STANLEY Hand Planer, No.4, Smoothing (12-136)

Ok report

Excelente producto, bien afilado, acabados muy buenos, tengo tiempo que hago muebles y este es mi primer cepillo es muy placentero trabajar con él ya que pude sacar una tira completa y delgada de madera, está bien hecho en México y lo único malo es que solo se pueda comprar importándolo.

First, the minus one: lever cap is aluminium, not a solid aluminium, but a hollow one. I still give it 5 stars, because it still not proven that it is not durable. As long as it is not overtighten, I guess everything will be ok. Another minus is the norris adjuster, sloppy. Wanna fix it? A little MacGyver things can do the trick. Use a seal tape one usually use it to seal the pipes on plumbing job. Apply on the pin that hold the hole on the blade. Problem solved. Still sloppy? Use the tape again, this time, apply on the pin that attached to the plane's body. Done? How is it now? I guess it will perform like LN or V brand! The depth adjuster is loose? No problem, apply the same tape, the same MacGyver thing along the metal Thread. Now the adjuster feel snug and not to become loose easily.Besides the minus things, what I have got here is a masterpiece! Made of a ductile cast iron, it won't crack easily, even you drop it from your work bench. The blade is A2 steel, very thick, like low angle plane blades, very strong, sharp out of the box. But you still need to polish it. I think no need to touch up the plane bed. I believe it flat enough. Still need 30 minutes top for lapping the sole.This plane is really a new animal. It combines the best features from bevel down planes with the best features from bevel up/ low angle planes. Among others, it has adjustable mouth. Although it does not have stopper like V brand, it won't slamed your blade and incidentally destroy the edge. Fixed bed for stability, nice cap iron, ready to use, flat style, not humpback, norris adjuster.Too bad, once again, stanley made it half hearted caused this plane suffered from several flaws. With better QC, and better accuracy on norris style adjuster, this plane will be unbeatable!

I did a lot of research and I was a bit hesitant to buy this plane as opposed to a veritas or lie neilson. I when I received the plane it's was dead flat , I sharpened the blade and put a quick Camber on the blade and it left a beautiful surface. I used it with an oak project and I have no complaints about its performance. If you want a nice finish and do not want to spend the money on a higher end hand plane, this hand plane is quite capable of delivering the great results.

My plane arrived with a flat sole and boy was I happy. I have done my fair share of flattening in my life and the less I do, the more life I live. The design of the plane was impressive. I like the Norris controls but it has a lot of free play which is the only bad point in the whole plane. However, to be able to control the angle and depth with just on control makes the free play moot. The A2 blade was sharp but I didn't paper thin shavings until I honed the blade. But this was easy with a good japanese waterstone. Some more expensive planes don't even tell you what the composition of the blade is. A2 is an excellent blade metal that will last a long time. I have used the old Stanley planes and I will say that although I liked those, the new design is so much less bulk. I have done some board, and cutting board flattening with the plane and it was easy. Getting paper thin shaving is so therapeutic that maybe I will just use this to meditate with. Life is short and you don't want to waste your time doing inefficient things like trying to get a cheap plane to work. Get this Stanley.