I’d like to get a block plane for finishing some edges with a chamfer and to get into using hand tools.

There are a couple of options on Amazon (which seems to sell quite a bit of woodworking stuff) from Stanley and Faithful. On the whole Stanley gets good reviews but does have the odd really bad review. Faithful gets good reviews too but I’ve not heard of them

Also what size do I need?

I’ve just taken delivery of vintage Stanley 220 plane, and have used it for chamfering today. Once you get the blade sharp you’re set.

Faithfull are a budget brand. They’re probably fine for some items but I wouldn’t have a plane from them when you can pick up a restored Record or Stanley block plane for less than £20.

I have the Veritas Low Angle Block Plane and think it is great but would like something a little smaller for breaking edges etc and have been considering picking up the Veritas Apron Plane.

I have just had a quick scan on amazon for the prices of the planes you mention and for thirty-ish quid I wouldn’t have a clue what to recommend other than look for a vintage second hand model and fix it up.

I can’t help with size as we all find different things comfortable but I would look at low angle block planes.

If you decided to up the budget then the Quangsheng LA Block Plane from Workshop heaven is a terrific tool, albeit a blatant rip off of the Lie Nielsen equivalent.

I bought a Stanley one for about £25, hoping it was better quality than the generic Silverline / Faithful ones for about half that. It wasn’t, it was sh*t. I think they all came out of the same factory.

It needed about a day and a half’s work to flatten the sole, clean up the blade supports and square up the cap plate (and, of course grind and sharpen the blade/iron). It now cuts like a champ and produces very true surfaces suitable for jointing*, but I think any of the others would be the same given the same amount of effort.

(*Not what it’s meant for, but it’s the only hand plane I have.)

All the joint surfaces in this picture were prepared using it (there are 12, excluding the veneers):

If I was buying again, I’d try and find a second hand one where some other bugger has already done the hard work (although you’d have to prise this one out of my cold, dead hands now).

Some shavings: 🙂

Definitely better off buying something old and restored or well cared for off eBay, rather than new

Brands to search for are of course Stanley and Record, plus also Marples, Clifton, Woden…

I received a little Irwin block plane (new) for Christmas, and it’s fairly average build quality but works fine. I’d avoid Faithful as they always look cheap and nasty. The axminster own brand stuff looks good but I haven’t tried it myself.

For posh new stuff, probably Veritas and Lie Neilson are where it’s at

And for plane pornography check out this guy https://www.instagram.com/sauer_and_steiner/

I brought a new Stanley for 60 odd quid and as above spent more time sorting that out and sharpening it than the similar old one I brought off Ebay for 20 quid

The Quangsheng stuff from Workshop Heaven is very good indeed.(Not to be confused with Qiangsheng from Rutlands)

Second hand I’d find a nice older Record or Stanley on eBay and tune it up a bit which is quite straightforward.

I think you can actually fit the Quangsheng blades to some of the Records etc. Much thicker, nicer blades.

I’ve got this little Quansheng apron plane. It’s a lovely tool and nice and small but has that real quality weight to it.

+1 for Veritas.

I use a Juuma block plane (top one):

https://www.fine-tools.com/juuma-planes.html

It was about £50 if I recall. Quality/construction is very good and it doesn’t look/feel out of place with my other Clifton stuff. It gets a lot of use for all kinds of tasks, even on end-grain, and blade holds its edge well.

I have one of these, lovely 🙂

Sorry forgot to put link
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lie+nielsen+block+plane&client=safari&channel=ipad_bm&prmd=svin&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjaga7Y-q3SAhUpK8AKHSvxAkcQ_AUICSgD&biw=768&bih=928#imgrc=1yVIz0TnnLFGvM:

ive got two old stanley planes i was going to bin as i just bought an electric plane
free if you collect or you pay postage? pm me

The blockiest plane I’ve ever seen

Cheers for the responses. Seems that if I buy new or secondhand I might end up having to do some work on the plane regardless? (cheaper new ones at least)

[video]http://youtu.be/AzDygUaWGj0[/video]