Replies

1. 
   JeffKurtz | Feb 05, 2004 11:57pm | #1

   Just checked the HF website... looks like it's made by Anant.  If it is, it's nothing to write home about, but with some tweaking, it will do the job.  Really can't see how you can go wrong for fifteen bucks.

   Jeff

1. 
   gpasewicz | Feb 06, 2004 12:49am | #3

   That's the way I'm leaning.  I've made more expensive mistakes, I'm sure.

2. 
   joneill | Feb 06, 2004 12:20am | #2

   Nearly every tool in my shop came from Harbor Freight. What can I say? I'm a poor man with a jones for sawdust. I would be quite surprised if a high quality iron fit into an HF plane without being reshaped/resized. The people designing HF tools haven't necessarily seen the high quality version of the tool.

1. 
   gpasewicz | Feb 06, 2004 12:50am | #4

   Yeah, a quick search of the web didn't reveal any 1.5" irons, which is the size of the HF irons.

   It's reassuring to see there's a fellow low-budget woodworker out there.

1. 
   CharlieD | Feb 06, 2004 01:38am | #5

   I'm in a similar boat; I've got a few "good" tools, but a lot of them were reconditioned. On the advice of the late ToolDoc, I bought the HF lathe, and have been quite satisfied. Wouldn't hate a OneWay, but hey...

   Anyway, skills mean more than tools, I think, up to a point. You have to have "good enough" to do the job and do it straight. If it takes a little more work to make that happen, well, that's ok. But if you just can't make it do what you want...ugh, what pain. Try cutting a slip joint on a cheesy $100 benchtop table saw. Nightmare. And I've learned not to ever scrimp on blades. A good blade makes all the diff, AFAIC.

   I'm poor, too, though. Used to resaw with a ryoba cause I couldn't afford a band saw. (Whuff.) You can make things work and still have fun. I think the biggest deal with this plane will be to make sure all of the surfaces are dead flat and mate properly. Worst case on the cheap iron is that you'e constantly sharpening it.

   Good luck,

   Charlie

   I tell you, we are here to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different. --K Vonnegut

2. 
   joneill | Feb 09, 2004 06:57pm | #8

   First, I don't know jack about hand planes. I went to HF yesterday and saw a handplane 2-pack for $6. The larger one(~9 inches or so) looks like a knowledgable person (not me) could make some nice shavings. The smaller one (~4inches) is an absolute POS. the frame is a piece of stamped steel that is not even close to flat. Once again, I am not dissing HF. I have a workable version of all WW tools for what people spend on a table saw.

3. 
   GeeSeaWhy | Feb 06, 2004 01:57am | #6

   For what you want to do, I'd say go for it. Get it set up and make sure it will at least cut something. Then see how often you use it. For tools in the "that might be useful" category, I prefer to buy from HF first and find out how much I'd really use the tool. I bought one of their lathes and used it almost daily for 2 years before replacing it with a Nova 3000 DVR. I would not have been at all comfortable dropping $2K on the Nova without having the experience on the HF first.

   Graeme

4. 
   gpasewicz | Feb 09, 2004 06:35pm | #7

   O.k.--I made a trip to the local HF over the weekend. 

   First impression:  The place was packed! 

   Second impression:  Not a large WW section, but it had a couple items I haven't seen in brick-n-mortar stores, like a rip saw.  I'd like to add a rip saw to my meager collection of hand tools and don't want to pay premium prices to get one.  The HF rip saw was $6.   You can't beat that no matter what the quality is.

   Third impression:  There were a fair number of Amish people there.  The Amish are known for high quality work and knowing a bargain.  If HF tools are good enough for the Plain, I'm more than willing to give them a shot.

   Fourth impression:  Clamps, clamps, and more clamps.  The HF prices were a fraction of the Big Orange Box prices.   An 8" c-clamp for $2.75?! 

   I'll be going back.   The store did not have, however, the rabbet plane I went to see.