Thread: Fine Tools Australia

Never heard off them
Just had a quick look at the web site.
Anybody know anything about them ????.
Or the quality off there tools.

I dont know anything about the company but Luban (Quengshing) planes have a reputation as good value for money. I have a Quengshing block plane and it is quite good.
The Mujingfang wood planes are good value too and well made if you like wood body planes. The blades hold a good edge so the chisels should be reasonable too. I think you can get the muji stuff for a bit less direct from china but the mark up does not look too bad.
Regards
John

There is absolutely no mention of where they are actually located, no ABN/ACN. Given this, I feel it is quite likely that this is someone located in China who ships direct to Oz, which then gives you no recourse if the goods do not arrive or are defective.

The metal planes are the Wood River Planes http://www.woodcraft.com/category/5/...%20Planes.aspx made in the same factory and re-branded. That site has been around for quite a while as I looked at it several times in the past year. Some of the prices are better than the Wood River brand and some are more expensive or that was the case a few months ago.

I've bought some Luban chisels from them via their ebay site with no problems and quick delivery. Love the chisels too.

Hi all,
The marking/mortice gauge (British marking gauge) is the same one sold by Carbatec for about $20.00 more, the finish was ok but the first thing I did when it arrived was to sand and re-spray the gauge the fit of the bar was to say the least was very sloppy no where near as good as the gauge I had made myself but for the price it will do the job. Hopefully the metal work is better quality than the timber work on these gauges
Regards Rod.

I have bought a few things off them - 2 Luban hand planes, Luban rebate block plane and a set of 6 bench chisels. These items are made by Qiangsheng, as are Woodriver, and are high quality items. Fine Tools Australia is based in and ships from Melbourne. The chisels are identical to Woodriver and as far as I know the only difference with the planes is that Woodriver have an A2 blade. These same items are sold by Workshop Heaven in the UK under the Qiangsheng brand and in other markets under various brands including Luban.

McJing also sells many products that emanate from the same factory at very attractive prices. My Qiangsheng low angle block plane is a favourite. You would not go wrong buying these quality tools.

Just had a look at the McJing site. The 6 piece bevel edge chisel set has 2 different pictures, one set with rosewood handles and steel (?) ferrules and the other with socket style bubinga handles. Not sure which they are selling but from experience I can tell you that at $75 they're a bargain!

Originally Posted by bsrlee

There is absolutely no mention of where they are actually located, no ABN/ACN.

I agree, ABN info should be on the site but a bit of Googling/Whois-ing/ASIC-ing see's they've do have an ABN and also registered the very catchy business name of: The Roberts Conway Crowns Fine Luban Hand Planes Tools Tool Narex Chisels Chisel Company Wood Store! Nice ring to it I think....
It does however let them somewhat legitimately apply for the finetool.com.au domain name I guess. Happy if they stocked some Narex gear one day though.

To me it looks like they are trying to capitalise on the success that Workshop Heaven has had in the UK. Say what you will about the ethics of the Quangsheng/Qiangsheng designs, I think the guy from Workshop Heaven did a good job putting those tools up for review in the UK and responded by having changes made to the designs based on those reviews (IIRC the tote designs were modified and re-positioned). I wonder if these are those exact same planes though (branding aside)?

The problem I have with these planes is that there seems to be small variances between what is available from Fine Tools vs Workshop Heaven vs McJing vs WoodCraft vs Dictum/DICK vs Deiter/JUUMA e.g. the differences in materials for lever caps, totes, blades. Are some of these differences a function of price-point or working relationship between importer and supplier? I'd love for someone to do a comparison - if just to get a handle on how Quangsheng operate.
I think anyone that has dealt with Chinese manufacturing knows the quality/consistency of the end product is ALL about the quality of the relationship between importer and supplier. So does the Fine Tools website instil me with the confidence that they work as closely with Quangsheng as someone like Woodcraft or Workshop Heaven might?

Still, they are cheap!

I've bought a few odds and ends from them. They have an eBay store too.

I have;
*Wheel cutting gauge.
* Marking Knife.
* Little hammer
* Sliding Bevel.
*The rosewood spokeshave.
* The Large Indo Redwood Frame saw.

All the tools except the frame saw are quite usable. The frame saw's blade is, to put it kindly, useless. Two thirds of the teeth are set one way, one third the other. The result is a sweeping curve, regardless of your intentions. The tensioning system is also sub-optimal. I'll have to keep an eye out for some nice twine to do it the traditional way, because the brass threaded rod is a bit prone to stripping.

Contacts with the proprietor (Jason) were good until I pointed that out and since then I haven't heard a peep. I haven't chased very hard, but really, it's turned me off Chinese tools a bit. The fact that can get out of the factory like that is a bit worrying.

Cheers,
Peter

As an correction of the record; I missed Jason's email... He he emailed me back in April, and again yesterday. Apparently all the saws in his stock are set that way- He's going to try to pull a good blade from the next shipment for me.

Those bevel edge chisels look the goods, especially for the price ($20 each). Anyone bought them ?

Wonder what the flat bit on the handle is for ?

Queries about Luban tools have come up a few times on the forum. Do a search on luban up on the top right corner of the screen for some more feedback. Luban White used to be a regular contributor on the forum under the name Slow6. I believe he is behind the tools.

I bought their wheel cutting gauge from the fine tools AU eBay syore a while a go and it has been awesome - beautifully made and was $37 including postage. S.