Draper Expert 250mm Smoothing Beech Wood Plane | 50mm Blade Hand Tools | High Carbon Steel Manual Tool | Wooden Handle and Knob | 45241

I am not sure what sheerness and thickness as above mean in the context of this hand plane. I wanted a plane to replace the one I have and having looked at the reviews of planes on Amazon I realised I was more of a novice than I already thought. After looking at the various reviews I decided on the Draper expert and it arrived quickly and well packaged. I was in a bit of a hurry with a DIY project so used the plane from the box with minimal adjustment and it worked fine for the piece of wood I wanted to reduce in thickness. I was very happy with the plane after this first use and I got what I wanted done. Now at a more leisured pace I can look again at the video suggested in the reviews and see if further adjustment is needed. Having already got a plane some 60 or so years of age I can see that materials now might not be what they once were but I am happy with this hand plane , it does the job and I think it is reasonable for the price and is a worthwhile purchase. My fears when I placed the order were groundless.

This plane is well made but I would not recommend it for beginners who don't know how to sharpen and adjust a plane. It is made of very good materials and mine came with a properly flat polished, smooth and level base and a reasonable setup out of the box. It also comes with a spare iron (the blade of this type of plane is known as an iron). The handles are wood, the brass adjustment knobs and screws are very solid and it feels like a first-class piece of equipment. In spite of the above there was some work to do before I could use this item. On the box it says "Fully adjustable high-carbon steel iron correctly hardened, tempered and ground". Nice if it were true, but the last part isn't for sure. The iron fitted needs careful work before use to put a proper edge on it and so does the spare. This isn't a problem for me but for many people who want something they can use immediately the result would be disappointment. Sharpening the iron isn't hard once you've done it a few times but some people find it hard to learn. YouTube might be your friend, take a look at a few tutorials on there before you decide if this is for you. If you have much doubt about your ability to do the sharpening, spend more money on a plane that has its iron already sharp.Because I have the stones and the oil and I know how to create an edge this is a real bargain for me, as a plane of this quality would cost quite a bit more if all that was already done. Just be aware that you're saving money but buying half an hour's work if you know what you're doing. If you haven't done the grinding before though, it may take you a couple of hours of study and work to get this plane ready for use.

A quality plane that is comfortable to use and produces nice, fine shavings after the usual sharpening. Mine had a slight ledge on the chip breaker where it meets the plane iron. This needed exact flattening to remove the ledge and ensure the chip breaker smoothly meets the iron - a matter of 10 minutes on the diamond stone that made a huge difference to the plane. All adjustments work well. The handles are made from nice hardwood and feel good in the hand. I cannot fault this plane and it is excellent value for money.

Poor quality. For £20 I wasn’t expecting much. Good as an ornament but the tolerances are no good for real use. Once I had sharpened the blade (essential) and set it up it was just about useable.

All good thank you A *****

Opened the box and discovered the blade locking plate was loose. May have been packed that way, the box lid illustration claims it has under gone stringent quality control. If so they should sack the person doing the quality control. The two blades in the box (One on the plane, one packed) where both very, very blunt and unusable without sharpening. The wooden handles are of such poor quality that I will be stripping them and sanding the surfaces as they are ridged and rough as they have been varnished by someone with a a pot of varnish and sand mix also the rear handle was very loose. The fore handle Knob had deep scratches and if I used this I would guess I would get blisters due to the rough textured surface (No it isn't for added grip. No its added grit to the varnish). I didn't expect the same quality as say a top end Stanley Bailey smoothing blade but the quality is really bad. I will strip and redo all the wood handles and sharpen the blade, the baily style mechanism seems to work so fingers crossed. If it wasn't such a mare I would send it back for a refund. I awarded 1 star and I may be able to salvage a suitable tool when I am finished redoing the plane. In hindsight I should have bought a second hand Stanley smoothing plane off Ebay and refurbished it and if required bought a new blade. If you area professional tradesman DO NOT buy this as you will curse the day it arrived. Moral of the story is Buy Cheap Buy twice and be out of pocket.

Just received my draper smoothing plane, and found that the package was missing the spare iron, I'm sure this is an oversight, but would like to get this resolved soon as.Good bit, great tool, can't wait to try it out.

Again added to the collection