STANLEY No. 4 Sweetheart Premium Bench Plane with Long Life A2 Steel, 1-12-0136

A small visitor to my shop tried to pick up my No4 off the bench. And, it hit the floor and cracked the body. You have to watch toddlers around attractive tools, and I should have put it away earlier. So, I was instantly, and unexpectedly in the market for a new No4. After reading reviews and checking prices this seemed worth a gamble.I haven’t really used it much. I have at this point just turned it and checked it. Out of the box I checked it with a machinist square, and it seems true flat and square. I put a couple of marks on the sole and started with 600-grit black carbide sand paper. All the marks were gone in five passes. So, the sole came flat. The sides were flat and at ninety to the sole checking with the high dollar Starret square that lives in its box in the drawer of precision tools. I can’t get them any better. so, I left them alone. Then I honed the blade starting at 600, and going up-to 2000-grit. Before I put the blade back in, I took a file and relieved the sharp edges of the body just a bit. Then I set it up, and tried a few passes. Good clean shavings.Summary: Pluses, Quality, as good as my Lee Valley Veritas planes. Wish it had the two set screws they have, to keep the front of the blade centered. But I own a drill press and some taps. If it bothers me after I use it for a bit, I can install them. Minuses, there are no available blades. The blade looks pretty close to a Kung blade out of Germany which looks like it might work, and I may decide to get one and see. If it does, I’ll come back and update.Value, when I ordered this plane it was $134, with shipping. At that price it is an outstanding value. But the price is now $238. At that price it is still seems to be a good value.

Overall opinion: good craftsmanshipKey points1. Flat plane bottom and the sides are 90 degrees to the bottom2. Blade: A2 steel, very sharp, came with minor nick3. Adjustment controls work well (depth, lateral, mouth adjustment)4. Made in Mexico5. Works well right out of the box6. produced paper-thin wood shavings7. initial setup was straightforward8. Came with a manual, I didn’t read it9. Nice rosewood handles. Okay for large hands. The screw on rear handle needed to be tightenedOverall it feels like an effective tool

the sole is enough flat, the blade is heavy and good iron. However, in Canada the no 4 plane price difference between veritas and Stanley is much less than the quality difference.

This is a lovely plane for the price, if only because it compares so well to a Veritas plane costing over twice as much. I have a number of Veritas planes and love them, and prefer them mainly for their weight and the standard 1/8” blade, which holds its edge much longer than the 1/16” thick blades of commonplace planes. The fittings are nicely machined, as is the body. Adjustments forward and back and side to side are easily managed. All this about the Veritas plane to say that the you can check all of the same boxes for the Stanley: thick blade, fine machining of its parts, ease and pleasure of use. I’ll be looking at Stanley tools when I next want something for hand work at the work bench.

My tool supply is a smorgasbord from various manufacturers. I purchase tools based on economical considerations as well as purposes. If I was a professional cabinet maker, I’d have those really “high dollar” planes but I simply don’t work with them every day. This plane is a #4 SMOOTHING plane. You should be able to hold a shaving up to a light, put your finger on the back and see the finger’s shadow at least. This plane can be adjusted to where you measure the thickness with a set of calipers! If one needs to remove thicker shavings you need a jointer. This tool is a mid grade example that performs very well and satisfies my concerns!

Plane was pretty dang sharp right out of the box. Used a good quality wet stone set to make it even better really quick. I’m not a professional but I was able to watch a couple of videos and get the hang of it without many problems. Takes a little getting use to on the fine adjusting.

This Stanley Sweetheart knock-off comes with one of the sharpest irons I've ever seen right out of the box. It's a high-quality tool except for one feature. The Belgian folks who designed this plane replaced the standard Stanley two-part iron adjustment with a single micro-adjustor that advances the iron and moves it laterally. It's a clever design, but poorly executed. There is so much lag in the system that I had to turn the knob almost four complete rotations before the iron would advance or retract. This makes what should have been a great tool annoying to use.

A little hard to adjust but I love this plane