Check out my mortise chisel shoot out review here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oa-fdcyomqfOfJc.html

I understand that Rob has to make a living. Good review and some excellent points. Including the Veritas would have made the Woodriver come in a solid third compared to the two premium planes as opposed to a decent plane for only a little more. Woodriver used to be a pretty good price point for value deal but the prices have crept closer to the actual premium planes and are not made in the USA or Canada.

I have been using a Stanley 60 and a half for over thirty five years professionally. Both with the standard and thicker after market Hock blades. The standard blades work fine in soft and hardwood. Perfect for trimming end grain, scrubbing nasty knots to save your smoother plane iron. The real trick is to wet the end grain before you plane it. We use them for thug work. Breaking arrises, cleaning up joints, scrubbing tenons to fit. It's not really a finishing plane but can't imagine life in the shop without one. Indispensable workhorse of a tool. Makes trimming through tenons quick and easy.

The Stanley rides around in my carpentry bag, the Lie-Nielsen is on the shelf in the shop. Great review. Rob.

How can you not include Veritas in any plane shootout? Thank you for the great content in all of your videos by the way.

Thanks Rob for putting the subtitles on so quickly, thinking about those with little worries. I very much appreciate your videos as well as your kindness in helping us and responding as much as possible.👏 and since I'm clumsy I deleted my first text when I wanted to edit it. thanks Rob 👍

I have a Veritas. Better than my Stanley and made in Canada eh? I am a little surprised to see it missing in your lineup.

I had two cheap block planes that I decided to refurbish. So I sharpened the blades and started flattening the soles. They were hard to adjust and really flimsy. I found I really hated them. I think one is destined to become a door stop. The other is getting a wood handle to become a hammer. After watching your video, I am now the proud owner of a Wood River Low Angle block plane. What a difference.

It’s so nice to have your review videos because instead of reading thru page after page of online reviews I can get an honest opinion from somebody that knows so much more about what to look for, thanks again Rob

First time I've seen one of your videos. It won't be the last. Thanks

I have the Veritas low angle plane and feel it compares well with the best you show here

The L-N was the first truly good plane that I bought - it was expensive but it opened my eyes to planing. Later I bought a Stanley 60-1/2 from the estate of a 1950s GM body stylist / patternmaker, and it was tuned to perfection. None of the other planes that i bought or was given are worth mentioning.

I own 3 of the planes shown. I have to say that using them all, and seeing Rob's evaluation feels the same over the time I've used them. Another very important feature that Rob didn't show and I wish he had is the "flatness" of the sole. By far - Stanley SW has never come out of the box with a flat sole (and I exchanged it 4 times at the store based on that reason). If you have one or considering getting one, please check that and you'll find that piece to be true no matter what store you go to.

I bought the Wood River low angle based on Rob's advice . It's a damn fine plane . You can even shoot with it to a point.

Your mastery of tools combined with your excellent teaching style combine to make your videos both profoundly enjoyable and easy to apply at our own benches.

The Lie is by far my favorite. The size of the plane fits my hand better than any other modern plane I've seen. I had an old Stanley, probably from the 40s that I also liked.

Just a wonderful presentation, I have the old Stanley plane from my dad, you are right with your assessment. I have been considering the Wood River and this has made it easier to move forward with purchasing one.

I have some of my dad's old planes that I'm refurbishing. He was a master carpenter for 45 years and i learned a lot from him. I was from Canada and sadly I wasnt able to get all his tools down to Texas after he passed away. I did get several of his antique wooden planes but I am missing his a block planes (and other specialty planes he had) so I want to buy one...but which to buy? Your review was absolutely excellent and comprehensive. You covered all the necessary and important criteria in your evaluations of each plane in a systematic and easy to follow manner. Based on your recommendation, I will buy the Wood River low angle block plane. I've watched several other reviews and they were essentially worthless and poorly done compared to yours...they were basically a waste of time. I noticed you did not have the Veritas plane in your lineup...wondered why? I want to thank you for doing such a great job reviewing these planes in such a factual and organized manner. I watch several other shows on woodworking but none holds a candle to yours. You are far and away the best on you tube.

Hey Rob - I do appreciate that LIe Neilsen make good planes, but they are expensive. However I have had my Stanley 601/2 block for over 45 years and it has served me very well on any number of different figured hardwoods. I admit that over the years I have fettled it a few times but I have to say it has always performed very well even on Pernambuco and Purpleheart as well as curly Maple and extremely figured Yew. I know the blade is thin but they were back then and I admit I have upgraded the blades in my other Stanley bench planes but there are not too many available for the 60 1/2 so I have learned to work with it and have never had a problem with the lever type cap and the mouth opens and closes perfectly. Just my opinion - Great video though keep it up and keep safe.

I have been very happy with my L-N 60-1/2 for many years. I also have the 102 low angle and the 101 violin maker's plane. I use the 101 a lot for super fine guitar building tasks and it has a fixed mouth opening. I cut pieces of thin brass shim stock under the blade, which raises it up slightly. In turn, I am able to project the blade farther forward to close the gap without burying the blade deeper than I desire. I know that fiddling with a $100 violin maker's plane (no pun intended) seem like a waste, but this way I can get the performance I desire.

I was glad to hear you say that the old Stanley was good for carpentry, ..... yes, laying up high in a wet and dirty tool bag being brought into the game to take a high end off an ill fitting jack rafter,... did I say it was a rain snow mix? That old steel has a place in the game. Thanks Rob, excellent as always!

Why can’t all reviews be as clear and in depth as this!?! Fantastic review. Thank you for sharing. I’ve always liked using my Stanley block plane but as having no experience in using any other I found this review invaluable.

Hi rob. I guess I would have enjoyed this more if you had included the Veritas low angle block. It's expensive, but I also have one of the old stanleys, and the difference is astronoomical!!

If you go with the Lie Neilsen, then instead of the 60 1/2, the 60 1/2 rabbet is what I would prefer (do). It does everything the regular 60 1/2 does, and it does rabbets and tenon cheeks as well. It costs $10 more.

My Stanley Sweetheart block plane is about 2 years old and it doesn't have the toe plate problem you encountered. It will tighten the throat up as tight as I want. The lateral adjustment is much tighter than yours too. The mystery material lever cap is holding up well and it's comfortable in my hand. I did have to spend about half an hour flattening the sole and easing the corners. IMO, the Stanley is the equal of the Wood River unless it's a lemon like you apparently received. Pretty unwise of Stanley to send YOU a lemon.

I have had my low angle wood river block plane for about 3 months now. It works great and is a lot of fun to use.

I started woodworking in 1970 and back then the Stanley 60-1/2 was the state of the art so everybody had one. The first thing we did was to remove that bell crank mouth adjuster and throw it in a drawer somewhere. Using your thumb and finger you can make a much finer and quicker mouth opening from wide open to zero. By the way, of the hundreds of hand tools I have bought new and used, I have never bought a single one that was ready to use out of the box. This is especially true of planes.

I couldn't agree more. I bought a Taytools block plane when I first started out woodworking because I was being cheap. It gets the job done, but the description of "crude" is dead on. I am constantly having to sharpen the blade, and the adjustment is beyond frustrating. Once I bought my Woodriver block plane, the differences was night and day. Rob says it all the time and he is so right....DON'T BUY CHEAP! Save your money and buy a tool that will be useable for a lifetime.

Very useful. Agree about handling comfort with so many items of equipment from woodwork to gardening, cameras, smartphones, cars, kitchen layouts and utensils, bicycles. I've learned for myself and, perhaps even more when coaching other people, that what works best for me might not work best for them even if price and other factors make one thing better than another on most criteria. Always worth taking time to try things out in a real store so I pay a £ or two more for touch and feel rather than buy online unless not available locally

Caught a Rob video right from the start! Hope things are going well up there for the whole team.

This was an excellent good review. By that I don't mean simply that I mostly agree with your findings (although I do). No I thought your approach was thorough and covered everything important in a consistent manner. Thanks 🙂 I've been doing woodworking for a little over 50 years and I started out as a power-tools-only user. No, I take that back. I had a large handsaw (32" blade) which had been hanging around my family for longer than I've been alive (I think it was bought originally by my grandfater in about 1905 or so. I actually started woodworking out of necessity. I was in graduate school (today I'm a retired physicist) and needed book shelves, actually several of them. But after pricing them, I realized that I would have to build them myself. I remember naively thinking, "How hard could that be?" Yeah, right. Well the first one weren't perfect but the next was better, and the third one was actually decent. As it happened they worked out so well that I ended up with a little confidence, and a few months later I had added radiator covers (one of which was also a dedicated table for my typewriter with a hinged desktop); a wall-sized (12'w,8'h,18"deep) bookshelf/storage unit with a built-in fold-out desktop; a "fake" linen closet which was made to "blend in" in a corner so that it appeared to be built-in but wasn't; and several other things all of which I enjoyed using and all of which I sold to other grad students when I got my degree and left Boston. I mentioned those things because early on we had a small party and one of my professors came. He was so impressed with the things I had made in my "spare time" that he asked me to build a book case for him (and paid nicely). And after that I had more requests than I could fill and for the next 2 years I had no free weekends ... but the things I built paid my rent, so I was happy. And along the way I did learn (usually the hard way) a lot of practical things about woodworking. But all that time my only non-powered "tools" were a carpenter's square, the aforementioned hand saw, a tape measure, and a doweling jig. I still had no plans for hand tools and even didn't begin to think about a plane. That lasted until my wife and I bought our first home. From that point on everything had to be not only functional but also attractive (or "nicely finished" so that it might have come from a store ... my wife's description). So the first hand tool I bought was what I suspect was the "cheap" Stanley plane you included. Unfortunately I bought it on sale at a local hardware store and when I got it home and really examined it I discovered that it had a serious manufacturing defect. The sole was SEVERELY warped at the front, and when I tried to return it I found that the store's policy was no returns on sale items. (The sole was actually mis-cast and the warp was so bad that there was a bulge of about 3/32" at the front so that the plane would not sit on a flat surface and make contact. I'm still pretty sure that the plane's sole had somehow skipped the manufacturing step during which it would have been machined. Sigh.) As it was it was useless. I had bought a file somewhere along the way and after about a week's work I had successfully removed the "bulge" on the bottom so that it would work, and had also flattened the base using sandpaper (starting at #40 and working up to #1200 grit) on smooth piece of granite (part of a failed counter-top). Then at last I finally got to try planing with it. Now I knew nothing about what I was doing, but after more than a little trial and error, (heavy on the "error" part) I finally learned how best to adjust it AND how to plane with it and get the finish I wanted. (And yes, the two are definitely interdependent). To make a long story short, yes, this relatively-cheap Stanley was VERY frustrating to work with and I made plans to save up for a really good plane, specifically thinking of the Lie-Nielsen. However for $$$ reasons I decided to aim a bit lower (I know - you get no more than what you pay for ... and sometimes less...). But the owner of the local Woodcraft made me an offer I couldn't refuse. If I bought their low-angle block plane, the owner promised me that if I wasn't completely happy with it, not only could I bring it back, he'd also give me a $50 store credit to use any way I wanted. That was a "safe" offer on his part though, because after initially tuning it up a bit I never once thought about returning it. So I completely agree with your conclusion about the Woodcraft plane as well. The Lie-Nielsen would be nice, but since I've never had a problem (after at least 15 years) with the Woodcraft, adding the more expensive L-N plane would (from my perspective) be wasting money, said $$$ being very useful to buy other things I didn't have :-). Besides your conclusions, I really liked the way you went over the finishing of the various planes as well. The finish was one of the reasons I didn't buy the Rockler (on a larger plane). It had a VERY sharp edge but ONLY on the left side of the base. Hmm. Only on ONE side? When I see something like that I almost always have to ask myself, "OK, what else didn't get done right?" Now when I look for tools (hand or powered, stationary, or otherwise) I check the overall finishing. Were the places which should have been milled actually milled, and if so how well; how are the tolerances; what's loose that shouldn't be; etc. ad nauseam. Basically I guess that I'm being too picky. But I've never had problems on any tool I've bought which were cause by bad (or omitted) machining. Missing parts, yes. cheap finishing, no. So thank you for your review. I'm looking for a really long-bed plane at this point and you added a couple of things I need to watch out for.

I like that you don't just do random reviews of tools. The part about why you use a specific tool is awesome and you don't see that with most reviewers.

Great comparison Rob. Once again I wish I could have seen it before purchasing the Stanley SW block plane. I have the WR low angle block plane and like it a lot. Thanks for sharing. And, thanks for wearing your poppy to salute our veterans with tomorrow being Veterans Day here in the US. Welcome home brothers and thank you for serving.

Thank you! As a beginner I need good honest technical advice.

I have the Qiangsheng which is similar to your wood river. It is very high quality but a bit heavy. I once bought a cheapo and fettled it using my milling machine. It works fine. I have an upgraded blade in the Stanley. It’s my go to for carpentry.

Hi Rob, I agree with other comments very biased - my brand new Stanley not the 2 you had on show ( very old and clearly passed their used by date in my view - but you are the expert!! Enjoy learning from you! Cheers Chris "The Aussie living in the Netherlands " 🇦🇺🇦🇺

I own a Stanley Sweetheart 60 1/2 that I bought brand new about 10 years ago. The throat adjuster on mine does not have the problem that yours has. Mine will close fully tight no matter where the blade edge is adjusted at. Also, the Norris style adjuster on mine is mounted precisely, it is not sloppy like the one you have. The cap is made of aluminum. The threads that the tension wheel runs in are raw aluminum, and they wear excessively. I anticipate that in the future I will have to drill it out, and insert a threaded steel part. It won't be hard, and it won't take me long, but it shouldn't be needed on a tool that is supposed to be premium quality. I first bought a Wood River with one of those floppy hinging caps. I hated it, and couldn't take it back soon enough. I traded it for the Stanley, which I am happy with. My only criticism of the Sweetheart, from a user's standpoint, is that it's as heavy as a brick. It is not a handy little tool to grab and use. If I had a milling machine, I'd cut off half the thickness of the sides to lose some of the weight. I'd also look to see how much thickness could be taken off of the sole before it impacts the mechanism. So, really, I'm glad that the cap is made of lightweight aluminum. The plane would be even more ridiculously heavy if the cap was steel, or bronze.

I wonder, why Veritas didn't make on the list🤔 Considering all the 🍁 in the shop

Thanks for the video. I’ve got the Wood River, and was having issues adjusting the blade. I didn’t know you had to loosen the lever cap. I’m always learning something new.

one quick thing you did not cover, manufacture support, I have a lie Nielsen (3 actually) block planes, 2-rabbiting and 1 low angle with the adjustable throat, 2 years ago I accidentally hit one of my rabbiting planes with a piece of wood, swiping it off my workbench and tossing it 6 feet across my shop where it struck a cement floor. The result was a damaged (bent) adjustment wheel. I was clear with Lie Nielsen that the fault was totally mine, and that the plane had been abused, they still replaced the plane for free (I paid to ship) they felt that their tool should have been able to withstand the impact, they take their lifetime warranty very seriously. They might be the most expensive, but they are the best built and the best supported.

Another awesome video! Very good thorough comparisons! With regards to the Lie Nielson, I can confirm on my side that my NL #60 1/2 adjustable mouth does indeed close right up to the leading edge of the blade...

Correct I always look for comfort when holding the plane and comfort when using it I find that a very important issue because if a tool is comfortable when using it can be an important issue to your work

Very new to woodworking and was looking at the taytools line. Thank you for stopping me from wasting my money.

Rob great video - quick reminders - what angle are you sharpening to and you put a micro bevel on the blade

Thanks rob. Really enjoy your instruction and have been putting it to use daily last cpl weeks. Actually got the wood river block plane and 5 1/2 about a month ago.

I learned more about planes with this one video than the six before it. Unfortunately the first and only plane I bought was the cheap Stanley.

I have the Chinese made Luban block plane ; very similar to that first plane. It works well but the adjustment dial under the brass knob is awkward to get at. It should be bigger in diameter as it is difficult to adjust.

Great review, Rob. A few frustrations I had with the old Stanley is that the sole is not flat; the slide locking mechanism comes loose during planning and lots of chatter. I have given this tool up and going for the Woodriver. Anyone who wishes to buy a handplane should listen to our Guru - Rob.

Being a carpenter that does mainly site work, I love a block plane, had a record cheap and nasty the adjustment wheel kept falling off, then a stanley which I let somebody borrow which was left in the rain and turned to a pile of rust. Could not fussed with makeing that good, so went for a standard woodriver, love it. Awesome brand for the price, also have a no5 jack plane. For finishing a nice oak or walnut door edge it's the best.

I regret ever buying a Taytools plane. Luckily it was just a block plane and taught me the valuable lesson that you get what you pay for. Wood River from here on out for me.

The old Stanley is the most popular block plane in a UK Joinery Shop. I've had mine for 40 years and now have fitted a Hock A2 blade.

I met someone on a job site who was trying to use the cheap Stanley block plane. Frustration and anger trying to plane a door edge. That evening I borrowed his plane. I flattened the sole, filed the bed and sharpened the blade. Next day I gave it back to him. He was happier that it worked better. Then I pulled out my LN and let him use it. The look on his face was priceless. Now he understands he should pay more to get a better quality tool rather than struggle with cheap crap.

I have a little Record 60 1/2 that I got 30 years ago for sash work. It works for general carpentry stuff, but it can't handle hardwood at all. The blade in it is pathetically thin. Like Rob Says, better tools mean better performance! I think the Wood River might be my next block plane...

I think that watching all of Rob's plane videos before making a single plane purchase should be my "whoa there" moment. How many times have I said, 'jeez I wish I had watched this video before buying XXX". Just the comparison of the mechanisms, the ease of use, the apparent quality out of the box make such important points to consider, and having them all together in one trial is so helpful. I know many more experienced woodworkers have had their favorite planes, years and years old, and I appreciate that you have some really good ones. But new planes just aren't generally made as well- the quality of the castings and machining just aren't there, imho. Looking at these details on mass produced tools from a machinist's perspective is so cringe worthy. smh every single time...

This explains some of my frustration with my Stanley block plane. I had to file the area where the blade rests to get it to work as well as it does, but I definitely see an upgrade to the Wood River block plane. Soon. Thanks!!! And thanks for all that you do for veterans, too!!!!!

Hello Rob, thanks for your valued assessment and honesty. Keep on smiling.

exactly what i was looking for. Thank you

9:57 "I would say that's excessive". What an excellent line...

Have the new Stanley SW( first batch that was on the market)and on mine mouth closes all the way up but I had problem with lateral adjust.All the other points you made were accurate. Guess QC wasn't that great .Made it work fine but for the money it should work right of the bat I think.

I think beginners need better tools and materials than the more experienced. I am not surprised by the recommendations. I personally prefer the Stanleys because they are lighter. My recommendation would be to buy a Stanley and when you want better buy a better blade for it. When you are more experienced and wealthier buy lie Neilsen or similar. I’ve been at it over half a century. Unless you are a hand tool only person, sanders overcome many of the difficulties planes present. I use my edge sander a lot to flatten and to square off. My thicknessing sander does not tear the grain.

Hi Rob, I would’ve enjoyed this video more had I watched it prior to purchasing the rockler bench dog two hours ago. LOL. Fortunately it’s still new in the box and I can return it and spend a few extra dollars and get a good solid plane. Thanks for an excellent video!

excluding Veritas makes this not worth it for me. I know he said for beginners but the Lie Nielsen is there so Veritas should be there.

I have the Taytools 69 1/2 block plane. I know it is not a premium plane. I have no problem with the adjustment. It works great. It also holds it's edge very nicely. I love it. I am really surprised it got such a bad review from Rob. Maybe he just got a lemon.

I've acquired a few block planes in the last few years, all eBay stuff, none of them what I would call high quality. All the negative points you show, I've experienced, though with Stanley and Miller Falls planes. I do appreciate your concise evaluation as to the next "quality" block plane I'm going to purchase. I've looked at the other planes you have evaluated and held off because I know how sales pitches work. WR it is and if the ship comes in, LN. Thanks

Thanks, nice to know the good points to look for.

Thanks to you and your team! Thoroughly enjoy your videos and always enjoy them. Keep up the good work.

This was such a great review!! I just put the Woodriver plane on my Xmas list :) Thanks for the info, Rob!

Yet again... A great video. Thanks

Nice review, Rob. I’ve been thinking of upgrading from my old Stanley block plane for a while, so this is relevant to me. I’ve been really happy with my Wood River No. 5-1/2, was thinking of sticking with the brand on this next purchase... so I’m glad the WR block plane came out on top here.

Wow! LN block planes that much now..I bought mine 20 years ago. O1 steel 129 bucks back then. Been tempted to sell it, rarely reach for a block plane in my shop.

I just bought a Rockler Bench Dog 60 1/2 block plane *before* watching your video. I immediately thought "uh oh" but when I checked my plane it had none of the faults that you found in yours. The sliding plate for the mouth adjustment fits great with a gap that looks just like the good ones in the video, the plate is nice and level with the sole, and my lateral blade adjustment works fine. Maybe you got a lemon, or maybe they have improved it since the review. I do wish it had a better blade material - do you know if the Stanley (non-sweetheart) blades will fit? There are some aftermarket replacement A2 blades available.

Great comparison. I was considering the new Stanley sweetheart, but now I’ll spring for one of the premium planes.

Rob as always enjoyed the video and agree 100% on the cheap planes. I bet your tired of answer the same question over and over. Take care / be safe.

This is really helpful. I am new to hand tools and was given an old Stanley block plane (looks like an older version of the classic Stanley) without an adjustable throat. It has been beyond frustrating to try to make work. I wasn't sure if it was the plane or if it was user error, but watching this, I've been dealing with all the negatives you mention in your review, but then with the added "bonus" of a non-adjustable throat. Looks like I'll need to look for something better.

I have watched a number of utube videos and I have found a new resource tool for learning. However I can not afford an expensive plane . The best i see are big box type planes at menards or home depot or harbor freight tools in the states. However thank you. Mike m. Chicago il

Boy am I lucky. I thought I'd waste time watching this video in sourcing for something to watch. NOT AT ALL. What an interesting review. I never thought reviewing block planes would be so interesting. I'm lucky because I have that WoodCraft block plane and almost bought the Lie Nielsen. lol lol lol lol I really did. I'm kind of in the mindset of Paul Sellers in that I use my Lie Nielsen #4 a lot and seldom my block planes except for chamfering edges and the like. Great Stuff Rob but then again aren't you ever always the master. Time Well Spent AGAIN.

You are much better off spending an extra $20 and upgrading from the regular Lie Nielsen block plane to their Rabbeting block plane. There are numerous videos on it.......and it's fantastic.

Excellent Excellent Review!!!! Thank you...

This was a long drawn out commercial for the Woodriver. Although, also very informative.

Exellent review. Thank you for the comparisons. I really enjoy your videos.

I would love to buy some LN as well as some Bridge City tools but anything from the U.S. is at least 30% more, plus more for shipping to Canada, plus the 30% on that and on some things Customs charges. If our dollar ever gets back to on par or close then fine, but until then Veritas is the best quality for the money for Canadians.

Bridge City for the win baby

Nice review, but I would have liked to see your take on Lee Valley Veritas, too.

Thanks for sharing that!

I just recently found your channel on the recommendation of a friend because I was interested in expanding my sharpening knowledge, and in general, I appreciate the work that you do but I think this video draws some poor conclusions based on the perception of the planes and very limited testing. there’s a huge difference between taking a couple swipes on the edge of a piece of wood clamped in a vise, and using a plane like this aggressively for several hours. As a professional boat builder and Boatbuilding teacher, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with all of these planes, extensively and not just how I would use them, but watching how they hold up to students sharpening them and using them. I find that even when trained in proper sharpening techniques, average woodworker struggle to get A2 sufficiently sharp, and even when it is sharp for whatever reason, the edge doesn’t seem to last much longer, so in actual practice, people seem to do worse work with A2 blades. That’s my main criticism of the Lie Nielsen. I have a hard time being objective about the wood river because I personally hate how they feel in my hand and I ran into a lot of them, but I could never get running right and I could never figure out why. The Stanley Sweetheart is absolute garbage. We both agree on that. The Veritas deserves more credit, it’s a decent plane that tunes up nicely and I really appreciate that I can choose the blade steel that comes with when making the purchase. The lever cap that you mentioned actually has a purpose, the broader surface area contacting the blade as opposed to the single point of the other styles allows you to tune the cap pressure to where the blade will stay put, but can also be slightly adjusted in and out without unscrewing the thumb wheel, which is really useful for micro adjusting on the fly. The cap style of the Stanley plane and also the older record planes are functionally similar in this way. The important thing to know about the Stanley planes, however is that there are vast differences between the generations. The Stanley block planes that were made in the United States up until the 1980s remain in my opinion the best low angle block plane in existence. There are significant machining differences from the newer ones which are made overseas and despite being lightweight with very little support at the front of the blade they will outcut any of these other planes in any wood of hardness up to about eastern ash. They are light in the hand, easy to sharpen and a joy to use which makes a huge difference when you’re spending 3 hours finishing a set of ash oars. Honestly, even the ones produced up into the early 2000s could be tuned up, reasonably well with one fatal flaw, and that was that they moved the pivot point for the throat adjustment into the actual throat so chips would clog in that area, fortunately there is enough metal on the bottom of casting that you can file it off to open up the throat again. Unfortunately, as of 2010 the castings have deteriorated so bad that it’s pretty much impossible to tune one of these into good working order. My current recommendation for my students is actually the new Jorgensen block plane. It costs $35 and is reasonably comfortable with good quality machining and a decent quality blade. Like every other plane in this test, it’s heavier than it needs to be and flattening sole is brutal, but for overall value, I feel like nothing else even comes close right now. Still, Flattened and tuned side-by-side with a 1950s Stanley 60 1/2, the Stanley still cuts better, although that advantage might disappear in very hardwoods.

Just got the Low Angle Lie Nielson. excited

I was hoping to see a review of the Veritas and the Bridge City included, but I'll have a look on other videos. Good to know the Lie Nielson and Wood River are worth considering, but given the choice I would buy something made here in North America. More importantly, I know which to avoid now, and why.

Another great video thanks

Just curious why you left out the Veritas block plane. Would have been a good comparison with the Lie-Nielsen, even though neither are really beginner planes.

I have one of those cheap Stanley block planes, and if anything mine has even worse machining. I had to grind down the rim on the adjustment thingy where the screw goes through, because it was substantially higher on one side making the whole lever cap uneven. The bed near the mouth had some strange distortion, maybe a problem with casting or something. Had I known any better when I bought it, I should have returned it, but I was completely new to woodworking at the time and didn't know what I should be looking for in a plane. I'll have to upgrade some day.

Thanks for the great video. I was a little disappointed that you did not test the planes on end grain but that doesn't disqualify the results. I have an old Stanley pressed steel plane that outperforms my Stanley block plane. It's no Lie Neilson but it has a place in my tool bag.

very nice explanation!!!

Nice demonstration, thanks! I hoped the Veritas DX60 was amongst the planes tested, I would have appreciated an honest opinion on it.

I would go for the Lie-Nielsen rabbet block plane, personally. Only costs $10 more, and has more functionality than a normal block plane.

awesome video

A well done review. Exactly what I was looking for. You’ve convinced me to buy a veritas.

I use a $35 Jorgenson - Lie Niesen China copy. With some tuning, not a bat one.

I like the antiques. Buy em cheep clean and restore em and your golden.

Just throwing this idea out there for a live feed project, how about a Cosmonized Dutch tool chest ? Then everyone would have something to carry their tools in when they come to your class :)

I've got a Taytool block plane and mine had the same sloppy adjustment. The problem is that a brass knob is not pressed deep enough so there is a gap between the knob and L-shaped bar. I hammered at the brass knob a few times and now adjustment action is much better than before. By the way, I'm looking forward to receiving a Woodriver block plane from your shop.