#4-1/2 Smoothing Plane Reviews

3.4 Rating 18 Reviews

About Woodcraft:

Woodcraft Supply, LLC is one of the nation's oldest and largest suppliers of quality woodworking tools and supplies. You'll find Woodcraft stores in more than 70 major metropolitan areas across the U.S.; and Woodcraft annually distributes 1.5 million catalogs featuring more than 10,000 items to all 50 states and 117 foreign countries. The Woodcraft catalog is a standard among woodworkers as the most complete offering of first rate products for woodworking available anywhere. Woodcraft also publishes six issues of Woodcraft Magazine annually.

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Phone:

800-535-4486

Location:

1177 Rosemar Rd,
Parkersburg
West Virginia
26105

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“The #4 1/2 smoother is the fifth Woodcraft V3 plane I have purchased. Every one of them is truly flat and well machined. I was surprised to see a number of reviews that claimed the 4 1/2 received by some people were not flat. I should point out that I determine the flatness on a registered granite plate graded to flat to .00001 - so I know if the soles of the plane is true. I have seen people on YouTube using rulers off of adjustable squares to determine if their new planes are flat. I should point out that you need a machinist straight edge or a granite plate to register true off of. Rulers are NOT true and what you might see as a gap in the plane is in fact a gap in your ruler. I should also add that If you receive a plane that is actually not flat then return it, don't mess with it, Woodcraft really honors its return policy. I have also had very good luck with the "high carbon" steel blades that Woodcraft currently employs. Again, I should point something out - most blades have a frangible leading edge when they come from the factory. Most often you need to remove a 64 to 32"nd before you reach good steel. I even have to do this with a very expensive PM-V11 blade I recently purchased. Also, if you are using an electric grinder please be VERY careful - the blade loses temper long before you see it turn blue. Anyway, the #4 1/2 I purchased had no flaw of any kind. I was very happy with the newer style tote. The blade was concave as it should be - I have 7 of these blades not one was convex. It took me 20 minutes to flatten the first 1 1/2" to 1000 grit flat. After that I use the Charlesworth (ruler trick). I honed the blade to 8000 on a Shapton professional stone and LIGHTLY stropped it. The plane performs beautifully and I would recommend it to anybody”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 week ago

“I guess it’s the luck of the draw, the plane I received looked really nice. I had to do a ton of tuning to get it work properly. Sole wasn’t flat. After fixing the sole. I moved on to the chip breaker. It only touched in the middle of the iron. Got it somewhat flat then noticed the cap had the same issue. Only touching in the center of the chip breaker. Took a good deal of work to get it matched with the chip breaker. The iron itself was mostly flat. I thought about returning the plane but what would a replacement be like. At this point I have so much time in this one I decided to keep it. I have other new planes with those I took them out of the box hone the iron and put them to work. I really wanted a bedrock style plane and didn’t want to pay the lie Nelson price. Now looking back on it should have saved my money and bought a plane that would work out of the box.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

David Threlkeld

Unverified Reviewer

“Got this as an upgrade to my big box store plane. Sole was flat, blade was flat, but the chip breaker was twisted. By the time I gave up trying to fix it, the warranty had expired. Bought a Hock chip breaker instead. If I had added $20 to my total cost, I could have had a Veritas. Lesson learned.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 6 months ago

“The plane works as it should. Minimal work to get the blade flat and put a secondary bevel on. The blades could be better steel but over all it is a nice plane.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 months ago

GH From WICHITA

Verified Reviewer

“Bring back Made In the USA!!”

3 Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

GH From WICHITA

Verified Reviewer

“Please include the country of origin in the description.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

BK From CHICAGO

Verified Reviewer

“After the first plane had visible defects to sole that would result in a smoothing plane not planing smooth I choose to order another. Shame on me, at a $230 price tag plus waiting on the backorder again the same issues were present in the newly ordered plane. Woodcraft wouldn't take the return or exchange for the first plane as it was out of the 90 day window so I will be returning the new plane and reselling the old one online. What a waste, never buying from woodcraft again.”

4 Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

RK From Irvine

Verified Reviewer

“Sole of the plane was dented out-of-the box...I was shocked to see that... I haven't used the plane yet.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago