No surprise like a good surprise. . .Especially at HF!

[Matt Evans]

There are those who may look at me with some incredulity for even posting this. I don't blame them for doing so at all. I still am having a hard time believing the good fortune. . .

The other day I walked in to HF to look at a lathe center. I knew it would be a cheapo, but for a wooden shopbuilt lathe it would be fine. While I was there I stopped and browsed. Walking up and down the aisles I thought the normal thoughts, "Wow, a vise for 17.99! Oh, all thread for the screw. Hmph."

But, looking at the small selection of hand planes, I thought "Well, I am in the market for a No.3, for $9.99, why not?" I figured that if it didn't work I could at least say that it was only $10 lost, and I had the feeling that that was the way things would go.


I checked out, got in my truck and drove home. I went to a carving class I take. I got a w. butcher 1/2" mortice chisel in trade from my instructor, and bought a Record 050C from him. I didn't get home until very late. So, this afternoon, while I was waiting for a phone call, I decided to try the new tools out. I started with the Record. Perfect dados, decent rebates. I was tickled pink. Then, I though about the HF no33 I bought. What the heck, why not?

My first impression on pulling it out of the box was that it was pretty solid for a knockoff plane. Then, I looked at the adjustors, and thought that they looked pretty good, and much easier to adjust laterally than a standard lever. The totes were surprisingly comfortable, and actual wood. The mouth was larger than I would like, but not horribly so. The bed and body were a single piece casting, relatively well done. The iron was HSS, and relatively sharp. I decided I was impressed already.

Then, I took it to a piece of pine, did a few adjustments, and switched to a piece of scrap maple. WOW! An even, thin and fluffy shaving on the first pass! I thought it must have been a fluke. Another pass, another decent shaving. I took four passes, and left a very passable surface.

I stood in the basement looking at the plane for a few minutes, and decided to come up and post.

I have never been impressed with HF, but this really was an eye opener. It may have been a fluke, but I hope not. I haven't even sharpened the blade or done any lapping or tuning. I adjusted the depth of cut, the lateral adjustment, and tightened the tote screw.

This plane may not be the best plane I own. My No. 4 leaves a better surface, and is slightly more comfortable. But, for an out of the box condition, this is indeed worth it. The only real kvetches I have are the adjusters. They are a bit difficult to turn when they are tight to the blade one way or the other. I think a slight bevel on the edges of the screws will take care of that, but I will have to test it out.

I will post a bit more after sharpening the blade and doing a bit more with it, but really, for $10, some of you might want to check it out.

[Brian Coe]

I picked up one of these on sale awhile back too...mainly for my 6 yr old to have a plane to work with that didn't matter if it hit the garage floor a few times. I was similarly impressed with the relative quality for the price. I think it will be a fine plane to get him started on, before he moves up to his Lie-Nielsens. I would say that it beats the quality of some of the Stanley "Handyman" series of planes and other similar off-brand second or third tier tools sold from the 60's to the 80's. Cheaper too.

Just my two cents of agreement.

Brian

[george wilson]

It looks pretty nice for $9.99. If the blade is HSS,I have found that Chinese HSS is harder,and a bit more brittle,than USA HSS. Sometimes their endmills can cut harder materials than usual.

I haven't noticed a plane before that adjusts like a spokeshave. Is that a copy of something?

[Bob Strawn]

I have on occasion tuned up HF planes. The results have been outstanding. They are very nice. The blades however, do not hold an edge all that long. You can get them sharp enough and will make a decent enough user, but they just don't retain an edge long enough to be quite worth my while anymore.

What I find interesting is that this particular plane, the 33, comes equipped with a freaking wide mouth and no ability to bring it down to size. Yet, with a sharp blade in it, it really does do a decent job. As far as adjusters go, It also has one of the better mechanical adjuster systems. Simple and functional. The price of a worthless block plane, will get you a plane that will beat anything sold in the regular hardware stores.

As far as a metal plane goes, replace the blade and figure a good way to adjust the mouth, and this >$10 plane will probably beat or equal anything short of a LV Bevel Up.

The wooden handles look pretty nice too. Best of all, if you buy one of these, I won't get jealous. Nor will I be quite as upset if someone borrows and drops it on a concrete floor. This may be the ultimate loaner.

Bob

[george wilson]

I don't see changing the blade on this plane to be an easy task for most woodworkers. It isn't like ordinary blades with that spokeshave adjuster. plus,it is a very short blade. I wonder if any spoke shave blades would fit it?

The big problem with the spokeshave adjustment is that every time you adjust the cutting depth of the blade,you get it out of parallel,too.

[Jeff Wittrock]

A few weeks ago I was in HF and saw this plane. At the time it was on sale for 7.99 or something like that. I was tempted to grab one for my son to play with, but I decided I'd rather just make him a wooden body plane instead. I might just pick one up to play with.

I wonder how hard it would be to put a shim between the frog and blade to close up the mouth. It couldn't be too thick or the adjusters wouldn't engage the blade I suppose.

-Jeff

[Jim Koepke]

I always wonder at what cost does a "good deal" come.

This includes wondering about the people who are making these items.
Maybe they are being paid top wages, maybe not.

What does it do to our own economy to have so many of our everyday items no longer made in American factories.

One day we may wake up and find ourselves unable to make or buy anything. Then to stay alive, we will give up all we have left.

jim

[Matt Evans]

George, I have never seen that adjuster system on a plane either. That is what drew me to the plane in the first place.

As far as the making a new blade bit, that would be very easy to do out of O1 steel. cut on bandsaw, or with hacksaw, grind rough bevel, heat treat, temper, lap and sharpen. The shape of the blade is almost that of the Record 050c, all it is is a small notch in the blade to catch the adjuster wheel.

I agree with the made in India vs. made in the US argument. Most of the tools I buy are all US, Canadian, English, etc. I refuse to even go to Walmart, or use any closely affiliated company, due to the way and where they do business. A lot of it has to do with my personal belief, which seems to be on the same lines as Jims.

The manufacturers are, by US standards, getting the raw end of the stick. But, in a country that has their "poverty level" making $1 per day, even if the company makes $1 per plane profit, they are helping the people in their country out. (depending on business and ethics practices, of course.)

I don't want to get into a socioeconomic/political debate, so I will stop there.

[george wilson]

Matt,easy for us metal workers who know how to harden and temper,and have the means. Not so easy for a lot of others,though.

Save the beveling till after the heat treating,or the plane blade is 100% going to warp due to different surface area on each side. Been there,done that.

[Raney Nelson]

Save the beveling till after the heat treating,or the plane blade is 100% going to warp due to different surface area on each side. Been there,done that.

Now that gave me quite a 'DUH' moment... I've been doing a wee bit of home heat treating, and I generally grind a rough bevel before treating, just not all the way to a point(to prevent overly brittle steel at the tip)... but somehow the differential surface areas is an idea I haven't heard, or considered, before. Makes a remarkable degree of sense, though...

I am quite sure I'll be doing the heat treating before beveling on the next one, though - thanks George.

[James Scheffler]

It looks pretty nice for $9.99. If the blade is HSS,I have found that Chinese HSS is harder,and a bit more brittle,than USA HSS. Sometimes their endmills can cut harder materials than usual.

I haven't noticed a plane before that adjusts like a spokeshave. Is that a copy of something?

Stanley currently makes a similar plane. I've seen it at HF and on Amazon.

Based on the comments and pictures above, the HF looks better than the Stanley. I believe the Stanley comes with plastic handles.

Jim

[Chris Tsutsui]

I have the stanley version of this plane and it has black plastic handle and knob.

I wouldn't say it's the best plane but what can I expect for like $30.

Had this HF unit sold at the borg with a brand name it would easily be $30-50.

[Bob Strawn]

Matt,easy for us metal workers who know how to harden and temper,and have the means. Not so easy for a lot of others,though.

Save the beveling till after the heat treating,or the plane blade is 100% going to warp due to different surface area on each side. Been there,done that.

I have not had that problem with O1, but I do a nice long heat soak on my forge to release stress after I compact the steel a bit with a hammer. I don't usually grind it sharper that a 32nd of an inch and I try to avoid angled edges unless they are needed.

Other metals have given me issues when I heat treat, but so far O1 has been good to me.

The oil I use to quench is heated to about 120 degrees before I quench. A warm quench and good oil circulation, is I think the key to reducing the chances of deformation. Some folk advise a 150 degree quench, but they are usually making fairly complex parts. Above 150 degrees you start to get into the region where hardness is reduced. Unless you have a good mass of oil, and good circulation it is easy to have deformation due to variable quench temperatures across the body of the steel.

Bob

[Tony Zaffuto]

I bought one of the HF 33 planes and it is not bad at all. Jim Reed over on WoodNet made some blades for this plane and I picked up one of his thicker blades(even though I could have made a blade and heat treated it, I don't have a lot of spare time). I surface ground the sides and sole of the plane (not bad at all without grinding).

The 1/8" blade closed up the mouth quite a bit and the plane is capable of .0015" thick shavings and maybe a bit better with a little attention to blade bedding. I stripped off the tote and knob finish and re-did with BLO and that turns this into a pretty little plane. With all the work done, I would put a total value of around $75 to $85.00 for the plane, and it can compete with the most planes out there.

[george wilson]

I never heated the oil,or brine up. Are you trying to avoid tempering? I keep 5 gallon quenches of automatic transmission fluid,and another of brine.

I can see where warm oil would reduce warping,because it shocks the steel less. It also reduces the hardness achieved.

Years ago,I made some wire drawing dies about the size of ice cubes,and had to harden them at another site. This was years before I became toolmaker,and I didn't have furnaces or large quenches at my home shop. I did not have a large oil quench,so I used warm water to quench the 01. It failed to harden sufficiently in WATER because it was warm(and not 120 degrees!) I warmed the water because I was using an incorrect quench which could have cracked or warped the 01.

[Bob Strawn]

Oil quench is weird. For a good even quench, you want oil with no sludge, varnish or water. These things cool at different rates and can give variations in the process. Ideally you raise The oil temperature to waters boiling point to make sure moisture is driven off and then lower it to the correct quenching temperature.

Oil quenches in three phases. first a vapor blanket forms around the steel, then boiling occurs followed by straight heat conduction in the third phase. The middle phase is where the majority of the crystallization and cooling occur. During this phase, low viscosity improves quench speed exponentially.

Oddly enough, during the most critical phase of quenching, warm oil not only speeds the quench, it also reduces irregularity in quench temperatures.

Bob

[David Gendron]

Bravo Jim! But I guess not many think that way!!

[Bob Strawn]

Bravo Jim! But I guess not many think that way!!

I rather strongly agree with him. Yet I am often tempted by a good deal. Short sighted of me really.

Bob