Quangsheng No. 5-1/2 Bedrock Pattern Jack Plane Reviews

5 Rating 11 Reviews

The Quangsheng No. 5½ Plane is a popular choice with students and beginners. It is comfortable, well balanced and if set up carefully makes a reasonable compromise if you can't have dedicated try and smoothing planes.
In many ways it is better to think of the 5½ as a short try plane or panel plane, rather than a broad jack plane. It takes a broad, shallow shaving, so if you work with reasonably straight or pre-machined material it will deal with small corrections on wide surfaces very efficiently.
Conversely, if you work with timber that starts off like a propeller blade, the narrower No.5 honed with a steep camber and used across the grain (the traditional function of a jack plane) might be more suitable.

Specifications:
Precision ground, unbreakable CR40 alloy steel casting.
Engineered lateral adjuster with guide bearing and brass tab.
Low profile cap iron.
Brushed finish stainless steel lever cap.
Cherry wood handles.
Conforms to British Standard.
Cutting iron: ⅛" (3mm) thick 2⅜" (60.3mm)
Cutting iron made from T10 carbon steel hardened to RC63.
Sole Dimensions: 380mm x 73mm.
Please note that we are unable to ship Quangsheng products to North America due to retail exclusivity restrictions.

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“Very pleased with my new No. 5 1/2 plane. Quality of manufacture is excellent; absolutely flat sole - at least as far as I'm capable of testing it; sides at a perfect 90 degrees; no rough edges. Heavy (much heavier than my vintage Record 5 1/2), but necely balanced. The only thing I would observe is that the grinding on the bevel of the iron was disappointingly coarse and took some time on the diamond plates to hone. But within an hour or so I had a plane taking beautifully thin shavings in oak and pine.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 10 months ago

“Wow, so balanced. First of all the service from workshop heaven was outstanding, I am from Australia & I ordered my 5 1/2 Quangsheng on Thursday & it was delivered to my house on Sunday. I can't get items that quick here in Australia. The plane was out of stock for several months, soon as they had stock I got a email where then I placed the order. Was not disappointed with my new plane, it's fantastic. Just cleaned off the oil that comes with it to prevent rust, horn the blade to 16k on my Sharpton. The sole is dead flat & the sides are square to the sole, it responses the way you want it. There is no resistance or chatter what so ever & the shavings that come off are so tin that you are able to read text right though them. I have other Luban planes & it performs the same as them no disappointment. These planes are of a high quality.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“After a quick dismantle to check everything and clean off the oil, 5 minutes on the diamond plates, set up and off she went flattening my glue up workbench top with complete ease. Superb weight and balance - all I had to do was push.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“This plane is ridiculously priced; it's insane! Compared to the two notable high end North American brands that we all know, Quansheng is too damn cheap for what it is. My plane is actually better than both the other brands and for two simple reasons: R1: In all features, you're not left wanting in any significant way, if you choose this brand over something 2 or 3 times the price. My plane body is flat and square - there's no rough edges and it's beautiful to look at. I did find drool on the plane though, which I'm not happy about, but I will not admit, that I'm actually at fault for that. It's also a bedrock design, which I really appreciate. It's also a stressed relieved plane body. My purchase is a seriously nice plane. The blade is incredibly thick, flat and almost ready to go. I've read people complaining, that the blade is not ready "out of the box". It takes minimal time to have this brand's blade ready to go. The reality is, you're going to have to sharpen it anyway and not just once in your lifetime. Any plane blade might have to be sharpened a second time too; it happens! Quansheng have done all the work for you - you just have to fine tune it. R2: The Quansheng blade is carbon tool steel and not duller A2 steel. A2 is perfect for a scrub plane, but it's not the ultimate. It's the blade that does the cutting, so if you want the best plane, you've got to have the best material to cut the wood with. That's not going to be A2 steel - sorry, but A2 is not as sharp as carbon tool steel! That fact alone is why this is the best plane in the world currently.”

3 Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I've had this for a couple of weeks now and went to Workshop Heaven to have a proper feel before buying, it took all of two minutes for me to decide to get it. As a joiner of over 40 years experience I've handled a lot of different planes and this immediately felt right, the weight and balance are just perfect for me. I have a couple of LN planes., a jack and a smoother and this is easily comparable in quality at half the price - does make you wonder! I am getting a better finish off this than my LN. Matt kindly offered to sharpen it for me and that took just a couple of minutes using scary sharpening, no additional fettling was required. This is currently my go to plane, I just love it, I've even been using it to clean up dovetails it's that easy to use, also great on my shooting board. If you're in the market for a new plane then I'd highly recommend checking all the planes in the Quangsheng range. I also have a low angle jack and a couple of block planes all terrific to use.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Disclaimer, I’ve only just got home with the plane, so haven’t used it since a full length shaving in the shop. But I wanted to review immediately just to say how my experience today in the store was unbelievable! I learnt so much, made to feel so welcome and had all my daft questions answered with a smile and some brilliant advice. I cannot thank the team enough. Plane is beautifully made.....and I’ll update after some use!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Have been agonising over Quangsheng, Wood River and Clifton for my 5 1/2 finally decided on Quangsheng when the Wood River went on long lead delivery from the factory. The plane arrived next day and following a quick degrease and sharpen with Veritas honing guides and 3M abrasives I set it to work. Produced a very fine finish on everything it touched from Scots Pine to Oak and Purpleheart. Great value quality item.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Sole is flat (veritas straight edge flat), sides are flat and square to sole. Had a slight issue with the machining on the chip breaker but am assured a replacement is in its way. Ok, the paint isnt the best and there are a couple of imperfections on the top of the casting but really for the money, its spot on. Will be buying more.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago