# Harbor Freight Wood Planes



## tchara (Aug 1, 2015)

Does anyone have experience with the Harbor Freight planes. I haven't seen a lot of reviews on them. Just wondering if they would be ok for a novice wood worker.


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## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

Most of HF tools and their other equipment is just OK for starters, but IMO most of it would not last, and cannot be re-sharpened or repaired at a reasonable cost. Best to save more $ and buy a much better brand name, or find a "gem" at a garage sale/craigslist. Be safe.


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

tchara said:


> Does anyone have experience with the Harbor Freight planes. I haven't seen a lot of reviews on them. Just wondering if they would be ok for a novice wood worker.


Almost any handplane you buy will need to be tuned, old or new. How much that entails depends on the plane but it can be significant. A lot of amateurs venture into restoring planes without any knowledge or experience either using or restoring. It's a big mistake. 

Starting out, I would recommend buying a low angle block plane from Lie Nielsen. You will get one of the finest planes available, made in USA, fully guaranteed, ready to work, no restoration, fiddling or sharpening. You will need sharpening equipment. Put your time and money into that for the time being. You can get into restoring planes after you know what one should work like.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*here's a review*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFBnTOGc-2w


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Like most everything, they'll work if you put some work into them. That said, if you've never touched a plane before I'd go with one that doesn't require as much work to get working, because the work you need to get them working is work you don't really know needs doing unless you've worked with a plane before


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

*Hand planes*

The hand plane is the most complicated of all the hand tools in the shop.


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

I wouldn't recommend it. There are so many good vintage planes available. Do a little research, figure out what to look for and get something that will be with you forever.

Its a little extra work up front, but worth it in the end.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

What the OP is wanting to know is if anyone has first hand experience with this particular plane, not the usual HF propaganda. With HF this plane may be as good as any other and it could be a piece of junk. Only someone with experience with it should comment.


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

so for the remainder of the post, should they start with "yes, I've had experience with HF planes?

Has woodworkingtalk really come to this?

I don't even know if this was referring to me an I was offended.


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## tchara (Aug 1, 2015)

Sorry guys....didn't mean to start anything.

While I was specifically looking for others experience with the HF plane, the advice and guidance I received was very much appreciated. I don't own any planes yet, and seem a bit pricey for the name brands. I thought HF might get my foot in the door. I also was not aware that the plane was that complicated to tune and sharpen. I understand buying a first cheap plane may cause more harm then good to my woodworking education. I'll ponder it for while.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

This is what I meant. You can get junky tools anywhere by most any brand today. There are just too many people that get on here and say everything a HF sells is junk. This couldn't be further from the truth. Every company has specific items that is junk and without first hand experience with the HF plane you just don't know. I have bought some items from HF that were junk but the majority of tools were as good as anybody elses. Lets just be fair. I have bought selected Bosch, Delta, Porter Cable, Stanley and other brands that were every bit as bad as Harbor Freight bad items. It would be wrong though just because I bought one lemon say everything the company sells it bad.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

tchara said:


> Sorry guys....didn't mean to start anything.
> 
> While I was specifically looking for others experience with the HF plane, the advice and guidance I received was very much appreciated. I don't own any planes yet, and seem a bit pricey for the name brands. I thought HF might get my foot in the door. I also was not aware that the plane was that complicated to tune and sharpen. I understand buying a first cheap plane may cause more harm then good to my woodworking education. I'll ponder it for while.


Sharpening a plane is a little difficult if you don't have a guide to keep the blade on the right angle. If every stroke against the stone is at a different angle you end up more or less rounding the edge over instead of making it sharp. If you don't think you can hold the blade at an exact angle each time you might look into getting a sharpening guide. You would have to do this regardless of which plane you buy.

To me the HF planes look too short. The #4 jack plane is only 9 13/16" in length. What kind of work do you intend to do with the plane"


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> This is what I meant. You can get junky tools anywhere by most any brand today. There are just too many people that get on here and say everything a HF sells is junk. This couldn't be further from the truth. Every company has specific items that is junk and without first hand experience with the HF plane you just don't know. I have bought some items from HF that were junk but the majority of tools were as good as anybody elses. Lets just be fair. I have bought selected Bosch, Delta, Porter Cable, Stanley and other brands that were every bit as bad as Harbor Freight bad items. It would be wrong though just because I bought one lemon say everything the company sells it bad.


If I misinterpreted your statement Steve, I do apologize. It just seemed to strike me wrong. Maybe I just need to finish my second cup of coffee. I find my self getting somewhat grumpy in my old age.

You are correct, almost any brand can have some issues. Harbor Freight, Kobalt from Lowes, Buck from Home depot, etc. They can be made to work, sometimes. Some will argue all of the time. I have heard several occasion of Lie Nielsen planes that had to go back.

I hate Stanley Handyman planes. I have had some that took an enormous amount of work. I believe these were the worst planes Stanley ever made. 

There are a lot of folks who buy the HF plane and turn them into scrubs. For that type of task I'm sure they are fine.

I do have some Harbor Freight tools that have served me well, so I wouldn't trash HF for the sake of trashing Harbor Freight.

I don't believe tuning a plane is all that complicated. There are countless resources to turn to, and most give a fairly consistent message on the tasks needed. A lot of vintage planes work as is. Remember back then, woodworkers only bought them to use them, so they had to work. Obviously that's not always the case, but I've tuned hundreds, and most can be completed in a couple of hours or less.

Sharpening on the other hand is a different story. Sharpening is like a religion, mostly driven by (my opinion coming up) those trying to sell expensive sharpening equipment. Sharpening doesn't have to be complicated. Polish the back to get a consistent straight line, and sharpen the angle. The degree is a lot less important than most believe, and yes, it takes a little practice.

I think the most important thing to remember is this is a hobby for most, so its important to have fun. If turning your hand black from working the metal isn't your thing, you're not going to like fettling planes. I personally buy the citric soap by the tub. I love this crap!!


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## tchara (Aug 1, 2015)

The reason why I'm investigating planes, is I'm currently building a dedicated wood working bench for my shop. The top will be made from a 1 1/4 inch piece of plywood, and a 3/4 inch of plywood- giving me a 2" top. The 3/4 inch will be on the top. While it is a brand new sheet I bought at Lowes, I want to get a good flat surface. After viewing several videos of other benches being built, There seems to be a a lot of emphasis on the flatness of the top. So I'm weighing my options. Perhaps on electric planer would be more practicle.


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

tchara said:


> The reason why I'm investigating planes, is I'm currently building a dedicated wood working bench for my shop. The top will be made from a 1 1/4 inch piece of plywood, and a 3/4 inch of plywood- giving me a 2" top. The 3/4 inch will be on the top. While it is a brand new sheet I bought at Lowes, I want to get a good flat surface. After viewing several videos of other benches being built, There seems to be a a lot of emphasis on the flatness of the top. So I'm weighing my options. Perhaps on electric planer would be more practicle.


 If you mean a hand held electric planer, you definitely don't want to go that route. They are ok for trimming down doors, but flattening with them is next to impossible. For that I think you'd want a 6, 7 or 8 size plane, and well tuned and sharp.

Remember the thickness of a plywood veneer is pretty thin.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Yeah I would not waste my time trying to plane plywood. If you want a really solid bench that you can make dead flat, build a solid top out of laminated stock.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*an all plywood top?*



tchara said:


> The reason why I'm investigating planes, is I'm currently building a dedicated wood working bench for my shop. The top will be made from a 1 1/4 inch piece of plywood, and a 3/4 inch of plywood- giving me a 2" top. The 3/4 inch will be on the top. While it is a brand new sheet I bought at Lowes, I want to get a good flat surface. After viewing several videos of other benches being built, There seems to be a a lot of emphasis on the flatness of the top. So I'm weighing my options. Perhaps on electric planer would be more practicle.


I would not want a plywood veneer on my workbench top, it's too thin. So, if you want a nice thick top you can screw the 3/4" and the 1 1/4" together then add a layer of hardboard, particle board, MDF, solid pine boards glued together, solid hardwood planks glued together... etc. many options, just not a thin veneer. :no: I have 3/4" particle board for my work surface, 2 coats of shellack and it's a great work surface.


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## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

I have the HF #33 hand plane. I use it as a scrub plane and it is decent for that since it has such a large mouth. The adjustments are like a spokeshave - personally I'd rather have Stanley style adjusters but it works ok. The iron leaves something to be desired though - mine was very brittle and it chipped planing some poplar. I've heard their heat treating isn't very consistent though so the one you get may be fine. For less than $10 it really isn't a bad deal - but it wouldn't be the only plane I'd own.

I don't have any experience with the #4 they sell - but I think it comes in a set with a block plane and I know the block plane is a major POS. The body of the plane is thin stamped steel instead of cast iron - I've heard the sole has a lot of flex and it is basically worthless.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

If you want a new plane versus a classic and can't justify the price of Lie Nielsen or Veritas, look at Woodcrafts Wood River brand. They're modeled after lie nielsens and take very little work right out of the box.


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