You've demonstrated real artisan level knowledge and skill with the planes but I think it says it all that you use the Lie Nielsen to repeatedly true your test piece in order to test the Jorgensen. I think your analysis is spot on. Thanks for sharing this.

I have restored quite a few planes. Smoothing and block vintage planes. It is a pleasure to restore planes to what they once were. It's interesting to see it done in the reverse. Take a plane to a. point it never was. Hats off to your hard work and determination

Thank you for doing this review, it was super helpful. I was in Lowes yesterday and saw the Jorgensen plane and almost bought it, as it looked really similar to the Lie Nielsen which I've wanted for a while but the price is a bit much for me. I didn't expect it to perform as well as it did, I will be purchasing one now.

I just bought the Jorgensen not long ago to pare down a sticking door. This video gives me hope it just might work. Thank you for your very detailed review.

Man, you work so hard. I can’t keep up with your uploads.

Awesome video! Thanks for keeping all the things you did IN there! I bought this plane and I also own the Lie-Nielsen rabbet low angle and their 102 as well as three Veritas block planes. The Jorgensen compares favorably. I did not have to shim mine, and if I did, I would just run back to Lowe's and exchange it and try another one. You are absolutely right: for $35, it is a shockingly good value. I am going to buy the other two right away to add to my already overcluttered collection!! Thanks again!

good on you for the review. just a suggestion, watch Paul sellers video on how to restore a older plane. it would show how to test for different things. subbed

Thanks for the comparison reviews, helps not feeling like a poor country cousin because you didn’t drop a hundred bucks plus on you single tool purchase. Would love to see a comparison with a Spear and Jackson no. four.

I just bought the 60 1/2 low angle Jorgensen plane at Lowes 2 days ago. Price hasn't changed. I wanted to pit it against my Stanley 65. I know everyone compares it to the Stanley 60 1/2, but I think the 65 is a closer representation having a similar cap and also being low angle. Anyhow, the Jorgensen worked very well right out of the blister pack. I didn't lap the bottom or sharpen the iron. I didn't even wipe the oil off it. I checked to make sure it was fully functional and immediately set it for wispy shavings. I was very pleased with the result. Obviously, I am going to do all the lapping, sharpening etc. but I wanted to see how it performed right out of the package. I've been hearing that recent buyers are having much more luck than when you bought yours. I wonder if they fixed some problem in the factory.

I've noticed that bedding problem on some pretty nice Millers Falls blocks also. Did you check the plane cap iron for consistent contact while it is locked down? For $36 a little fettling is worth the effort, but it might be out of some users comfort zone. Then again, the next one on the shelf may work perfectly.

Good video! Paul Sellers has some great videos on used plane restorations. They include the frog fitment geometry that needed to be addressed on the Jorgenson.

Haha some of these comments! We sure can be a petty and entitled bunch. Thanks for doing the review! I've been eyeing up this plane as well as the smaller one. The orange paint is a little much but they look like a great deal for the price.

I was pretty fortunate that the blade in mine actually sits level but the sole took a lot of lapping to get flat. I'm honestly surprised these cost as little as they do because they're so much better a lot of block planes in the same price range.

I think you need to put the blade in and put the plane under pressure before checking flatness. The real question is, would you swap your LN for the J plus $150? 😀Thanks for Sharing!

I disagree with you that 11:19 - 18:44 was "Wasting Time"; I got something out of watching you troubleshoot the Jorgensen's issues and then being able to (finally) get it to perform. My two cents would be that's the difference between an experienced user and a newbie - that you know some where to look if you're not getting the performance you're after right away while newer users may not know where to even start and struggle with the fiddling. Forking over the cash on a tool that shouldn't need much of anything right out the box is the trade-off, especially for newer makers. That said, maybe not a bad idea to speed through a lot of it to keep the vid's length under 30minutes!! My toe in the Jorgensen waters was with this 60-1/2 and all I had to do was sharpen the blade; the adjustment wheels on mine are rough and stiff so I have to agree with most everyone else that it's gotta be QC where they're "saving" the money on these. I've still some tuning to do on it and I don't know it'll ever surpass my Stanley #18 Knuckle block plane as my go-to but I'll more than likely be keeping it, all the same. Great work and you've earned a sub, man. Nice vids and nice work!

It looks like the lie nielsen might adjust to a narrower mouth opening than the jorgensen. Is that the case? Thanks for doing this video.

I'll stick with my late 70s Stanley 60 1/2 with it's lateral adjustment 🙂

Great video! Keep up the good work. I'm the guy who did the Unplugged Woodworkers review of the #4 alongside yours. I bought the 60 1/2 plane, and only sharpened the blade, and had it shaving thin, even ribbons that made me happy. So I'm guessing it is a QC issue that I managed to dodge. I do wish there was a little less lateral slop in the blade. I think if there was, the blade would not bind so much on the depth knob.

Hello. I want to buy it. could you write the dimensions of the jorgensen sole... in numbers...Please

Where did you get the shirt?

After watching all 3 of your videos I bought all 3 of the orange planes. They all work fine. I have owned LIE (it is properly pronounced Lie like telling a fib and NOT LEE. I don't care how the actual LEE Nielson pronounces it) Nielson planes. Still have one LN plane that wasn't stolen along with some of my tools including a Stanley # 4 with Ribbed bottom. Once I sharpened them and worked on the fit of the plane blade they all worked just like all other well made planes. Thank you.

How much is your time worth? How long did you spend putzing with the orange tool? And, now you have a paper shim installed? I'll stick with the quality tool.

That it must be shimmed at all is a non-starter straightway and should be returned.

I use Lie Nielsen´s day in and day out, out of the box work flawlessly, no, a Jorgensen is not even comparable to them, after seeing how much you had to mess with it in order to make it half work guess I know why I save my pennies and buy a solid good plane for my job

For my money the bras one

There are plenty of Stanley 60 1/2 planes out there for 25 to 45 bucks, why not just buy them?

Can’t buy in australia

You proved it is not only a tool but the person who uses it. Have you tried to put the lie Nielson blade in the other one?

I did not have to shim the blade . Mine worked great.

Bronze, not brass? Good fair test, IMO. My grandson will like the 60 1/2.

Oh wow. All these comments about shimming. First, it's not like other tools (like stationary jointers) don't see a shim here and there to work optimally. They do. And what is a plane -- but a hand-powered version of a jointer? Second, once the problem is found it's not like a shim is such drudgery to do. My god. Some of you people who comment on KZfaq just like to whine. Work the problem, people! Keep Calm And Carry On. Third, perhaps judicious filing would eliminate shimming? I don't know. Am not an expert at plane restoration but I have restored quite a few. That brings me to my questions. If I understand correctly, the reason you decided to shim was because one side of the iron was cutting heavier than the other side? Is that right? Q: Could that be addressed by laterally moving the iron? Q: Could it be that the edge of the iron is not square? I just ran into this same problem yesterday while restoring a no-name (really - could NOT find any identifying markings on this junky 60 1/2 clone) plane yesterday. I kept fiddling with the lateral movement by tapping it with a small mallet like you did. And then it cut evenly on both sides of the iron. Please advise. I'd be interested to know. Thanks for the video. I just looked at this plane today at Lowes. Looked nice, and felt nice and hefty.

Why you gotta compare a Lie Nielsen to a Jorgensen? There's years of development that went into it. Jk jk jk. Good work, my dude!

When you get those corrugated accordion shavings, you need to open the mouth a little. I used to buy junk like that Jorgensen block plane when I was in my 20s because I thought shitty tools were better than no tools. I guess that was true, but now I have the money to buy true quality tools, which is always cheaper in the long run. I own that Lie Nielsen 60-1/2 and I love it. When they finally pry it from my cold, dead hands one day it will be worth more than I paid for it and that Jorgensen will be pitted and seized up with rust at the bottom of a bucket full of random screws and nuts and washers. Everything in that bucket will be orange.

Wish you didn't fast forward

I’d go for the Jorgensen so you can throw it in the bin when you’ve used it for a couple of months rather than use it all your life then hand it down to your son so he can hand it down to his son.