Matt Evans
08-23-2009, 7:43 PM
Alright, I have had these for a grand total of 3 or 4 days. The Handyman plane was in decent shape, but had a bit of rust, and needed a bit of work, particularly to the Japanning. but, it was complete when I got it, and was pretty easy to turn into a scrub plane.
That being said, I mentioned in the sale post here on the forum that the #4 smoother needed absolutely nothing at all to get it working to my satisfaction. And, with the exception of tightening the tote screw, I haven't done anything to it except turn the blade depth screw.
Both of these planes are already in my user category. The #4 that John tuned up was a great surprise when it arrived. The Handyman that he threw in I wasn't sure about. I wasn't really certain that I could make a useful scrub out of it. This is the only Handyman plane I have ever seen, so I suspected its quality was a bit below par. And, to be fair, while it is pretty obvious that it wasn't one of the regular line of planes, it is a serviceable one. I wouldn't want to use it as a smoother, but now that the plane has been refitted as a scrub plane, it has a place on my bench!
(For the record, That oak is reclaimed, knotty, has more grain changes than Carter has pills, and is primed to tear out if you look at it wrong. Both planes handled it perfectly.)
*I just looked at the pictures. . .the planes look much better in person. . .
That being said, I mentioned in the sale post here on the forum that the #4 smoother needed absolutely nothing at all to get it working to my satisfaction. And, with the exception of tightening the tote screw, I haven't done anything to it except turn the blade depth screw.
Both of these planes are already in my user category. The #4 that John tuned up was a great surprise when it arrived. The Handyman that he threw in I wasn't sure about. I wasn't really certain that I could make a useful scrub out of it. This is the only Handyman plane I have ever seen, so I suspected its quality was a bit below par. And, to be fair, while it is pretty obvious that it wasn't one of the regular line of planes, it is a serviceable one. I wouldn't want to use it as a smoother, but now that the plane has been refitted as a scrub plane, it has a place on my bench!
(For the record, That oak is reclaimed, knotty, has more grain changes than Carter has pills, and is primed to tear out if you look at it wrong. Both planes handled it perfectly.)
*I just looked at the pictures. . .the planes look much better in person. . .