Mujingfang Chinese-style Rosewood Polishing Plane

Seems very cheap overall. Especially the blade. Decent japanese planes are better and at half the price. This seems light duty compared my other cheaper ones

First off, I've been building furniture, case goods and acoustic stringed instruments for over 20 years and own many types of planes and realize that there is no one plane for every job, all things considered. I live in the lower Fla. Keys where theres some uniquely tropical wood species available through tree removals due to storm damage etc. Alot of highly figured very hard woods. I use Japanese planes, vintage Bailey patern Stanleys,Krenov style of my own construction with aftermarket 1/4in thick irons, and a few Veritas, my newest their low angle bevel up jointer. Ok. I work almost exclusively on my anchored sailboat with handtools. Nothing that Ive used to plane interlocked, convoluted grain comes close to the Mujingfang high angle Hong Kong style planes. That being said, there seems to be a dropoff in quality control in their products. It appears thet the planes components are made by different people of different skill levels. You can plane with the 8 1/2 out of the box but youll have problems without first lapping and conditioning the sole and doing a good bit of lapping on the back of the iron and regrinding and sharpening the bevel at its intended angle. The removable handle and wedge were very sloppily done and of a seemingly different variety wood as the dai/body. I've no idea what species the body is but I'll guess its Bubinga or a plantation rosewood or similar substitute. Once these planes are properly prepped and tuned(fettled) they are bar none, the best there is for gnarly wood and general hardwood. Very slight blade camber and light blade setting produces gossamer type 2 unbroken shavings. I've spent an hour so far lapping and sharpening the blade on a medium diamond plate and then 4 different ascending grades of 3m stick on abrasive sheet stock. (scary sharp) I believe theyre still a great value considering theres nothing under 1000$ to compare them with. The edge lasts a long time.{{{{ After usage: Here we go. Lots of work needed on back of the iron.. Coarse diamond plate and/ or 150 wet dry then up is in order. Knock the corners off the iron. Slightly round. The planes known as a HongKong style but thats a marketing name only. Theyre used everywhere theres nasty Teak, Rosewood, and ebony. Probably use a guide to sharpen properly. At least to flatten the bevel. Theyre a bitch as Im pretty sure theyve trained monkeys to sharpen and lap. To compare: New Stanley low angle block planes are twice as bad. I needed a small plane for end grain several years ago and bought one and took the pos back to the hardware store after spending hours and a bunch of thumb skin lapping it, only to discover the mouth closure toe plate was ground cockeyed. Unusable. A paperweight. These 8 and a half 63°planes are true high performance planes once tuned. Very happy with this one and the small one I've used for 11 years. Highly reccomend.

As with most planes, especially in this price range, this one requires some work to be at its best. Allow this wood plane to sit in your shop unwrapped for a few days before working on the body so it aclimates to the humidity level. Flattening the sole with sandpaper and glass is quick. Check the front of the mouth - it may need some cleanup to allow chips to pass smoothly. Set the blade and wedge several times and check fit, looking for shiny spots on the wedge. Mine needed a little work to increase the contact surface with the blade and body - it doesn't have to be perfect. The blade is superior! It is thick HSS and holds an edge! It will require honing before use. I also did some trimming on the handle and the body hole for a better fit.In use, this plane works very well. The mouth is pretty tight - 0.010-0.012" - as it should be for a smoother. With its 63° bed angle, I find it handles the grain and knots that create tearout with a 45° blade very well. Understand this - the higher blade angle requires more force for the same cut depth as a 45° bed angle. It's best to set this for light cuts - from feathery 0.0005" up to 0.003" or 0.004" - it is a SMOOTHER after all. It leaves a very nice finish.The brass insert at the front of the mouth is good to have - reduces wear. The front & rear of the mouth is shaped straight up for 1/8" , so that occasional reflattening of the sole does not open up the mouth. It's a very nice tool to have!