Comments on: The Footprint 220B Professional Block Plane

By: Michael W.

Michael W. — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:50:44 +0000

For $25 it appears decent. I recently picked up a Stanley 12-920 - Bailey® Block Plane for use on job sites. It was about $10 more, but it did come with an adjustable throat.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/29o7s4

I don’t usually need an adjustable throat when I’m using it on job sites, but the Baileys are a little nicer than the standard Stanley (which seem very similar to what you got).

Inexpensive planes can be nice with a little work. I prefer relatively inexpensive ones that don’t need too much tuning. Some of the crappy (can I say that?) cheap ones (think India or China) need major work before their soles are flat and true. I charge about $35 an hour so unless a plane is an antique, or really expensive, it’s not worth my time to fool too much with it. The Bailey didn’t require anything, but minor adjustments, to get it up and running.

If you’re planning difficult wood, try planing with the plane cocked about 45 degrees to the direction you’re cutting (blade still parallel to the wood of course). It’s an old trick, but a good one.

By: James

James — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:16:13 +0000

You think that’s cheap? I bought a block plane for $4.50 at Busy Bee:

http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=BP135

Sure, it’s not a Lie-Nielson, but after tuning it up, it cuts fine.

They also have a jack plane on sale for $33 right now. I’m actually heading over there today to get one.

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 04:59:45 +0000

Just an aside, but I hate wandering through Sears, or Lowe’s, or HD… I inevitably will buy something.

Nice plane!

By: l_bilyk

l_bilyk — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:40:44 +0000

I would just look at an older stanley on ebay. This thing doesn’t have a throat adjustment - a very useful feature.