Anyone tried the stanly premium planes yet

[joel Thompson]

Hi guys i think this is my first post i think but i use this forum as a resource all the time.
i have a done a search on this and while many people have an opinion on the new stanly sw premium planes (they seem to be the marmite of the plane world) i have yet to see anyone who has used one.
i am interested becouse tilgear in the uk are selling them at a very reasonble price (£90 for the number 4 compared to £250 (over $400 i hate uk taxes) for a LN).
at that price i can not help thinking its worth giving it a go.
yes its made in mexico etc but that should not be synomouse with poor quality in fact it may mean they can bring very high quality to the table with reduced costs look at mexican fender guitars they have been a first port of call for some guitarists over the us ones for some time now as they they same guitars made by a us company just over the border so they can benifit lower taxes and cheaper labour but the quality is still there as its still us run.
anyway i was thinking of at least going for one the block blanes for now (i was thinking standard angle) and giving them the benifit of the doubt.
A rep from another tool store actulay told me to consider one of these rather than a new veritas or LN block plane that he was promoting.
i allready have several old stanly block planes (i bought one new and it has never been usable even after tuning and i bought one on ebay which is usualy the first one i pick up after the my LV apron plane) and i feel it can do no harm in trying this plane out.

any comments would be awsome otherwise i will post my opinions once i have tried it (i make guitars).
Thanks,
joel.

[johnny means]

I certainly have been taking a hard look.

[Jacob Mac]

I have the block plane and it has a ridiculous amount of backlash. Other than than, it is a fine plane, and I hope to use it for several decades.However, given the amount of backlash, I wouldn't get another.

Chris Schwarz did a review of them, and he seemed to like them.

[joel Thompson]

is this backlash a common problem in the design do you know and is it a problem in the bench planes also?,
j.

[Jacob Mac]

Originally Posted by joel Thompson

is this backlash a common problem in the design do you know and is it a problem in the bench planes also?,
j.

From my understanding, the answer is yes to both questions. However, Stanley is supposedly working on fixing the problem.

[Joe Mioux]

What is backlash in a plane? and how does it affect planing wood? and how can it be fixed?

thanks joe

[Peter Quinn]

Originally Posted by Joe Mioux

What is backlash in a plane? and how does it affect planing wood? and how can it be fixed?

thanks joe

I believe it has to do with the accuracy of the depth adjustment mechanism. Sometimes you need to back the blade off just a bit, and if the last thing you did was advance the blade, and it suffers from back lash, you will need to turn the screw considerably to affect the depth, but it can be hard to tell how much you have moved when the difference is meant to be in thousands of an inch.

My old Stanley #9 block plane has nearly NO back lash. 1940's era? What have they forgotten?

[Tom Esh]

Originally Posted by Joe Mioux

What is backlash in a plane? and how does it affect planing wood? and how can it be fixed?

thanks joe

It does not effect how it planes. It's mechanical backlash or slop in the depth-of-cut adjustment (they all have some). Increasing depth simply requires advancing the adjuster knob. However when decreasing depth you first have to retract far enough to take up the slack, then advance to a position less than the original. With more backlash it's just easier to lose track of the rotation. It's a minor thing, but some find it annoying. A Sharpie mark or two on the knob helps.

[Clint Schlosser]

Well, this was informative. I have a Lie Neilsen block plan and low angle jack plane. I have struggled with the adjustments on both and now have a name for the phenomenom. It could be operator error or just a fact of life for planes in general. Who knows

[Marco Cecala]

I was just in a class taught by Garrett Hack. He knows his way around a plane. Someone had a Stanley block plane, they did some tuning on it and it worked well. From what I have heard, they are mostly OK out of the box but you may need to fettle them a bit to get them right.

[Bob Strawn]

Originally Posted by Joe Mioux

What is backlash in a plane? and how does it affect planing wood? and how can it be fixed?

thanks joe

Best way to avoid backlash is to get a hammer adjusted plane.

Bob

[Jim Koepke]

Joel,
Welcome to the Creek.

I am curious as to why you want the standard angle block plane as opposed to the low angle block plane?

What about used Record and other UK makers of planes? Some of those are pretty good planes.

I have a few of each and rarely use my standard angle block planes. I am always using my low angle block planes.

Different adjuster mechanisms have different amounts of back lash. Some designs do not have practical ways of removing much of the back lash. Most of the time it is a mild annoyance. Once the plane is set it doesn't matter.

jim