Thread: Good value for money (new)

I've no experience with Luban or Groz. However I have a few planes, own-brand from UK suppliers, which came in SOBA boxes. SOBA is an Indian manufacturer of own-brand and low-cost planes, a bit like Groz.

I found them all (a 92 shoulder, a 7 jointer and a 271 size small router plane) to be of acceptable quality, requiring minimal work (basically just blade sharpening) to be good users.

Regards

Jim

Luban planes (Quengshang sold under a few other names also) is reasonably good. Narex chisels are good value too.
Have heard some horror stories about Groz so I would not go there.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by jimhanna

I've no experience with Luban or Groz. However I have a few planes, own-brand from UK suppliers, which came in SOBA boxes. SOBA is an Indian manufacturer of own-brand and low-cost planes, a bit like Groz.

I found them all (a 92 shoulder, a 7 jointer and a 271 size small router plane) to be of acceptable quality, requiring minimal work (basically just blade sharpening) to be good users.

Regards

Jim

Can you recommend a UK supplier that I can check some prices?

Chisels wise - If I was going to start somebody off with "Good" tools they could use for a long time without "need" to upgrade - it would be Stanley UK made or Marples blue handle (made in China, non-steel cap)..

Honestly - new production Sheffield UK made Stanley chisels and planes are a fantastic value.... Good steel, setup required is not onerous, reasonable prices.

Current Marples blue handle Made in China chisels are quite good. They are in the same price and performance range as Stanley - maybe a bit cheaper. These do sharpen up a bit easier. They are a very good value.. My current opinion is that Marples edges Stanley in paring type non-mallet tasks where Stanley edges Marples under the mallet..

Ashley Iles chisels are a step up from these at perhaps 2x the price.. They are very good. Handles are pretty decent too...

Two Cherries/Kirschen chisels have very good steel and are also perhaps a step up from Stanley steel wise.. The handles are not as comfortable and they often require considerable work to get the steel prepped.... Indications are that Two Cherries really needs to raise prices a bit and make some much needed equipment upgrades to provide flatter chisels which don't need such a huge amount of prep as well as more comfortable handles..

It pains me to say Luban planes are probably a step up from Stanley. They are also more expensive... But you get a tremendous value for the price.

Timbecon sell a house brand t bar sash cramp with a fine thread screw and well machined surfaces for about half the price of the Irwin ones.

I also use the brushless Ozito 18V drill and impact driver and they are both great value.

Have a look at the offerings from McJing, they have a reasonable range of planes and chisels from the Quiangsheng factory. If in doubt just ask Max and he'll set you straight.

Originally Posted by Spyro

Can you recommend a UK supplier that I can check some prices?

I bought my SOBA planes from Axminster (axminster.co.uk), but they have since changed their own-brand range (they're badged as Rider brand now) and seriously upped the prices.

If you want to see UK prices for mid-range usable planes then I would suggest a search on the UK ebay site for the brand Faithfull. I have Faithfull smoother, jack and low-angle block planes, all of which were good users after just sharpening.

Regards

Jim

As far as new goes, Ashley iles bench chisels for normal joinery type work.

Not sure if I can recall anything else new that really left me surprised (perhaps the norton crystolon and norton india stones - but those are probably overpriced over there).

I have a Wood River block plane that I am really happy with. An excellent middle of the road range of planes.

So today I bought two Luban planes, the 62 low angle jack and a rebate block plane.
I'm far from an expert but yes they do look and feel impressive.

Originally Posted by safari

I have a Wood River block plane that I am really happy with. An excellent middle of the road range of planes.

As far as I know, Wood River planes are made by Quengshang, so they're the same as Luban planes.

Whilst I own neither myself, I am researching, and consistently hear good things about these planes for their price.

Worth spending more $$$ (e.g. LN or Veritas) on the couple of mainstream planes that will get plenty of use, such as a jack and a smoother. For anything else, the WoodRiver or similar are fine.

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Worth spending more $$$ (e.g. LN or Veritas) on the couple of mainstream planes that will get plenty of use, such as a jack and a smoother. For anything else, the WoodRiver or similar are fine.

Yes this is ideal.

My problem is I have too many things competing for my woodworking budget at the moment as I've only just finished my shop.

So if I get a high end tool it will mean there will be another tool I will not own at all, and at the moment I am unsure which one I need the most because my work flow is far from finalised.

So for now I'm going with low or mid range tools until I find out which ones are the most important to me and then yes I will probably upgrade those.

Originally Posted by Spyro

until I find out which ones are the most important to me and then yes I will probably upgrade those.

In other words, buy them twice. Plus, you'll barely be able to give away the low end tool for next to no $$$ when you upgrade to something better. As far as "the most important ones" goes, a jack plane is surely at the top of the list for most people? Why not buy a decent low angle jack (e.g. Veritas) at least, maybe later add a spare blade you can sharpen at a higher angle for cranky grain? This plane is also excellent on a shooting board. Until you've used a good quality tool, you don't know what you're missing out on.

I should add that I started out with crappy Record planes which required hours of work to get them working even half decently, and frustrated me no end until I got some decent tools. Virtually impossible to sell the low end tools later, so I think I ended up donating them to the poor and needy of the parish. The only exception is a Record #5, which is so utterly useless that I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. One day I'll take it down the back paddock, shoot it, and bury it in a shallow grave.