any feedback on the HF tools?

hello,

wondering if any of you had bought these planes and have comments?

formatting link

Reply to
cyrille de Brebisson
Loading thread data ...

Life is too short to buy and use cheap tools! Why not look into a quality plane that will give you a lifetime of satisfaction? Dave

Reply to
Teamcasa

each one is exactly 3.46% of the price of my last plane purchase, and that was on sale. If I needed something like that, I'd definitely try them, with the assumption they'd need some good lapping and sharpening. If I saw them in the store for half price, I'd probably get them even if I didn't have an immediate use for them. Let us know how they work. Andy

Reply to
Andy

Life is also too short to wait until you can afford a "quality" plane, especially if you need one now. It's also too short to wait until you can afford every supposed "quality" tool when a "cheap" tool will work just fine currently. If I spent all my money on the tools I'm "supposed" to get, I'd probably be still waiting to finish that birdhouse from 7th grade. If you can afford the high end tools, that's fine and dandy, but if you're on a tool budget, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the dreaded Harbor Freight. Blasphemy I know, but my great-grandfather managed to build a three-story house without the Hitachi Power Sneakers.

Might have to tinker with the planes from HF, but it's been my experience using planes, from the antique planes passed down from my great-grandfather to high end planes that you have to tinker with them anyway.

Woodworkers from the 1800s are laughing at us.

Reply to
ivytheplant

without hesitation. Even if they're completely useless (doubtful), I've learned something for only $12.

I bought a smoothing plane there for $10. Something to play with and possibly destroy without crying.

Why even think about a $10 tool purchase? Just grab it. If nothing else, you can hang it on the wall, and everyone will think you're Mr. Tool Guy.

Reply to
boorite

I tend to agree. Buying the best almost always makes sense if you're going to use something frequently. You will make up the cost in the longevity of the tool, and it will almost certainly do the job a little (or, in some cases, a lot) better.

However, for the weekend warrior who only needs a certain tool once in a blue moon, having a cheap version is a lot better than having none at all. And since a lot of us can't afford to spend top dollar on a tool we will only use a few times a year, buying cheap makes a certain amount of sense. (I'd rather have a beat-up old clunker to drive across town than to walk 10 miles every day while I was saving up for a BMW.)

Reply to
Charlie M. 1958

Exactly. And there's no rule that says you can't still save up for the BMW while driving the clunker.

Reply to
ivytheplant

And still drive the clunker on crappy days...

Reply to
B A R R Y

Wed, Oct 25, 2006, 3:17pm (EDT+4) snipped-for-privacy@hp.com (cyrille=A0de=A0Brebisson) waves and says: hello, wondering if any of you had bought these planes and have comments?

formatting link
Got a flyer today, they're on saile until sometime in Nov for $9 something. If I was modelmaking I'd either make my own, or get a set. If the blades aren't any good I've got an old saw blade or three and figure I could make replacements easy enough.

JOAT It's not hard, if you get your mind right.

- Granny Weatherwax

Reply to
J T

Wed, Oct 25, 2006, 10:25am (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (ivytheplant) doth sayeth: Life is also too short to wait until you can afford a "quality" plane, especially if you need one now. It's also too short to wait until you can afford every supposed "quality" tool Woodworkers from the 1800s are laughing at us.

You've got that right. I was spending my "quality tool" money raising two sons on my own. Possibly the only reason Ive got a shop today, albeipt small - 8'X12', and most of the tools I've got, is because I got a unexpected bouns when my job at the time shut down. If not for that I'd have been a lot longer in getting any shop at all. The shop might be small, and i might have a batch of HF and other inexpensive tools in it, but they all work, and I try to be properly grateful for what I do have. I bet woodworkers from at least the mid-1900s are laughing too, that or they're all saying "WTF is wrong with those people?".

JOAT It's not hard, if you get your mind right.

- Granny Weatherwax

Reply to
J T

I think 13 bucks plus shipping isn't a bad price to get a little insight into what you personally like, dislike, want, and don't want, in a hand plane, so you can go out and buy one that suits you. Or five or six. :-)

You'll put a lot of work into them, you'll tinker with 'em, and you'll learn something without shelling out triple digit dollars. Sounds good to me even if you end up chucking all of 'em out the window in a fit of rage. Which you probably won't.

Reply to
else24

Not exactly high-use items in anyone's toolbox, I'm sure. With meathooks like mine, they would be next to useless anyway.

I get a lot of use out of my Kunz palm plane, though.

formatting link
your saw blades for scrapers or scratch stocks and make holders big enough for your hands.

Reply to
George

Hey, even chucking them out the window is worth $13 for the entertainment.

Reply to
ivytheplant

I've bought several HF tools all with very good luck EXCEPT on items with a blade of some sort. Chisels wouldn't hold their edge etc. Have no experience with these planes BUT from past experience with cutting tools - I'd pass.

Reply to
Vic Baron

I'm ashamed to say that someone once gave me one of these. Even with a disproportionate amount of tuning work, it's still barely usable as a door wedge. Save your money!

Reply to
Andy Dingley

You can get a perfectly serviceable old Stanley #4 or #5 for that sort of money and an evening's work. Even my "best" #4 (a perfect rosewood Sweetheart and one of the best performing planes I own) only cost me =A340ish, which is what I spent on dinner last weekend.

There is _NO_ excuse for ever buying an Anant or similar abomination.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (J T) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3336.bay.webtv.net:

My wife & I raised 4 sons, and we're pretty pleased with how they turned out. For most of the time while they were at home, I borrowed tools from Dad, or friends, and 'made do', or bought a very few good tools.

When they finally moved out, and completed college, the money was there for some good tools, and I bought a bunch of them. Now I take them to the boys' places, and work on their projects, or take them up, and work on my dad's house.

JOAT's plan of buying what you can afford, when you can afford it, and painting it yellow, makes an awful lot of sense to me. It's just really hard to do with a Lie Nielsen plane, ;-)

There's nothing wrong with buying a Harbor Fright tool, if that's what you need, or want, or all you can afford. There is very little value in having more tooling than you can use.

Enjoy all of this. Doesn't last forever.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Reply to
Wilson

I was there today and saw them. If they're not all ready on sale, they will be going on sale for about $10 in November according to the sale flyer available in the store. At that price, it seems like a safe gamble you'll get something of use.

I didn't buy them today, but probably will later on. I noticed, when checking out the packaging, they are made of a combination of metal and wood. The outsides are something like brass or bronze which is sandwiching a wood sole.

One thing that I've been wondering is how I'd sharpen their blades, given they're so small. The blades look to be too small to fit my honing guide, so I'm guessing they'd have to be done by hand.

Reply to
Michael Faurot

Wed, Oct 25, 2006, 10:06pm (EDT+4) snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Vic=A0Baron) doth sayeth: =A0=A0I've bought several HF tools all with very good luck EXCEPT on items with a blade of some sort. Chisels wouldn't hold their edge etc. Have no experience with these planes BUT from past experience with cutting tools - I'd pass.

I've got various chisels from HF, and I'm satisfied with them. I will admit they're not top of the line. However (there's ALWAYS a however), I don't use them often, and when I do, I don't use them long. For what I use them for, I'm well satisfied, and don't mind sharpening them more often than I would with higher quality chisels, it's not an inconvenience. for me, more part of the enjoyment If I needed chisels for part of my livelyhood I'd have top quality for use, and the HF chisels would be used as prybas or something. Or, if I used chisels more often, I'd probably get better chiesls. But, I don't do either, so these do the job for me.

JOAT It's not hard, if you get your mind right.

- Granny Weatherwax

Reply to
J T

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.