Open Throat Router Plane w/ Removable Fence - Durable Cast Iron Hand Planer for Wood - Versatile Hand Held Planer for Precise Mortising in Hinges, Inlays & More - Routing Plane for Better Visibility

This is my one and only router plane so I can't really compare it to any others on the market. Rob Cosman has a video on youtube comparing this Bench Dog to a Lee Nielson. It is an exact copy at almost half the price. I'm sure they used cheaper materials and a lower quality blade but, for my weekend DIY projects, it works just fine. I would have preferred to buy the American made LN but, just couldn't justify the price for my use. I couldn't find the LN in stock anywhere at the time anyway.

This is cheaper than some of the other more premium router planes, but it shows in how the tool operates. The depth lock only half works even when using a screwdriver, if you don't use one it does effectively nothing. I'd like a better steel for the cutter as well. It does work, and after sharpening it can give a decent cut but you'll probably be better spending a little extra and getting the Veritas.

Overall, it's a decent quality product. I'm disappointed that the depth stop broke after using it once. For this price, it should last a very long time. Spend the extra money and get one that delivers what it promises.

This is a really nice router plane for the money.

This product offers the opportunity for woodworkers to get an old-fashioned router plane for around $100 instead of $250. So expect to pay about $100 and get a product worth $100, not $250. This is a copy of a Lie-Neilsen improved copy of an old Stanley product. The castings and machining are not so well done as the latter two companies, nor are they priced that way.Every hand tool woodworker knows that no plane is really ready to use from the box, and you need to refine and “tune” it for yourself. There is always after-unboxing work that needs to be done. This plane is just going to require a huge investment in time to become workable, but you can do it, if you have the right sharpening and deburring equipment, and you know how to do it, and you have lots of time on your hands. In my case I had the knowledge of how and equipment and I had lots of time. I ended up with a good, workable plane with a flat bottom (out of the box!) and blade leveled to coplanar with the work surface. That took me about nine hours . . .The blade came unreasonably dull, and polished to a chrome like shine on a buffing wheel. It took at least four hours to sharpen it enough to overcome the rounding over of critical cutting surfaces caused by the buffing wheel. Mine needed a lot of time on the 300 side of a Trend diamond lapping plate. Either the blade or the square hole blade was not precisely 90° so my blade came onto the work surface slightly skewed from coplanar. By testing and re-grinding the bottom of the blade on the 300 side, I was able to get the blade coplanar with the surface so the blade entered the wood evenly on both sides of the blade. There is no “lateral adjustment” on this type of plane, so you have to fix that yourself by grinding.My blade had some chipping along the initial edges, as any new blade can, and it took a few resharpening sessions to get to the good metal. The angle of attack of the blade is about 30°, which is too low for a new blade without chipping out the edge, so you need to add at least a 10° microbevel or your edge will dull rapidly. The plane is less grabby when the blade angle is higher, and you get less tear-out.Overall, I got what I paid for, and the understanding basic to the bargain was that I’d get it cheap and knowingly accept having to spend lots of time fine tuning it. You don’t get something for nothing, This isn’t Lie-Nielsen or Veritas quality, it’s just a knockoff, slightly crudely manufactured, but you can make it a quality tool with a heavy expenditure of time.

I too, like A. Case, recently purchased the Bench Dog router plane for the low cost of $97 including shipping. I've been looking for a Stanley 71 but at prices of $75 and up plus shipping I was unwilling to take a chance of buying any one of these antique planes and fixing it up as a user. Compared to the Lie Nielsen, which the this plane was copied, the Veritas and Katz Moses planes the Bench Dog router plane is a bargain.Rob Cosman's (Rob Cosman Woodworking, Inc) review of the Bench Dog router plane noted poor manufacturing of the casting and low quality hardware. I expected nothing less of the one I received.With some tuning the plane has become a welcomed member of my workshop. The iron took some time to refine as the bottom was pitted and the bevel edge was fractured. What worried me most was how flat the sole was machined. Before I started the flatting process I found the plane sat on a few small areas of its sole. I spent over two hours flatting the plane's sole on my 300 diamond plate; after which, I gave up. I couldn't flatten the area around the iron, which measured four thousandths out of coplanar with the rest of the sole. My local Rockler associate felt this was within tolerance but I wanted a second opinion from a well trusted source. James Wright of Wood By Wright said, "Oh, that is WAY more than flat enough for a router plane. Mine has spots that are out by more than 1/100. A router plane is a rather crude tool in that it does not need high tolerances." Now I feel good about my purchase.

I bought this on sale directly from Rockler. I only bought it because its price dropped so dramatically. I knew it was not a ready to use tool having examined these planes in the store previously. I restore vintage hand planes as a hobby and am fairly well set up to fettle hand tools . I viewed this purchase as part of my hobby. The sole was out of true as I knew it would be. It took two hours (with some breaks) to flatten. Overall the workmanship is crude. The cutter was chipped (very common) and the knobs were rough and poorly finished. On the upside, the cutter was made of good tool steel and takes a fine edge and holds it. I refined, polished, sharpened, and refinished this plane and now after many hours of work its a nice looking and perfectly serviceable router plane. I bought it for $97.00 as a rainy day hobby project and knew what I was getting into. With a fair amount work it can be made to look good and function well, but not worth full price under any circumstances. This plane is NOT worth $139.00. For about $30.00 more ($170.00 ) there are vastly superior router planes ready to use out of the box.