Jorgensen 10-in Smooth Plane

[fritz eng]

Lowes seems to be carrying this plane with some positive reviews. Anyone in the Sawmill community have good experience?

[Jim Koepke]

No experience with these. My curiosity has me wondering where they are made.

The little block plane looks worth checking > https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jorgensen/5013525471

Maybe next time in town it will be given a look.

For $15 it is doubtful it is made in America.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Any relation to that Kobalt POS they also sell? For $40?

[Jim Koepke]

So for $15 it seemed worth taking a chance. Reading the revues one person wasn't happy due to it not being sharp right out of the box.

There were a few on the hook so they were compared. My choice was the one with the best paint job.

Here it is next to a Stanley #103:

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The paint job wasn't great on the few inspected, a couple had bubbles or missed coverage.

It seemed to work without a honing, it just wasn't great. Here it is disassembled:

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A few minutes on the stones got it working better.

There isn't much room for lateral adjustment of the blade. It seems to cut deeper on one side than the other. There was also a bit of a squealing when cutting end grain.

It will likely take a bit of fettling. Will report more later.

If anyone cares, it was made in China.

jtk

[Ralph Boumenot]

It looks exactly like my LN violin plane right down to the adjuster knob.

[chuck van dyck]

Might have to pick up that chamfer plane they are also offering.

[Reed Gray]

I have seen a couple of people on You Tube buy then and then get them 'ready' to use. Some take more work than others, but do plan to spend some time making sure they are properly tuned up.

robo hippy

[Marc Fenneuff]

I have seen a couple of people on You Tube buy then and then get them 'ready' to use.

Yes Rex Kreuger did a video on this plane. Basically said interesting concept, poor execution. I think he was impressed by the iron & chipbreaker though.

[Jim Koepke]

Yes Rex Kreuger did a video on this plane. Basically said interesting concept, poor execution. I think he was impressed by the iron & chipbreaker though.

Rex Krueger makes good videos, though this one couldn't be found.

Another search paid off > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaCZvaTgrW0 < watching it now.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Rex Krueger points out a few discrepancies in the Jorgensen smoothing plane. He also mentions they are not available. This may be due to this being posted a couple months ago.

Currently the Lowes web site indicates they are low on stock in my local store.

This may be like the Buck Bros. blades at the other big box store. When they sold out, they were gone for good.

jtk

[Tom Bussey]

I saw the reviews on You tube and for the price they seem like a decent buy. I think the 60-1/2 block looks like a better deal. A 3MM thick 01 blade (.118) I mean one can't even buy an aftermarket blade for the price they want for the plane. I haven't checked them out because it is a 60 mile trip one way to get to a Lowes. For the price I think they are worth a try.

[Jim Koepke]

For the price I think they are worth a try.

My only caveat to this would be the buyer should be familiar with fettling a plane. It has all of the parts, the buyer may need to do a lot of finish work.

jtk

[Tom M King]

10" ?????

[Jim Koepke]

Here is the most important part of the work done to get the Jorgensen #102 up to being somewhat useable.

The Jorgensen #102 was cutting more on the left side than the right. There wasn’t enough room to adjust the blade laterally. A closer inspection indicated there were other problems to correct.

Here is an image of the blade from the underside:

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There is a gap visible on the left side. A shaving is caught between the blade and the blade’s bed.

Looking through the plane toward the light part of the reason can be seen:

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In cases like this a small piece of paper can be used like a feeler gauge to check the fit where it is suspected contact isn’t being made.

Some grinding was done to the lever cap to get it to seat better atop the blade:

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There was also some filing on the side of the bed to open up the area to allow for a touch more lateral blade adjustment.

It also takes a little finesse when adjusting the blade to keep the lever cap, blade and body all aligned.

It did finally get pretty much even shavings from side to side:

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This is on end grain alder. The plane does squeal a bit but it leaves a smooth cut.

Not too bad for $15, for that price you can’t expect premium quality.

jtk

[steven c newman]

So..we talking about a block plane...or the 10" long Smooth plane?

[Tom Bussey]

Looking at Jim's pictures I was looking at the screw. if the end of the thread is ball shaped it would allow the cap to self level.

[Jim Koepke]

Looking at Jim's pictures I was looking at the screw. if the end of the thread is ball shaped it would allow the cap to self level.

The only problem is the threads under the cap do not catch a lot of threads and the bolt is a little floppy.

The bolt on mine wasn't set square in the knurled disk:

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It didn't seem quality was the first order of business in the making of this plane.

It might be possible to convert this to use a slightly longer carriage bolt.

jtk

[Ethan Lorden]

I am intrigued by the 60-1/2 plane they are offering, looks like it could be a decent plane for 35 dollars

[Jim Koepke]

I am intrigued by the 60-1/2 plane they are offering, looks like it could be a decent plane for 35 dollars

Ethan, if you do purchase one, please share your experience here. It would be of interest for others to see how well it worked out of the box and if any "tune up" work was required to get it working better.

jtk