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Harbor Freight Mini Wood Planes


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I bought a set of these planes because they were on sale really cheap and because they looked cool being made from rosewood and brass.  Didn't expect much from them for the price but was pleasantly surprised.  The blades seem to be a good grade of steel and after sharpening (they were really dull right out of the package) and figuring out the best setting for blade depth (the thickness of a sheet of paper) they performed very well on both basswood and cherry.  For a cost of about $3 each delivered I can not complain.

 

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Edited by grsjax

My advice and comments are always worth what you paid for them.

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These are ok, and certainly for the price. Mine needed a touchup of the bodies as well. I suggest that your relieve the edges and corners so as to avoid creasing the wood.  By the way, the HF "Windsor 33" bench plane ($12) can be tuned up to usefulness as well, but the No.4 clone isn't worth the bother.

 

But if you want something nice, look at these:  http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=70138&cat=1,41182

 

If you'd like to make your own, look up Stephen Boone, and also: tiny handplanes

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I agree with Bob on the Lee Valley miniature planes. I have the complete set and out-of-the-box they are sharp and ready to use. They work really well.

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I forgot to mention that a used spade drill bit can be reworked into a blade for small planes. You can poke it through a potato near to the cut & grinding lines, and then cut or grind the bit to shape.  The potato will keep it cool, and you'll learn that if the potato cooks that the blade is getting too hot.  Note: I do ot recommend eating the potato afterwards.

 

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To the LeeValley miniature plane owners: have you found a small enough honing guide to sharpen that plane's blades? :)

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The Lee Valley planes are works of art.  However for less than a third of the price of one plane I got three planes that are adequate for my needs.  I would love to add the Lee Valley planes to my tool chest but can't justify the expense.  Would rather save the money for other tools, materials and plans.

 

That Popular Science article is great.  I may have to try my hand at making some thumb planes.  Another source of steel for plane irons is old files.  The steel in them is excellent and once shaped will take and hold a very keen edge.

My advice and comments are always worth what you paid for them.

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Has anybody asked Lee Valley about sharpening the blades of their tiny tools?    Or are the L-V tools just museum/display pieces?

 

Really, I think you that should  learn how to sharpen your tools of any size, so that you're not a prisoner to 'somebody else'  who is far away in location or time.

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Great question that I'd like the answer to as well. Although I have to say that in spite of quite a bit of use, especially with the mini plane, I haven't had a need to sharpen these things yet.

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To the LeeValley miniature plane owners: have you found a small enough honing guide to sharpen that plane's blades? :)

Mike, to answer your question; so far I have not had a need to resharpen the Lee Valley planes.

 

I do have a version of the planes shown in the OP. I have tried unsuccessfully to get these planes to work to my satisfaction, in spite of numerous attempts to sharpen and hone them.  The blade is sharp enough to cut a sheet of paper with just the weight of the blade, but I can't get the planes to work. So I gave up and went with Lee Valley.

 

Garret Wade sells a British-made honing guide which I have used to sharpen a number of chisels, blades, etc. It will accept these small plane blades. It's listed in their catalog as 62J02.12 $59.95.  It accepts chisels from 1/32 to 1 1/8 inches wide and will work on the small blade shown on the rosewood planes in OP.

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The problem is not the width, it is the length. That blades are too short for regular honing guides, making it impossible to fix the blade on the proper angle.

Same with miniature chisels :(

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Mike, this is the honing guide from Garrett Wade I'm using. http://www.garrettwade.com/kell-british-made-deluxe-honing-guides-gp.html  As you can see the blade clamps underneath the guide. I had no problems with the blades from the Rosewood/Brass planes clamping at the right angle. I have not tried it with Lee Valley as the blades are still sharp.

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Lee Valley has some nice tools. Bummer that there are no Cyber Monday sales. Just have to save up for 0ne of the planner.

Marc

Current Built: Zeehaen 1639, Dutch Fluit from Dutch explorer Abel J. Tasman

 

Unofficial motto of the VOC: "God is good, but trade is better"

 

Many people believe that Captain J. Cook discovered Australia in 1770. They tend to forget that Dutch mariner Willem Janszoon landed on Australia’s northern coast in 1606. Cook never even sighted the coast of Western Australia).

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Rats... That Garret-Wade honing guide looks perfect for the small plane blades.   It's rough being a toolholic. ;)   On the bright side, there's a good holiday coming up for making a gift to myself.

Mark
"The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me

Current Build:                                                                                             
Past Builds:
 La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD           Triton Cross-Section   

 NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit                                                                            HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64               

 

Non-Ship Model:                                                                                         On hold, maybe forever:           

CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed                                                   Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned)         

         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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Re; Sharpening blades.  My two mentors in my woodcarving club tell me that once a blade has been well sharpened on a stone it should not need resharpening on a stone unless you knick the blade.  Instead they say to periodically strop the blade on a good leather strop using a good quality rouge; in the case of our woodcarving knives and chisel/gouges they recommend stropping before each carving session and again after about an hour of carving. In the case of the wood planes, I'd say periodic is probably based on frequency and duration of use.  But then I don't have a lot of woodworking experience so working with planes is somewhat new for me. 

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Hi,

 

I used the honing guide which came with my Veritas Sharpening System from Lee Valley for the three cheap planes from Harbour Freight. The blades are too small to fit normally, but the jig will hold them. I checked the sharpening angle by eye and took a black Sharpie to color the edge being sharpened. It only took a minute of adjusting until I was able to evenly remove the Sharpie in a pass or two. I used Japanese water stones 800 - 2000 and got an incredibly sharp edge. I also trued the sole, sides, and back of the blades. For $10.50 and a couple of hours work, I have three great planes.

 

Best,

John

 

PS I I just spent a few minutes looking through the link above to the Sept. 1936 issue of Popular Science. It's great. There are quite a few references to model ship building including adds for ships and fittings. There is also an add for a circa 1936 Dremel Moto-tool. An amazing era when people built a lot of what they wanted. J.

Edited by Landlocked123

Member:

Connecticut Marine Model Society

Nautical Research Guild

Model Ship World

"So we beat on, boats against the current, bourne back ceaselessly into the past" F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

"If at first you don’t succeed.......skydiving is probably not for you”

 

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I picked up on of those Rosewood planes at a show and made a fixture for it. With a little practice I was able to get an edge on it.  When I shelled out for the Lee Valley Planes I was hooked.

David B

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Toolaholic's confession:  I bought a honing guide because I knew I needed it.  But it didn't work out like I had hoped.  Then I bought a better and, rather sophisticated, honing system.  It worked great for plane irons and chisels that needed a lot of work. But using it was somewhat time consuming and I waited until my tools showed dulling before I took them to the "honing table".

 

Somewhere along the way, I learned it is better, and easier, to keep your tools well honed.  All sharp tools dull with use.  Take a few minutes to hone the edge before and after use.  I rarely use guides anymore. 

 

Rob Cosman does a great job explaining the free hand sharpening process.  I don't use his angle tool.  What I do is rock the primary bevel until it sits flush on the stone, then lift a bit for the secondary bevel.

 

 

Julie

 

First and only build: Endeavour - 1934 American's Cup, UK Challenger, J-Class - Amati 1:35

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I just ordered some of the Harbor Freight planes to try out.  For the price, I haven't really lost anything if they don't past muster.  I always use the Scary Sharp method for honing chisels using finer and finer grades of emery cloth.  An easy cheap method for honing that gets me a really sharp blade. 

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

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This is a digression, but In the 1920s-40s, model shipbuilding articles were a regular feature in Popular Science.  There are plans and descriptions of techniques.  Sadly, the plans are no longer available from the publisher.  

 

If you're interested, do a search for Captain E. Armitage McCann, who was a ship captain and a excellent modeler who wrote many articles for Popular Science until he passed away i in 1938.   There is a two part eulogy on the modelshipbuilders.org research pages that also lists the models and publication dates of Capt. McCann's articles.

Edited by Bob Blarney
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Not to hurt feelings here, but...  Those of us "of a certain age" can remember the time when every boy's education in how to hone and dress a fine edge on a cutting tool began around age seven or eight when he was given his first pocket knife, an item of personal kit every male carried in his pocket for the rest of his life.  Sadly, with all the metal detectors around, few men carry pocket knives anymore and few mother's would tolerate their seven year old son having a pocket knife of his own.  (I suppose they are strictly forbidden on the grounds of any grammar school these days. Parents today seem ignorant of the fact that what "can put your eye out!" is really the most fun when you're a kid.)  Consequently, outfits like the good folks at Lee Valley have made quite a business of selling all sorts of slick gizmos that promise to ensure success in an endeavor which, up to maybe fifty years ago, most kids had mastered by age ten or twelve.  Strange how one generation can master operating a personal computer without a second thought, but can't sharpen an edged tool without all sorts of guides and machines and so on.

 

Honing guides are like training wheels on a bicycle.  They ensure greater success on a first effort by the inexperienced, but encourage dependence.  I'd encourage folks to take off the "training wheels" and learn to sharpen "freehand."  It is an easily acquired skill, regardless of whether you rely on an Arkansas stone, a Japanese waterstone, a "diamond" stone, or even a piece of emery or aluminum oxide paper taped to the (flat) top of a table saw or whatever and giving it a few licks on a strop or steel.  There's lots of instructional videos on YouTube for those who don't have grandfathers to show them how to sharpen an edge and fettle and adjust a plane, spokeshave, or whatever. (The trick is "feeling" for when the bevel is flat on the abrasive surface and keeping it there.)  This was the second thing any apprentice learned, after how to sweep the floor.  You can spend lots of money on electric shop vacuum systems, honing guides and machines and the like, or serve an "apprenticeship" learning the basics instead of buying tools sold to make people believe they will make them better craftsmen.  Unfortunately, the woodworking hobby seems to be going the way of golf, where slick marketers are always trying to sell you a club that's going to improve your game.  Don't let them play you for a sucker!

 

(Okay, rant over!)

Edited by Bob Cleek
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Bob, that's a good point about sharpening.  One of my favorite Youtube stars is Paul Sellers, who teaches the basics of traditional handtool use and care.from the British perspective. His teaching style is very clear.  Oftimes I do sharpen freehand, and other times I use a simple guide if I want to achieve a particular angle (which isn't too often).  But I doubt much is lost by using a guide, time or otherwise.  

 

I disagree with you on dust collection, however.  Although it is likely not an issue in respect to the hobby of model shipbuilding, fine dust is a significant health hazard for woodworkers, especially with many hardwood species such as cocobolo.  A HEPA-filtered vac is an important tool as any other, just as a chisel, a plane, sandpaper, or a table saw.

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I have only worked on ship kits and haven't needed to use a plane so far, can some one give some examples where you would need to use a plane that are relevant to this hobby? Thanks!

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” - Augustine

 

Current Build:

 

Artesania Latina San Francisco II 1:90 Scale

 

On the Shelf:

 

Model Shipways Armed Virginia Sloop 1:48 Scale

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A sharp mini plane is very useful in the shaping and finishing a part when you cannot use a blade or a sanding stick.  

David B             

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It is not a required tool, you can achieve the same with files, sandpaper, knife, disk sander and a dozen of other methods. But a good plane will leave a very crisp edge, flat and smooth surface. And no sawdust or noise, working with plane is quiet, clean and satisfactory.

 

Task examples: tapering, reducing thickness, creating hexagonal/octagonal stock from square stock, carefully resizing the objects, etc.

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