STANLEY1-12-137 62-Low Angle Sweetheart Jack Plane

Now, this is definitely a tool for the enthusiast that's for sure. And if you are then come on in.This Stanley plane of course buys into the resurgence - especially in the US - of hand tools used in woodworking. And amongst that movement, hand planes have taken on an almost hallowed status with online arguments to rival WW2. The upside is of course that companies like Stanley have decided to offer top end products that border on works of art. Which this is.Firstly the build is superb. The cast plane has a fine grain texture and quality that is immediately obvious. It is as perfectly flat as I can tell - and I've had 30 years as an engineer working with multi-million dollar bits of machinery installed to superfine tolerance such as steam turbines. I know when something is flat and it would take a high end marking out table and super high quality measuring tools to determine if this was out of true. You won't find it with a steel rule as the level is so good.It is fitted with an A2 plane iron which contrary to what some think is not some sort of esoteric metal offering the nirvana of surgical edge with the longevity of the Queen. It's simply air hardened steel that is a nice balance of edge and life. Personally I prefer O2 steel (oil hardened) that will take a finer edge but require a bit more regular honing. A2 is the buzzword right now for planes so this comes with it.Handles feel tactile and comfortable. I like the matte finish which isn't as quite as the old planes would have been as they would have had a gloss varnish on them. Adjustments are excellent with a quality finish and feel.I tried this out of the box on some end grain and it cut well. Of course like the plane pedant that I am I honed it afterwards and tried it again to see if it was better which it was. But not by a huge margin. Tick one for Stanley.Overall a great alternative to the much more expensive Veritas or Lie Nielsen planes.

I was expecting to have to put a bit of effort in to get this working but, to my surprise, it actually took decent shavings right out of the box on Ash and Beech. All square and a good level of fit and finish. Mouth and blade adjustment work well. As with most things, a dud is sure to slip out now and then but I found nothing untoward with the one I received. I bought this because I have a lot of accurate jigs to make out of plywood and acrylic on the shooting board, (not the kind of material I want to use my LN or vintage planes on), and it could then assume a permanent role as a general "household" plane but I'm sufficiently impressed with it that it might stay in the workshop.If I had anything negative to say it would be that the lever cap certainly isn't as nice as a big lump of bronze but it doesn't affect performance. I also think the handle is a little on the chunky side and definitely not as comfortable as my favourite vintage Marples planes or my Lie-Nielsens but it's not a deal breaker for me.Compared to the other low angle jacks out there, the Lie-Nielsen is almost exactly twice as much, the Veritas twice as much and then some and even the Quangsheng is about £40 more. By any reasonable criteria it's a perfectly acceptable tool but I'd even go as far to say that it's actually rather good for the money. Yes, a Veritas or LN would beat it soundly in a woodworking magazine shootout but it works just fine under real world conditions and any minor shortcomings, (the handle, lever cap), are perfectly forgivable considering the price. Probably not one for tool fetishists but as functional item I can't really fault it.

I didn't expect much based on other new planes I have wasted my money on, and the finish on the metal certainly isn't what it is on older planes. This does however produce an amazing finish ready surface on the wood. I tested it on pine end grain, a big knot in a 2x4, and a bit of acacia with a knot that had bad tearout with other planes, and it left then all perfectly smooth right out the box. Highly recommended and will replace my old no5 for using with the shooting board.

Substantial plane. Beautifully milled body but the edges were not deburred/chamfered. As a result in my rush to try it out I discovered the hard way that the unfinished edges, even some with a black finish, were as sharp as the blade and so, I sliced my little finger on the body of the plane. I filed all the edges to avoid further self mutilation.In use the plane produced beautiful consistent shavings straight away.The blade adjustment requires the cap to be unscrewed slightly before the combined depth angle adjuster can be moved. The cap then needs to be tightened again which is a bit of a faff compared with Bailey style planes. The adjustable throat is a joy, unscrew the front knob, slide the adjuster lever to set throat size and tighten knob.The low profile keeps the centre of gravity low so the plane feels very stable.Overall I'm pleased with the

Firstly why am I seeing block plane review with this item??The bed is very close to flat enough the blade is flat and as sharp as I could ever get it it’s super sharp straight out of the box and takes nice shavings.The blade adjuster is a bit fiddly to get very fine shavings but once it’s locked in it works well.Tote & knob comfortable to hold no issues there, the mouth opens and closes as it should.Would I recommend definitely but looking at other reviews which are mixed reviews I don’t know if they are about this Stanley low level jack plane or the Stanley block plane but like anything in life there quality problems as well as excellent quality like the one I received.Sturdy with a decent weight sharp and flat.