WOODRIVER Low Angle Block Plane with Adjustable Mouth

After being a hobbyist woodworker for years I’ve been trying to learn and use more traditional hand tools. I’ve rehabbed half a dozen garage sale Stanley planes over the last few years, getting use to the tools before dipping my toes into the pricier options. I finally decided to step up to the Wood River low angle block plane to replace a much cheaper low end box store plane. I couldn’t be happier. I wanted to see how well this plane worked right out of the box with out spending the customary hour or two fine tuning blade and sole. I cleaned up the minimal amount of packing oil with mineral spirits, adjusted the blade and put it to work on some very well seasoned ash. Out of the box it’s producing great shavings on the long grain and trueing up the end grain without tear out. I guess you really do get what you pay for. As useful as a block plane is, I know this will be getting lots of work in the future…it’s pleasant to use a plane I’m not regularly fighting with. Fit and finish are spot on. Can’t wait to see how it’ll run fully tuned. I would definitely recommend this plane.

Very nice but found rust on the cutting edge of the blade already. Hopefully I can polish it off.

easy to adjust heavy duty a very fine tool

This is a well made piece, but not $130 worth. I hoped it would be perfect, because it's the most I've spent on a new one. Good flat sole, n ice heavy blade. It's irritating I have to loosen the clamp to adjust blade depth, but doable. Fit and finish is good. HOWEVER, when using it, about one time out of 6 or 7, the pressure of my hand pops the knuckle cap open in the middle of operation. Not acceptable. Unfortunately it'[s too late to return or I surely wood. What an odd design.

I have no idea what sheerness and thickness relate to on a plane so I rated those both three stars. This is a high quality plane that was ready to use right out of the box. Is it worth the approximately $130 I paid for it? Comparing it to a $50 standard Stanley low angle block plane, it is a much better plane, but it is $80 better? You'll have to make that decision for yourself. If you are doing general carpentry save the money and buy the Stanley. With a good tune-up, set-up and blade sharpening, it will more than meet your needs. If you are using this for precision woodworking or as the primary plane for your small shooting board, this is an excellent choice.

The blade was not as sharp as I hoped out of the box. It required a fair bit of sharpening before I could safely use it. But all in all it is very well made and should last many years.

apart from releasing the blade too easily, it feels great, looks great, works great. except, even when simply picking up the plane, the release lever opens, allowing a carefully aligned blade to suddenly needing re-aligning. it simply won't stay locked. otherwise, nice plane.

I was totally impressed by the overall quality of this plane. After seeing and using this low angle plane, I went ahead and ordered the standard angle block plane too. The blade was ground at a perfect 25 degree angle, making honing the blade for its first use a breeze. The iron casting is square and true. An extremely well built tool. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting quality hand tools.