Appreciation post: the 'cheap' 8 dollar hand plane that actually worked better than my 80 dollar one

Bought a no-name hand plane from a flea market in Portland 3 years ago during the whole "buy vintage tools" boom. Everyone online was ragging on cheap planes, saying you needed a Lie-Nielsen or nothing. Well, I spent 8 bucks, spent an afternoon flattening the sole and sharpening the iron, and that thing has been my go-to for trimming door jambs ever since. The expensive one sits in the case. Has anyone else found a budget tool that outshines the fancy stuff long after the trend died?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_barnes241d ago

Three years ago and that plane still going strong? That's wild. I bought a Stanley off eBay for cheap once and the sole looked like a potato chip. Took me two hours with sandpaper and glass to get it flat. Still slips after every third cut. You got a unicorn find man.

abbyp612d ago

Ngl I think you got lucky with that flea market find but that doesn't mean cheap tools are better across the board. Most 8 dollar planes come with warped soles, soft metal that dulls in 5 minutes, and adjustments that slip every time you take a shaving. Spending an afternoon flattening and sharpening is fine for a hobby but most of us don't have that kind of time to burn on a tool that should work out of the box. Honestly the expensive plane is set up properly and holds an edge way longer so you're probably just underutilizing it. Tbh the whole "cheap tool outperforms expensive one" thing is a fun story but it ignores that consistent quality and repeatable results come from better manufacturing, not a fluke.

charles7202d ago

I used to be one of those guys who thought anything under 50 bucks was basically firewood, I won't lie. But after I picked up a beat up old Millers Falls from an estate sale for 6 dollars and spent a Saturday fixing it up, it changed my whole view. It's not that the cheap stuff is better, it's that sometimes you get lucky with the steel and the casting and a little elbow grease makes all the difference. Sure my Lie-Nielsen is still smoother out of the box, but that old plane has a feel to it that I can't quite explain, like it's got a story in the shavings.