Product Description

6" Contractor Grade Low Angle Block Plane, Cutter Width 1-3/8", Adjustable Mouth & Cutter, Cutter Rest At 12 Degree Angle For End Grain Work, Finger Grips In Sides, Bottom & Sides Machined Perfectly Flat & True

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1640 in Home Improvement
• Brand: Stanley
• Model: 12-960
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 2.20" h x 2.80" w x 7.40" l, 1.65 pounds

Features

• 6-inch low angle plane with a 1-3/8-inch cutter
• Fully adjustable cutter rests at 13.5 degrees
• Gray, cast-iron base with precision-ground sides and bottom; durable epoxy coating provides long-lasting protection
• Quick-release cam-lock makes iron removal easy
• 6 inches long; 1-3/8-inch cutter; limited lifetime warranty

Amazon.com Product Description
The Stanley Contractor Grade Low Angle Plane with 1-3/8-inch Cutter is idea for or planing end grain and plastic materials. Designed with a gray, cast-iron base that has precision-ground sides and bottom, this plane will work quickly and efficiently to smooth and remove debris from any work piece on your bench.

Versatile, durable, and designed to accomplish tasks efficiently.

Works efficiently and easily with your bench-top projects. View larger.

The block plane has a fully adjustable cutter that rests at 21 degrees and adjusts to 13-1/2 degrees, for less vibration, more control, and a finer finish. Its hardened, tempered steel construction gives you a precision-ground cutter edge that's durable and reliable, and a cutter mechanism that moves with your needs for complete manageability. This block plane boasts a quick-release cam lock that makes iron removal easy, and there are finger grips machined into the sides, making single-handed use unbelievably easy. It's even topped off with a durable epoxy coating so you can enjoy years of heavy-duty use. This block plane is 6 inches long with a 1-3/8-inch cutter.

Customer Reviews

Great Little Block Plane
I bought one of these for light duty planing tasks - relieving corners, cutting dowels flush and etc. You do have to hone the pre-ground edge before you use it the first time. It is ground to 25 degrees and recommended final angle is 30 after honing. I used a Veritas honing guide and a Japanese water stone to do the job. It only took about 5 minutes with the right tools!

The mouth is easily adjustable with the front knob to regulate the size of your curls. The blade is easy to adjust with the brass knob at the back. It is easy to grip and use. I look forward to getting may years of use out of this well made tool!

pretty good for the money
I love the feeling of a sharp plane slicing through wood. Stanley has been making planes for a long time and they really know what they are doing. You might veiw this as a plane kit. When you get it you will have some work to do on it. First you will probably need to lap the sole,and the back of the iron.This will remove the grinding marks from the factory. Then you will need to hone the bevel on the iron. Depending on the wood you are planing the angle might be right. Since this is a low angle plane 25 degrees is good for hard woods. You could even go as low as 15 degrees for soft woods. If you spend a little time tuning this somewhat rough tool up you will be rewarded by that feeling of slicing through the wood like it was butter. I prefer my Lie Nielson block planes over these.They are works of art and they perform like they are. But they cost several times more than these perfectly adequate stanleys.

a good plane with a little tuning
I'm overall very happy with this plane, being able to take shavings of less than a half a thousandth of an inch across the width of the blade.

But some tuning was required.

First of all, the throat adjustment plate must be removed and the inside cleaned out, especially the milled contact points. It appears that grit and ground metal from surfacing the sole of the plane may have found their way in to this area and, as a result, the adjustment plate was jammed and wouldn't move. It was easy enough to get it unstuck however (don't use pliers like someone suggested, that's a really bad idea!) by gently tapping straight down on the brass adjustment knob on the front after unscrewing it a little. The plate will come loose and you can then unscrew and remove the brass knob to remove the bottom adjustment plate for cleaning. In addition to removing the grit, I ran some very fine grit sandpaper along the milled surfaces inside the plate receiving area and the sides of the plate itself: just a couple of light passes with the paper wrapped around a 90 degree edge to smooth it out a bit. Blow the dust away and reassemble.

I also found the back edge of the adjustment plate was rough--it looked like the raw cut edge from the manufacture hadn't been ground straight. This is the edge of the plate adjacent to the blade so I felt it was important to dress it straight by rubbing it against some sandpaper on a smooth surface.

Next I sharpened the blade. Use the scary sharp method if you want, I used waterstones to 8000 grit to get a nice polish and razor sharp edge. Check it with a square, you can either grind or hone it square or live with a slight cant to the blade if it's a little off square (mine wasn't.) Sharpening the blade like this is important if you want fine shavings.

Finally, I only dragged the plane across some sandpaper on a Grade A surface plate a couple of times before stopping, because it was obvious from the grinding pattern that the bottom of the plane is very flat, and required no tuning. If you must do this put the blade in the plane and have the cap mechanism properly tensioned before starting, so any distortions of the plane body introduced by that tension become part of the grinding pattern. Just make sure you have raised the edge of the blade above the mouth of the plane!

With this procedure completed I could adjust the mouth of the plane to a very fine opening, and align the blade to get an even cut across the edge of the blade. I used a piece of scrap wood to test the alignment.

The plane is hefty, stable, and strong. I've been using a cheap block plane from the orange borg and the change to this one is a welcome step up.