On Cheap Planes And Shaves
Ron Smith
>I missed purchase of the Record 78, so I recently bought a new Stanley 778. I was amazed (after all the talk here) to find it remarkably well cast and machined. It was necessary to use a file and dremmel to extend to cutter bed so the blade could be moved to the full right position, and to scrape the paint off the unmachined bed . . .but that was it. Everything is adequately square and flat and it runs fine. Naturally it took some time to smooth the rough casting surfaces, but I like the plane and it cuts well.
The Record SpokeShaves were another story. I have had these for several years and they performed reasonably well, though little used. Facing several hours of heavy use with these (flat and curved sole) I decided to take a closer look. The cutter bed was rough cast and heavily painted. That accounted for the stickiness, and binding when making blade adjustments. I scraped the paint away hoping to find the casting to be at least machined accurately. Nope. Pitted and crooked . . NO machining that I could see. I am far from expert, and have few tools. Using a mill file and some diamond stones I finally got things acceptably true. But Iprobably spent five or so hours on each shave. and on one it was necessary to grind the bed so far that the cutter now binds a bit on the adjusting nuts. Adjusting Nuts ! ! Whoa . . . . This is a big consideration. The Adjusting Nuts AND the matching slot cut in the iron are critical to smooth, quick adjustment. I spent a lot of time filing these so they ran smoothly . . . .Still have a ton of slop but at least one can make smooth blade adjustment by using the Nuts while having substantial tension on the iron.
Well, I had the time. I got some useful expeprience, and I have some useable tools. As more knowledgeable folks her have said . . Either spend your money on good tools . .Or spend your time making marginal tools suffice. I don't think I will be buying anymore tools which are not machined properly . .and I will disassemble, inspect, and check flatness and trueness of all critical surfaces before I buy. That ends mail order for me.
I wish to express my thanks to everyone who posts here. The shared knowledge, and experience . . .and even the marvelous blunders are invaluable. Thank you ALL.