Thread: Any opinions /experience of Mustarka Planes

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f152/m...a-tools-79804/

It seems to be a #6 equivalent.....and more of a Record than a Stanley.

Some of the Asian reproductions are fine....I've got a Rolson #78 copy, works well.
But things can be a little "hit or miss" with the quality control.

The real problem (as I see it anyhow) is.....it might work fine but you won't be able to sell it if you don't like it....where-as a 2ndhand Stanley or Record will be worth roughly what you paid for it if you want to get rid of it.

A Stanley #6 is 45cm long Steve.

And wot Sean said.

My 2 bob's worth is to look around for a Stanley, and if/when you get sick of sharpening get a replacement blade. Hock A2, IBC etc. There may even be an orphan M2 from Thumbsucker's offer. Blade is 2 3/8" wide.

Another option going upmarket a bit is a WoodRiver v. 3 eg. from Grahame Waterson. Click. Jim Davey also carries these.

Stek,

I was intrigued by Mustarka a while back and decided to buy a set of dividers to see what the quality of manufacturing was like. The dividers were very poorly made and put me off buying anything else with that brand. I would certainly avoid them if you had a choice.

If you are on a budget and don't mind putting in a bit of hard work to get a decent performing plane then I recommend looking into buying a second hand Stanley or Record plane and give it some time cleaning and fettling it. If you find your time is worth more to you and you don't mind spending a little more then I'd suggest looking at a Woodriver plane. You can pick one up from Jim Davey Tools for half the price of a Lie-Neilsen or Veritas and by all accounts the third revision of these tools is of a higher tolerance than the first. Reviews seem quite positive about them.

Either way you'd be much better off than Mustarka.

Regards,

Denim.

Mustarka is where all the worn-out tooling from other manufacturers goes to die.....

Makes even the current production Record look good, and that's not saying much.

LOL.

Whatever. With one of these and with most Stanleys as well, you're looking at fettling.

That can be an engaging and diverting activity and I confess to having spent countless hours on the task. But when I want to plane I reach for one of the Veritas in the kit.

I bought a couple of them a couple of years ago.

1. Block plane: despite being a variable mouthed block plane it doesn't close up to less than about 3mm. Needed a LOT of sharpening when I got it. Once I had removed the train track like marks on it it perform better than the alternatives at the time (ie nothing as I was skint).
2. And then we come to my #5. No you would think I'd learned my lesson but no I went ahead and in a fit of impatience I bought a #5. NASTY, nasty, nasty. It lived in a drawer after spending many a happy hour trying to fettle it. Base was anything but flat, sides not 90 degrees to base, again huge deep "mill marks". It lived happily in drawer for ages until I hit on the idea of using it to do bulk removal. I would have relisted it on Ebay but shame and not wanting to keep it in circulation made me refrain.

They are cheap for a very good reason.
Indian quality control has reputation that is well earned but not here.

Ebay has many many Old Doeruppers for roughly the same price forumite Slow6 (www.lubanwhite.com) had an excellent section to his sales website "The Boneyard" where he lists some "users that are in need of TLC.
I have a couple.

Now I just need to find a good adjustable mouth block plane...... I see LN are having a "Parity Sale" I wonder how many hints SWMBO will need?

Steck

I can't really comment on the Mustaka brand of planes. So why the hell am I replying?

Just hold on a tick; I'll get there; Bear with me.

I have some Mustaka products

1. Hole saw. Has suited my purposes admirably
2. Flooring stapler. Absolutely superb. I am in the process of laying the floor of the whole hose and I can't fault it. It looks like a re-badged Archer brand to me, but can't be certain.
3. Router bits. Not the best ever, but quite good enough for my purposes.

I have been extremely happy with the Mustarka products and I am about to buy another item. My point here is you have to consider whether it is value for money and how much additional work you wish to put into it. Truthfully, a plane is a little more critical than a hole saw!

Lastly, (I said I'd get there) I happen to have two Stanley No.6 planes I wish to part with.

The reason is that, quite unsolicited, my wife bought me a No. 7 Lie-Nielson for my last birthday. Yes, life is pretty tough here in rural QLD! I am currently building a pedestal to put her on .

The first plane I bought new in about 1982 and the second I acquired at a later time, although it is I think older. I have recently flattend the soles and generally cleaned the planes cosmetically. The blades have been polished on the back and sharpened to 8000grit (I don't normally go that far, but I did it as an exercise as I have the stones).

There may still be some work required (the cap iron for example).

I was planing on selling them through ebay, but did not get my act together to be realistically ready for the pre-christmas period. I was thinking in terms of starting the auction @ $50 each and to a forum member I would sell them at that price plus postage.

Let me know if you would like more information and I can probably send some pics, but don't let me disuade you if you want to try Mustarka.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Lastly, (I said I'd get there) I happen to have two Stanley No.6 planes I wish to part with.

The reason is that, quite unsolicited, my wife bought me a No. 7 Lie-Nielson for my last birthday. Yes, life is pretty tough here in rural QLD! I am currently building a pedestal to put her on .

Hi Paul,
Wow! What a great wife!
I am definitely interested in the planes.
I have a slab of blackwood which has become somewhat bowed as it dried out.
The general feeling on the Mustarka plane seems to be DON"T!
I very recently polished up my grandfather's old rusty Stanley no.3 and thoroughly enjoyed the process.
I will send you a PM.
Cheers,
Steve

Herewith some pix of the planes. Hope it works as I haven't posted pix for a long time.

One plane has a black plastic handle and tote with more ribbing cast into the base. It also has very slightly deeper sides.

The second plane has a timber handle and tote. The original handle split and I have made a new one from ironbark, which is why the tote and handle are different timbers and consequently colours.

Will contact you Steve by PM.

Regards
Paul

Steck bought both planes. They are on their way to him.

Regards
Paul

Good call - those Stanleys certainly have a great deal more potential than a current production Mustarka.

At least you are starting out with a plane, rather than a "plane-shaped piece of metal" !

Have fun with your fettling.

I am looking forward to adding "Fettler" to my CV!

No dont do that! you'll have to buy a tent and live by the side of the railway line

LOL. Yep.

Well Steck's now got two Stanley #6s and the family plane to fettle so he might as well move into the shed

The #6s are said to be flat but that's always worth checking. No offence Bushmiller. Plate glass is said to be flat but you can assume 1/100" variation; diamond stones are said to be flat but you can assume several thou variation. Not all W&D sheets are created equal (use Norton if you can find it).

In itself this is prob irrelevant but an accumulation of variations can make for extra work (eg. when you go up through the grits with Scary Sharp, and even through the grits on diamond stones).

(Yep, Steck, this does mess with your mind, the whole business.)