in this day and age. Having them be nicely flattened and ground prior to receiving them would make things more expensive, so you may have some lapping and grinding ahead of you, but that's really a one-time proposition. Of course, the stock blade may be on the thin side, which might not be desireable - but you'd have to see how it performs.

How long are the blades? (or rather, how long do they need to be to engage the adjusters?) I'd be tempted to see if a spokeshave blade could fit in there, if I wanted to replace the blade . . .

[Jerome Hanby]

Little longer than the Spokeshave blades I've seen, but shorter than the plane irons with which I'm familiar. I would probably find an available plane blade the right width and grind slots into it rather than starting from scratch. Would still have some flattening and sharpening to do, but nothing more than any other plane blade...

If I get into it this weekend, I'll try to find a blade out of one of my record planes that is similar width and take some pictures of them side by side. I'll post those pics along with some measurements, maybe the information will prove useful to someone else.

I've also been tempted to tear this little plane into pieces and see if the parts (specifically the adjuster) could be used for some shop made planes. At $10 a shot, would be cheaper than any adjuster I can buy! But, if it sharpens up and works halfway decently, I'll have to give it a reprieve and grab another one for my experiments.

I don't really expect much form this thing, but I picked it up for about half price during one of the HF parking lot sales after reading in this thread a while back. Worse case, the tote and knob are pretty nice, bet I can use them for something...

[Tony Zaffuto]

I had a #33 HF plane. Bought it as a "project" to see what I could make of it. I got it to take sub .001" shavings (measured with a calibrated micrometer, not calipers). Here is what all was done (I'm sure I posted all this sometime ago, maybe even in this thread): first, I bought a new blade, from a Woodnet guy, IIRC I paid about $35.00 for the blade, next, I had one of my machinists surface grind the sole and then square the sides to the sole, again, I think I may have assigned a cost of around $45.00 for labor and burden, then I cleaned up the blade bedding area and tuned up the chipbreaker/blade clamp so the edge bore on the blade correctly. For appearance, I stripped the knob and tote and applied BLO as a finish.

Pretty easy to get this plane to perform to sub .001" shavings (cherry). The casting was not bad and the sole, when stock, wasn't too bad either and probably could have been tuned easily with a granite plate and Sc paper. The stock blade could be made razor sharp, but I didn't try using it, so I can't comment on how long the edge would last. The Jim Reed blade I put in the plane was 1/8" thick and closed the mouth up pretty nicely. Think I paid $7.00 for the plane and had fun seeing what I could make it do. I ended up giving the plane away to an aspiring Galoot in need of some tools.

[Jerome Hanby]

Was that Jim Reed blade (he said like he had a clue what he was talking about) off the shelf ready to fit that plane or did you have to do some adapting to make it fit?

I had a #33 HF plane. Bought it as a "project" to see what I could make of it. I got it to take sub .001" shavings (measured with a calibrated micrometer, not calipers). Here is what all was done (I'm sure I posted all this sometime ago, maybe even in this thread): first, I bought a new blade, from a Woodnet guy, IIRC I paid about $35.00 for the blade, next, I had one of my machinists surface grind the sole and then square the sides to the sole, again, I think I may have assigned a cost of around $45.00 for labor and burden, then I cleaned up the blade bedding area and tuned up the chipbreaker/blade clamp so the edge bore on the blade correctly. For appearance, I stripped the knob and tote and applied BLO as a finish.

Pretty easy to get this plane to perform to sub .001" shavings (cherry). The casting was not bad and the sole, when stock, wasn't too bad either and probably could have been tuned easily with a granite plate and Sc paper. The stock blade could be made razor sharp, but I didn't try using it, so I can't comment on how long the edge would last. The Jim Reed blade I put in the plane was 1/8" thick and closed the mouth up pretty nicely. Think I paid $7.00 for the plane and had fun seeing what I could make it do. I ended up giving the plane away to an aspiring Galoot in need of some tools.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Made to fit the plane by Jim. He made a special run of them several years ago, but I don't think he is making blades currently. You could get a piece of O1 material (MSC or McMaster-Carr) no more than 1/8" thick and file out one of your own, using the furnished blade as a pattern. O1 heat treat instructions, via propane torch, and then draw, can be found on the web.

[David Ziegelheim]

I cleaned up the surfaces touching the blade and have been working the sole...but it had a pretty severe depression in the middle. We are talking hours of sanding over granite. I have it down to about 3 thousandths on oak, but not quite done yet. A better blade would probably help. The adjustment with the two knobs is a bit funky.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Forgot all about this plane/project (I think I posted everything I did to the plane early in this thread). In the time that has since past, I have brought other planes to the same level of performance-all the plane needs are "good bones".

For the reasons of what I was able to get out of the HF plane, it is my belief that sooner or later, we'll see "off the shelf" LN performance out of a "Pacific Rim" plane. All it will take will be a tad extra of applied QC & "clean up" machining labor. Before I start a thread war, please note I'm not endorsing this, but rather offering an opinion.

[David Weaver]

I haven't used any v3 woodcraft planes, but it sounds like they're not far off from that level.

[Terry Beadle]

Update:

I'm still using my #33 after a year or more of use. It's reliable and very easy to keep tuned. I use mine mainly to soften the edges on projects and to flatten or shape smaller componets.

The blade has been sharpened less than 3 times in that year of use. In short, I must be either lucky or that blade does the job. I vote for does the job. Replacing it would be over kill and
lower my "I'm so cheap!" factor...hoot!

Here's some proof of happy use, a andirondak chair project made from reclaimed decking material.

chairReady.jpg

Happy plane-ing !

[steven c newman]

Seems that little plane has another use, as well. Couldn't afford a Stanley #40, but, I could re-grind the iron on a Windsor #33. Ground a 3" radius on the edge. This $9.00+ tax plane is now my scrub plane. As for the thickness of the iron? seems to be as thick as some of my old Union (1905) plane irons! If not thicker! SDC14106.jpgJust a bit wider than a Stanley #40, but every bit as aggressive scrubbing wood.

[Zander Kale]

The casting is decent but at 45° and no chip breaker, tear out tends to be a problem. I went crazy and grafted on a Stanley frog (steepened the angle to 47.5°) and it works quite well.
grozley 347.jpg

[Josh Garrisi]

Zander, can you please describe the grafting process to add the stanley frog? I'm having some problems with the blade chattering and wandering in the adjustments, and this is an interesting option.

[Zander Kale]

First of all, I wouldn't call it a rational thing to do but the results are nice, a short #3 (although there is room for a 2" blade), I had all the parts sitting around and I did it on a lark.

I flattened the sole (now sure now but I remember not being impressed), removed the all-thread from the #33 and clamped it on the mill. Then milled the bed at the mouth (to get a flat reference) and the frog bed at 1/2" higher (should probably have made it higher). Look at any Bailey. Then I took a #3 frog from the rust bucket, squared the sides and clamped it in the mill (upside down) with the blade bed at 47.5° and milled the mating step. Then marked, drilled and tapped two 1/4" x 20 hold down screws. Then blued everything for looks.

By milling at 1/2", the frog was chopped by about 1/4", which meant a new chip breaker and the blade slot just about touches the cap screw (I'm using an old blade so a new one might not quite fit). Also, the way the frog is cast (and there isn't enough meat to reshape this area), it is a bear to get a the hold down screws with the frog all the way forward so I'm using hex head bolts without washers.