What a Great Video!! The one SMALL thing when you're adjusting the X plane for its final adjustment you can use the Lever cap screw to tighten it just a tad and that gives you 100,000th of adjustment. Its going to be awesome to see the new union X planes when they get released. They will have an adjustable mouth on them too!! James you are always on point and there definitely is a cult following with the X planes!

I have my grandfathers X No. 3 plane that I restored. I did not realize the irons were available again. Thanks for the info, James. Great video.

3:50 the thing I find much more significant than the direction is that the lever is screwed on. That makes a repair a bit easier. Well, where there's a lathe, there's a rivet, I guess.

Rex Kreuger should be notified about this at once!

5:30 Oooh, a counter screw... now that's fun.

i was fortunate enough to pick couple of these planes 6-8 years back for about $25 a piece in a mother of all woodworking tool sale. Never knew much about them beside being different. Thank you for the information.

It's sometimes amazing that old technology is smarter and better then what we use today. Thanks and keep on smiling.

Great explanation! Answered all my questions. Thank you, James!

Thank You James!!! Looking forward to checking them out!!! 😃👍😎

Honestly I’m going to buy one for the sole purpose of supporting a Us manufacturer coming back, yes it’s a small batch but that’s how every other manufacturer started. It’s the right thing to do.

I really appreciate the comparison of the functionality. You really covered all the bases really well.

Thanks for the explanation of Union's superior features. Dozens of Bailey pattern Stanleys have passed through my hands in the last 50 years. In my ignorance, I preferred the Stanleys but only because I had a bucket full of spare parts and had become accustomed to their function. The blades were generally replaced with Hock or similar after-market replacement blades, a genuine improvement.

Excellent video, thankyou for sharing. As a novice, that looks so much more intuitive than a Stanley plane.

What a great video James. These X-planes look like LOTS of fun and immaculate finishes! I hope they'll be produced rather soon again! One will definitely find it's path to my garage!

Very cool. First time I've seen that design

Vary interesting plane, Thank you for sharing

Lovely features (the plane, I mean). Not what I would use as a daily bench plane but certainly for dialling in a very fine finish.

I like the adjuster verry much. BUT, im very skilled with wooden planes and can adjust then also really good.

Just ordered one of the Accu-burr burnishers from Union MFG Co and saw these planes, very interesting looking. I actually quite like those controls, I find my Bailey's, I find with mine the depth screw will back off after a while and in general be a pain. Probably an easy fix to this, adding more friction to the screw or such, but it is a pain.

Man, that’s a beautiful plane!

If you look really close in Xavier's office you can see one on his desk.... thanks for the info on a unique plane.

Wow, that was a fantastic overview of the Union X Planes. I pre-ordered one of the 4 1/4s. Thanks James.

Thanks so much for this video, I was so impressed I contacted them. I Just got off the phone with Robert Porter, president of the company. I bought one of them. He's a fantastic guy and so totally committed to making top quality tools.

Great overview James thanks! And thanks for the heads up on a new tool maker. Always exciting! I recently picked up 3 of the Sargent "Auto-Set" planes (for the numbers people they're the 700 series). They're VERY different than the Bailey type planes but excellent tools. Maybe your next in depth review? 🤔 Thanks again for all the great content! Mike T.

Old Union planes are pretty neat. They made adjustable mouths and thicker irons before they were cool. In some ways Stanley didn't have the best product... They just had a bit of a monopoly. They made great planes, but the Union planes and Ohio Tool Company, with their thick irons and chip breakers, had some nice features that Stanley didn't offer. The great news is they all work on white oak. Love the video James. Always interesting to have you share your knowledge on these tools.

Very interesting video, any update on how these guys are coming along? Also, can you have a video that explains about the patents? Seems like they would be too old to worry about buying...

Plane planes and more planes. Love it.

What do u think of the sargent 708 auto adjust plane? I got one because it looked different but havent tried to set it up yet

Really, REALLY interesting, James! Pretty amazing plane! 😮 If the new ones are made with the same quality... It's going to be a non brainer! 😃 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

The front knob on the union is much much nicer than the Stanley…just my opinion

This is like the SAAB of handplanes :)

Thanks for the great video on Union X planes! I’ve been a hand plane aficionado and user for decades and well tuned planes paid a mortgage for some years. But I was totally unfamiliar with the Union X planes until very recently ( 2024). Is there any more info on when the new ones will be available? Thanks!

Now i want to own one

Hi James. If you could only have one plane. Your choices are Jack Plane in the bailey style, bedrock style or X Plane style. Which would it be?

Nice plane James 😁 I think you got a bit mixed up with things tho....... the slot in the cap iron connects to the depth adjustment, not the lateral...... the pawl on the lateral lever connects to the slot in the iron, not the cap iron 😁

Do you have a vid on Seargent VBM planes? How would you compare to S/B planes of good vintage? Thx.

Oh I want one. Question is, do I spend the money on a used one or wait for the new ones to be available….

This was fascinating! I never knew there were distinct differences between brands. It seems like the Union plane would be better for more precise cutting.

James, Ok we need to hash out the planes used in the videos. First all of the planes on unions web pages do not show a non adjustable frog but the one you got to drool over, I ment to say try on wood does not have an adjustable frog, and the blade depth adjuser looks like a bayle pattern. What version were you showing?

No flex zone

Wow , good to know new planes but I think I'm custom to stanley's plane , plane like this one feel weird in my hand 🤔.

How tight is the mouth on them? I do understand and have experienced that a chip breaker can deal with most of the tearout, but a tight mouth always helps. So are they purpose built and set up? And are there any bigger planes then just the "no.3" and "no.4"?

James , I am from ct where all the good planes like Stanley and union come from lol ! Seriously tho I snagged at Union no 2 for $5 at a flea market last year . Based on what I could find on the web I concluded I was a hybrid of a Stanley Bailey casting and frog with a union iron and lever cap . Made shortly after Stanley purchased Union and was using up the last of the Union inventory before putting the Union name to rest.but you video has me second guessing what I read as your Union castings have the no 3 and no 4 on the toe . What are your thoughts on my no 2. On a side note as much as I love my Bailey's my favorite smoother is actually a Sargent , my understanding is they had control of the Bailey patents for 20 years or so prior to Stanley. At least from what I read. Any how great video as always thank you for all the content you provide !!!!

Where can you buy those new Union blades?

I used to have a X4. I bought it for $30 and sold it a few months later for $109. It was in perfect condition. It's probably worth more now. 🤷🤦 Oh well. Haha

Uumm.. I may have some of those in a box somewhere.. please hold.. will check when home from work

Doe these have corrugated soles? I thought a saw ridges, thanks by the way for a useful video as always

Were you excited? Your hand seems to shake when measuring shaving thickness :)

Will they be made in the usa

They are making new tools currently?

This looks like an amazing plane and would love to get one someday, but that price tag would force my wife to kill pr divorce me, if she doesn't do both. I mean even the rejects cost more than some antique stanley's. But if its ready to go out the box then its kind of worth it.

Wait don’t get this plane get this one. Lol

Did the company get off the ground?

7th.

After seeing the prices of the new planes, I hope they're beefing them up like Lie-Nielsen did with the Stanley Bedrocks. $375 for the 4 1/4. That's a lot bunch of cabbage.

Looks like the "startup" has stalled, the only plane in their "offering photos" is a vintage model, not even a new prototype for their pre-orders. And $275.00? Ouch.

Hi, You mentioned "The patents were just purchased..." I think it would be interesting to know more about this. Patents are only good for 20 years normally, so what was new enough that they would want/need to buy? Also, here in 2023, it seems like they are still not making new ones. At least I was not able to find any for sale. I think it would interesting to see/hear what their path has been like and where they are now. And most importantly, keep up the good work!

The fixed frog is what destroys the Union plane. Being stuck with a fixed size mouth is a killer. It's a great plane otherwise. I actually dislike the dual knob because it's difficult to ease your way into the cut, but it's pro and con.

Hahahah a cult following... its the jeep of hand planes! Hahahaha lol.

Why are they called Xplane?

well, this hasn't aged well. There's no functional benefit to these planes vs. a stanley bailey plane, but for the 18 years I've been woodworking, I've seen one explanation after another reasoned about why plane A or B is a better plane than a stanley, and almost 100% of the time from people who don't really use planes very much and haven't really figured out how to use all of a stanley's functionality. The slow adjuster on these planes probably fell pretty flat on its face among users who would've been doing more than just taking thin shavings around the turn of the century. If you're working wood from rough, a slow adjuster is aggravating. I can't imagine anyone now recreating that plane in cast iron, but a bulky kind of crude version of it, maybe. Stanley's planes are a marvel -they're inexpensive to us now, the castings are wonderfully done, the irons are excellent, though maybe a beginner who doesn't understand the function of the cap iron thinks they chatter - an experienced user will prefer the thinner iron, and even the adjuster wheel is elegant compared to something like an off the shelf looking single tooth wheel like you'd find on a lie nielsen. And the handles are functionally ideal. The compulsion to "have and acquire" and to want to know something just better than someone else leads people into traps. I'd hate to be on the hook to try to figure out how to make a 1900 style plane well and with economic solvency in 2020. The skills to do the work are gone and the replacement with production CNC shows up in tools like blue spruce chisels or V11 - neither is remotely close to a ward chisel from 1900, but they sure cost a lot more, even after adjustment for inflation.

Did you have a seizure while writing the description?