new plane--pitted/rusted

[John Pohja]

I just received a new veritas shoulder plane for X-mas. Should a new plane have any pitting/rust on its machined surfaces?
The upper, side of the plane has a thin line of rust and/or pitting about 3 inches long.
I'm just getting into planes and am no expert but thought this was unusual for a new plane,especially from Lee Valley.
Should i be exchanging this plane? John

[Mark McGee]

Yes you should exchange it. No rust should be present. Call them and they will take care of it. Their customer service is great.

[David Gilbert]

I know that Rob Lee will want (demand?) you to return plane. They are justifiably proud of the quality of their merchandise and will happily replace your plane.
Cheers!

[Matt Bickford]

It's fascinating that you decided to post this on multiple forums. Are you looking for answers? trying to get the word out? Or do you just like the attention? Do yourself a favor, call the company and ask what you should do. They will have the answers, not us.

Matt, owner of zero veritas planes.

[John Pohja]

It's fascinating that you decided to post this on multiple forums. Are you looking for answers? trying to get the word out? Or do you just like the attention? Do yourself a favor, call the company and ask what you should do. They will have the answers, not us.

Matt, owner of zero veritas planes.

Hi Matt, Hope your having a better day today. The tone of your response is anger and suspicion, although i'm not sure why.
Why are you reading on multiple forums? Looking to write unhelpful responses?
You may not "have the answers", but i received several helpful responses from others. Happy Holidays. John

[Rob Lee]

I just received a new veritas shoulder plane for X-mas. Should a new plane have any pitting/rust on its machined surfaces?
The upper, side of the plane has a thin line of rust and/or pitting about 3 inches long.
I'm just getting into planes and am no expert but thought this was unusual for a new plane,especially from Lee Valley.
Should i be exchanging this plane? John

Hi John -

No - there should be no rust on a new plane. If you want to contact our customer service department (no matter where you bought it) we'll have it replaced.

Cheers -

Rob

[Richard Niemiec]

Well, there's two ways to address this. The first is to treat the imperfection as instant "character," buff it up with some 0000 steel wool and move on, unless the imperfection is of the type that interferes with use; the plane will gather a lot more patina and surface issues as the years go by. The second is to call LV and they will be happy to exchange it, they are the most customer centric company out there and a pleasure to do business with. IMHO these two approaches are self evident (unless this is your first experience with LV's customer service), so why bandy about LV's good name for what is a normal production problem..... just call them and Rob's team will make you happy one way or another. I see that Rob is all over this like white on rice already.....

[John Keeton]

I just received a new veritas shoulder plane for X-mas. Should a new plane have any pitting/rust on its machined surfaces?

At the risk of inciting an additional exchange, let me venture out on this one.

John, your question is rhetorical. The obvious answer is no.

Were this a design issue that raised concern for the members of this community, and something others may want to watch for, then your post may have been received better. Your post does not offer information of import to others. Some may view it as a sucker punch against a very well-respected company for a situation that could happen at any time, to any supplier. But most certainly, one that LV would handle with one phone call - less time than it took you to post it for the world.

Matt's response was a bit venomous, but if you have, in fact, posted this query on mulitiple forums (I don't frequent others) his reaction is probably reactionary and may reflect his having seen the other posts. Your response didn't help the mix any.

Hopefully, both of you have survived the "stresses" of the holiday season, this problem has quickly been resolved by Rob, and all can go back to a peaceful time.

Best wishes to all!

[Charles Shenk]

I think Matt was right on the money. I venture to guess that the rust was not LV's fault but they are "man enough" to replace it anyways.

[Marcus Ward]

I'm with Matt. And if the original poster has posted this on various forums, then I'd venture to guess he's one of those people who will not hesitate to vilify someone for making an honest and easily rectified mistake without first checking with that person. He probably got it 'new' from ebay. My ignore list grows and grows.

[Matt Bickford]

I think that 'absolute bewilderment' was my intended tone. I can't understand your intentions, that's all. From hand planes to airplanes: Rust/pitting is not appropriate on anything new.

Searching for a consensus isn't a good idea because even if every single person says it's not worth it despite the company being willing to replace it and you being evidently bothered by it, you should send it back. It's a decision you need to make after contacting Lee Valley and finding out if they'll take it back. My point is that it's your decision. Lee Valley certainly won't want this to affect your future purchases.

I would not send it back. But I am not you. All I can say definitively regarding your situation is that if you're even the least bit 'green' you should not send it back.

What was consensus? What are your conclusions?

[John Pohja]

I'll close by saying that there are probably hundreds of posts regarding finish of machined surfaces on all kinds of equipment and tools(accompanied by questions as to return or not)--- eg,planers,jointers and tablesaw tops with pitting,chipping,"not flat",and otherwise damaged without all the hoopla thats been created.
I've been a more than satisfied longtime customer of Lee Valley and was quick to point out in my OP that this seemed unusual. It was nice for LV to jump into the thread and I'll reach out to them. Nevertheless, I'm sure LV is not quaking in their boots regarding some obscure post on a woodworking forum. John

[John Keeton]

Nevertheless, I'm sure LV is not quaking in their boots regarding some obscure post on a woodworking forum. John

John, please understand that there are more than 25,000 members of Sawmill Creek, including hobbiests like me that are minimally talented and have mediocre knowledge, as well as several hundred (thousand??) superb craftsmen/women that produce heirloom quality work. Those people literally span the English speaking world.

But, more importantly, there are literally hundreds of thousands of lookers on this forum (perhaps the mods can provide better info) so there is nothing "obscure" about your post - or any other on this forum for that matter.

Your observation regarding posts concerning various machined surfaces is not really comparable - or "apples vs. apples." The rust on your plane was not a machining defect, nor a design defect, nor for that matter, conclusively the fault of Lee Valley. Your gift could have been exposed to moisture in any number of ways not connected to Lee Valley.

Discretion is the better part of many virtues.