Customer Reviews

Grizzly H5699 Set of 2 Planes In Wooden Case

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I have to say that I didn't return this set. I use these. After some (extensive) tuning, both of planes sliced thin curls from some wood including oak. I can even say I like the smoothing plane. However, I was a bit disappointed by the block plane.

1. Smoothing plane
This is definitely an OK plane. Has roughly No.4 plane dimension: 9 3/4 inch long sole, 2in wide blade.

It has all the standard adjustment mechanisms: Blade adjustment knob, blade lateral adjustment lever, and frog adjustment screw. Though I haven't bothered to adjust the frog, blade adjustments worked as they should.

I had to make the sole flat on a sheet of sandpaper on a glass plate, but anyway this is not unusual for any plane. The blade came with rough grind mark on the bevel, but again this is not unusual for a cheap tool. After taking some time to hone, it became razor sharp. I tried it on ceder (including knot) and white oak, and it performed respectably.

The blade thickness is exactly 2mm, i.e. roughly 5/64 in. Looks thin, but probably it's OK.

2. Low angle block plane.
A bit disappointed.

It has 6in sole and 1 13/32 blade. It has a lateral adjustment lever as well as a brass adjustment knob. The mouth is also adjustable.

The blade is surprisingly thin (only 0.055in or 1.4mm), and I can easily flex it by my hands. Not a good sign.

Unlike some of other similar planes, it doesn't have any flat surface against which the blade can rest securely. The blade is pressed against the edge of the mouth opening of the sole and the highest point of the sliding seat used for the adjustment.

The upper edge of the mouth opening against which the blade is pressed was roughly and unevenly ground. I had to spend more than two hours to sand this part flat by using a piece of wet-and-dry paper attached to the blade using double side sticky. Even after this, I feel the blade is not as stable as it should be.

The moving part of the sole seems as if it was stamped rather than machined. Only the bottom of this part was ground flat, but the sliding edge seems to be left rough (and round, thus my suspicion about having been stamped). I had to file off some high points and then use fine paper to make it flat. Then it took some time to lap the sole together with moving part. Despite all these, lateral fit of the moving part was not that bad.

I have to say that it performed, though. After taking hours (yes it took hours) for all of these adjustments and honing the blade sharp, this plane sliced wood. I tried white oak endgrain and it worked.

3. Other things
The wooden box looks nice, but is of poor quality. The bottom plate is made of some soft wood veneer, and it seems that they cannot hold the weight of the planes. The bottom plate of my box is already coming off. I prefer sturdy plastic box (or no box at all, preferably with cheaper price).