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OK as requested, I'm going to post my mini review of my newly acquired WR #1 plane.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a plane guru, far from it. I am not a pro woodworker either. Hobby woodworker at most. I do suffer from that plane collecting disease, gottahavethat.
Here goes.
Cute little guy, pictured by my Stanley #4, and the bottoms. Looks like a real plane. Built really well, as far as I can tell. Blade and chipbreaker are top notch, out of the box it was sharp, had to give it a run. Bottom was flat. Didn't check the 90 to the sides as who would really shoot with this. Fit and finish is the best I have seen. Although this is the only NEW plane that I bought. All others are vintage planes. Can't afford a real Stanley #1. He's pretty cute. Can't figure out how to hold it. I have big hands, and can't hold it properly. If you had REALLY tiny hands, you couldn't grip it properly either. I planed down some rough oak, and it cut easily. Takes a full width cut no problem. Yeah the blade is like an inch wide, but, it does full blade cuts no problem.
Did I say he was a cute little guy? So I sharpened the blade. Surprise. The blade does not fit in my honing jig. Too narrow. Hand honed the blade. Bevel was nice and sharp, couple passes up to 1200 grit. Back was reasonably flat. Took a few minutes on my 800 stone then though to 1200. This is the surprise. I took my curly koa display stand I'm building, and planed down the curly koa with NO chipout. I earlier used my (other) #4 with a Hock blade and I had some pretty good chip out. Pretty much expect that on curly koa, some sanding and done. This cute little guy planed it down and removed all of the chipout. I was and am amazed. You're only taking an inch of wood off at a time, so maybe that is the trick, but just for that, this is a keeper, and not a shelf sitter. Maybe I gotta re-tune my Hock bladed #4, but that's later. I did have it set pretty aggressive for the oak I was planning down earlier. Oh yeah, just for laughs, out of the box, I did try some end grain on the oak, and the #1 cut that too.
Bottom line. Is it for everyone? Probably not. Collector? No, probably not either. It is well built, not a toy. I had some overtime just burning a hole in my pocket, and a Woodcraft 15% off sale. It's a cute little guy, and I'll probably grab it before any of my block planes from now. If you just gotta have a #1, I think you need it. And no, it will not just sit on the shelf. It's a user.
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Originally Posted by Mark Stutz
