I decided to give a new Stanley Bevel Up Jack plane a try, and I was completely blown away. It was perfectly flat in all the appropriate areas straight out of the box, the bottom was square to the sides, and it produces a surface that rivals my Lie Nielsen smoother.
After that, I purchased a new Stanley block plane and had the same results.
Despite the fact that I paid about $150 more on it than I did on my Lie Nielsen Rabbet block plane, I find it to be more comfortable in my hand than my Lie Nielsen Rabbet block plane, which I hate to admit.
Without a doubt, the Nielsen planes are excellent, well-made planes, but for daily block plane usage, the Stanley is the one I grab for the most of the time. Everything about it feels excellent in my palm, and it constantly performs well.
So, when I was searching for a shoulder plane last year, I naturally looked at Lie Nielsen and Veritas first, but I decided to give the Stanley a go just to see how it worked. Once again, I’m taken aback by this tiny boy.
The only thing I’ve done to it is sharpen the blade, which I’ve done once a year for the last year. It worked well right out of the box. The shaving in the photo was done just now, this evening. Simple as picking something up and dragging it over a piece of wood
I believe that the new Stanley planes are on par with the two Lie Nielsen planes that I currently own; however, I wish that Stanley offered a larger selection of planes to choose from. Currently, the block plane, a #4, the low angle jack, and the shoulder plane are the only planes available for purchase new from Stanley.
I didn’t have to do anything other than sharpen the blades to get all of them to perform at a level equal to or better than the others. The Stanley is a formidable opponent for anything else on the market. As a consequence, I can get.0008” shavings off of any of them when I use a flat glass surface.
If you’re interested in a showdown between the two, we added them both in our Best Hand Plane Review.
Jonathan is a veteran tree surgeon and arborist. He talks about the things he loved about this profession and how it is one of the best professions out there.
Professional tree surgeons are constantly on call, always ready to risk their lives for the sake of a client’s property or business. The job has its definite risks, but with that comes amazing rewards. Here he shares his knowledge to anything related to woodworking!
