Shop Fox planes

[Thomas Delpizzo]

Anyone have experience with the Shop Fox planes? They seem pretty decent in the Grizzly catalog. I would like to try the Stanley shoulder and bull nose clones. They're half the price. Although they're not Lie Neilsen's or other top planes, for the price they may be an affordable alternative(s). See pp 330-333 in the new 2011 catalog.

[Derek Gilmer]

Good timing, I was just browsing the catalog and wondered the same thing.

[David Weaver]

They appear to be the same thing as footprint planes, which from everything I've ever seen were widely panned.

Not to mention that in common sizes, they cost as much as a nice condition vintage plane.

In that price range, stick to vintage, and if you can help it, try to buy a user from someone who uses planes rather than a flea market flip.

[Brett Robson]

I have the No. 4 and No. 5 bench planes, both of which I use all the time. Overall I've been pleased with both. Of course they're no Lie Nielson, but they get the job done and didn't require a ton of work to get them into shape.

My only gripe with both is mainly the amount of backlash in the depth adjuster. It requires a couple complete rotations to take up the slack and begin to move the iron in or out. On my No. 4, it appears either the frog casting or its mating surface on the sole isn't quite flat, which means the lateral adjuster is always at 5 o'clock to keep the iron square to the wood.

I used the factory iron/chipbreaker for about a year in both before upgrading both to IBC blades and breakers. The factory irons just didn't hold an edge well even with a 35 degree bevel.

With the new irons and a light camber, both will take .001" shavings all day long.

I say go for them if you want a decent cheap plane and don't want to bother rehabbing an antique Stanley or other make.