# Woodcraft planes



## MrElliott1982 (May 8, 2013)

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2021170/33441/woodriver-ultimate-bench-plane-kit.aspx

Does anyone have any experience with these planes? I have been reading quite a bit and I hear to stay away from most of the newer stuff and I completely understand why but these seem to be priced more in the mid range on the price scale.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

It depends on the manufacturer. I have new Veritas planes by Lee Valley which are very good. Lie Nielsen also make very good planes. Either of these manufacturers make good quality planes.

Stanley used to make good planes. The new block planes get good marks, but the new Stanley bench planes do not.

I purchased by first plane, a Record No. 5 in the late 90's. Not a bad plane, but not the same quality as my Veritas planes.

I do not know who makes the Woodriver branded planes for Woodcraft. They do seem to be priced as a "medium" brand. I have seen them in the store, but I have not touched one. In a recent visit a person new to hand planes bought one or two. He may have been buying due to the sales person or due to having the item in front of him. 

Woodcraft used to sell Groz planes as their store offerings. These were not very good.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

To add to what Dave has said- Our local Woodcraft used to sell LN's and Veritas- they replaced with the windriver. I have looked at the reviews on all their planes because the price was good- On the reviews I read I made a choice to either buy old or stick to saving for the LN's or Veritas. I do not want to spend my time trying to make a crummy plane into a fair plane.


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## Greg in Maryland (Jan 6, 2011)

Dave Paine said:


> Woodcraft used to sell Groz planes as their store offerings. These were not very good.


Congratulations Dave, you just won understatement of the day award :laughing::laughing: Gorz planes are an evil attempt to destroy humanity


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

I have a Woodriver #4. It's a decent plane, but certainly not a Lie-Nielsen or Veritas.


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

unless your going for a LN or veritas (or Ron Brese or similar) its hard to beat a vintage.


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## EastexToolJunky (Mar 25, 2013)

I own one wood river plane. A #4 v3. The sole was dead flat and the finish was great. The iron was ground slightly off 90. Tool steel takes a long time to re grind by hand. I got the plane because they were running a 20% off sale and it was $111. 2/5s the price of a LN or Veritas. The iron and chip breaker are thick and it produced nice shavings out of the box.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

I've owned the #3, #4, and #6. I still have the #6. These were V2's. I think they are very good for their price. That being said, the Veritas are only slightly more. I have a lot of Veritas stuff and swear by it and the customer service. The Woodrivers are good, well made planes though. The V3's have improvements over the V2's that make them even better. They are Chinese made planes though, but Woodcraft stands behind them pretty well in my experience. I broke the yoke on my #6 (probably my fault for overtightening the lever cap and trying to force adjustments) and they sent me a new one very quickly and on the house.


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## Indy Mike (Apr 22, 2013)

EastexToolJunky said:


> I own one wood river plane. A #4 v3. The sole was dead flat and the finish was great. The iron was ground slightly off 90. Tool steel takes a long time to re grind by hand. I got the plane because they were running a 20% off sale and it was $111. 2/5s the price of a LN or Veritas. The iron and chip breaker are thick and it produced nice shavings out of the box.


I had the same experience as Eastex Tool Junkie with my #4 v3.
It is a nice plane at a resonable price.


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