Gerd Fritsche Plane Kits

[Chris Jackson]

Has anyone build a Gerd Fritsche plane kit??



I just purchased one of his A-1 panel plane kits with brass sides and an adjuster, should recieve it in a week or two...just looking for an objective review of his products. They seem like a very good deal compared to folks like Sauer and Hotley, with the same quality of materials...any thoughts??

[Douglas Brummett]

Doing it with a kit versus buying a complete doesn't necessarily equate to the same quality finished product, especial for a first trial. Not knowing the current exchange rate that looks like what $750-850usd? S&S start at $3500cdn for a similar model. So I would say if you take care in assembly and no mistakes occur it is a good deal for that type of infill plane.

[Chris Jackson]

I'm an engineer by trade and have a pretty well equipped shop, so I'm not too intimidated by the assembly process...also have a machinist buddy with a mill and lapping table for final trim and finish operations.

Total after the exchange rate was about $680 US for the plane kit with adjuster and delivery.

My bigger concern was in the realm of materials quality and working performance...really interested if anyone has actually tried one of these out. I did some pretty extensive searches looking for reviews and have yet to find anything...flip side to that, I have not heard any negatives either...

[rick fulton]

Howdy Chris,

Through i have no experience with the Fritsche kits, i have a serious interest in building one myself someday. So please post some pics of the kit and your assembly progress.

A big advantage of this forum over some others is that posts and pics do not get deleted after a few years. A running dialog of the build process and results would be welcome input and will be appreciated later by the carbon squandering Normites once they recognize the fulfillment of the neander way.

Welcome to the Creek.
rick

[Jim Koepke]

My bigger concern was in the realm of materials quality and working performance...really interested if anyone has actually tried one of these out. I did some pretty extensive searches looking for reviews and have yet to find anything...flip side to that, I have not heard any negatives either...


I just Googled > Gerd Fritsche plane kit < and found a few singing the praises.

Maybe as has been said, you can take a lot of pictures and give a blow by blow of working with the kit and then the results.

We would all appreciate that.

jim

[Chris Jackson]

Absolutely, I will post the progress...the kit should ship sometime in March, so soon thereafter there should be something coming. I ended up speaking with Kerry Pierce (of much woodworking fame), who has assembled one of the Fritsche kits. He had good things to say, and although he did not end up installing the adjuster into his for aesthetic reasons, claimed the quality was certainly there. Will post more once I've got some hardware in hand.