STANLEY Hand Planer, Contractor Grade, Low Angle (12-960)

Was very pleased with this little block plane after I tuned it up with some elbow grease. The cutter was in good shape and had the proper angle of 25 degrees but the grind was rough and unacceptable. I resharpened the blade and added a micro bevel of one degree. I use a Veritas blade sharpening guide and they work great with sandpaper or stones. I also flattened the bottom of the plane iron and also did the sides because the metal grind from the factory was not all that good. When I finished, the metal was mirror like and very nice. I tried a cut on a pine board edge and I was blown away by the awesome wood curl I got which was paper thin and continuous and the blade went through the wood like butter. The key to a block plane or any other plane is having the cutting blade razor sharp with the proper angle and having a flat plane iron. I strongly suggest investing in a blade honing guide which will allow you to get perfect blade cutting angles. Anyway, this little Stanley is an awesome little plane for the price and I recommend it.

This is a great plane to keep in your tool belt when you are installing a bunch of trim.I compared this made in Mexico plane with my 50 year old Stanley 60-1/2, and here are the important differences:1. The plane body casting is slightly larger and slightly heavier (maybe 2%), and the machined finish on the sides and sole of the tool are a little bit coarser than my 50 year old tool.2. The plane sole and sides were acceptably flat and square out of the box, and would be perfectly functional with no "tuning" or adjustment.3. Solid brass adjustment knobs on the new tool vs. steel on the old one. I kinda like the brass!4. The blade needed sharpening, as all new tools will need. The blade steel on the new tool is better than on my 50 year old tool.Overall a very good value for an actively used job-site tool. Should absolutely stand up to 50 years of use that I have given my old tool.Because I purchased this tool as a gift, I did spend an hour or so flattening the sole and sides, flattening the back of the blade, sharpening the blade razor sharp, and buffing out the brass knobs, sole and sides. Is it as pretty as a Lie-Neilson? No. However, I expect that the gift recipient will remember me well every time he picks up this tool and uses it for that perfect final fit of a miter joint.

I'm not proficient with technology, so I apologize for the lack of pictures. I've had this plane for a little over a week with a fair amount of use. As previous reviews state this plane requires some fine tuning. I had the shoe flattened in about 3 hours. I started with 80 grit sand paper then worked myself up to 400 grit sand paper. I used 3 in 1 oil for lubrication. As for the iron. I had the back of the iron flattened, primary bevel honed and a micro bevel with in an hour. I used a 400 grit wet stone to grind the primary bevel even. I then used a 1,200 grit wet stone up to a 6,000 grit followed by a leather strop to establish the primary and micro bevels. At this point I was shaving hair clean off my arm. I strongly recommend watching youtube videos on sharpening plane irons. It's really not a complicated process.I have used this plane on both hard woods (white and red oak) as well as soft woods (pine, cedar and Douglas fir). I cuts just fine with some minor complaints. My first complaint would be it is a little tricky making lateral adjustments to the blade for even cuts. You can do it, but it's not a smooth operation. The lever that adjust the iron doesn't engage in a very smooth manner, but this is a cheap plane so that seems fair. I also don't love the lever cap. The sweet heart model snaps into place as apposed to this model which is held in place with a screw. Sliding the lever cap into place can be a little tricky, as I have found the plane works best when the lever cap is on the snug side. This seems to reduce chatter keeping the cuts even and smooth through out the stock. My final complaint would be the iron seems a bit soft. Expect to sharpen the iron several times with in a session. On the bright side honing the iron takes less than 5 minutes once the bevels are established.

I am extremely impressed with this block plane.. Like every plane, I had to do preliminary setup process when I received it (checking sole flat, sharpening blade, etc…). After the initial set up though it works great.. Awesomely Great. Surprised does not do justice. I could not believe how good this works. There’s no way I would ever pay the crazy prices for a block plane from other places when I can have this for 40 $30. It’s ridiculous.

This plane is a very good value for the money. It is NOT a hand-crafted, artisan-quality plane, like a Lie-Nielsen, but, then again, it doesn't cost a couple of hundred dollars, either. In my view, I got a lot for the money I spent on it.Many of the other reviews say that you'll need to do considerable tuning work before it can be used. That wasn't my experience. I found it to be fully functional right out of the package. All I had to do was fiddle with the adjustments a little to correct the jostling it got in shipping, and it worked very well.I did take it apart and tune the blade by honing the bevel and flattening the back. It gives me a very long, clean shaving on most woods, but, in reality, it did almost as well before the tuning.In summary, I think I got all that I paid for-- and a lot more. I can't complain a bit. I'm happy I bought it, and I'd do so again without hesitation.

Pretty to look at but somehow it doesn't seem as well made as my really old planes. Small things like the machining is not quite as polished, and the paint seems heavily applied, but not in a good way. Works okay but I needed to regrind the blade edge and double bevel it before I could get the sort of translucent shavings I expected, Still tends to bite when I do't expect it to.