This Hand Plane Couldn't Take a Single Shaving

Not sure about the trolling aspect. That requires some negative judgement of another which I try to avoid. BUT . . . Let me judge Rex. He did another excellent video on handplane restoration. I am restoring a couple of my wife's grandfather's Stanleys to pass on to my son. My work is based on Rex's instruction. Thanks for what you do Rex!

I’ve made the food version of that plane in my kitchen out of inexperience and incompetence on many occasions so I can absolutely believe this is legitimate.

Oh shoot, I have the same issue, but um... I really did follow your instructions, and I am definitely not trolling you to fix and flatten my antique Sears.

It seems pretty clear that it was just a case of someone acquiring a plane that was in ok condition but was missing the handles and they were just tring to get a functional tool out of it. And even though they're not ideal, the makeshift hands would have "worked". Nothing else about it seemed trolly.

i loved the video. would have loved to see you try it before immediately taking it apart. It would have been great to see what it doesn't do and the little things you do to make it work better and better till eventually a full restoration. i realize that would have been much more time disassembling and reassembling and filming and editing, but imagine the information of if your plane produces X, make this adjustment and it improves it by Y, then this adjustment improves it by Z, etc.

Great episode !!

I'll always watch a tool refurb video and Rex's are reliably great with solid insights. Plus he makes me feel better about the fact that I'm still pretty bad at it.

I'll quickly add a handy tip I learned from the Aussie Woodshed channel for lapping planes, which is you can often get by with just 120 grit because you spend so much time lapping it's basically 220 grit by the time you're done. It only saves a bit of effort, but when it comes to lapping a plane I'll take what I can get.

Woozer. LOL.

I’m surprised the guy didn’t hand scrape the mating surfaces.

After watching your video and after all the work he did, he sent you a basket case.

I started laughing when he first showed it. Will needs to stay away from sharp objects if he isn't a troll. And YES. He's a troll.

I commend you for helping out. I’m a new subscriber, I’m digging what you do. Thank you.

You are a very kind person. Thank you!

I dont think will exists

With no disrespect to Stanley tools in general intended I loathe when tool companies use non-standard or proprietary fasteners or threading. It’s wasteful and doesn’t help the end users in any way in almost all cases.

He's pulling your chain he didn't do everything you said obviously

Great video!
This inspires me to see if I can find some old tools for cheap, and try to fix them up!!!
BTW, technically, I did start already with a hammer I found at work with a broken off handle. I used a piece of a branch from my yard, and cut down the one end to go into the head. My coworkers teased me that it looks funny, but it's very comfortable in my hand, and fully functional!

its a good thing the frog did not notice your open fly

The red handle is from a North Brothers or Stanley ratchet screwdriver. Interesting selection. I used one for years building pipe organs before cordless drills.
Thanks, Rex!

Hey Rex my planes sucks too! Can you fix it?

I have just found Plane Wellness, and as someone living with ASD in the times before when autism was only the non verbal people 🤷‍♂ but woodwork and especially woodturning is how I got through the last 40+ years, but back to plane wellness, I am in the UK, and although they are not able to help with materials and tools for anyone outside of the mainland US, they do offer the courses, and with help towards the cost, which I really wasn't expecting when I sent the first email, but Jamie was wonderful to talk to, and lookin g forward to my first course with then early in 2025 😀

Nice helpful video for a broad overview, showing that you can “make a a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”

My dad passed along a personalized PEXTO “bottle cap adjuster” plane to me. Not sure about the full story on it, he had a lot of tools stolen out of his garage, and this may have been a replacement that was surplus to his needs as he got nicer replacement tools. ROUGH casting, stamped sheet metal frog, ugly furniture, mucho slack in the adjuster, etc. Comments about the plane are universally negative, but, with a lot of tweaking, I have actually got it to work fairly well, and I learned A LOT about fixing and tuning planes from that project.

I love me a nice Type 11 Stanley, but there are some third-world craftsmen out there that work wonders with a block of scrap lumber, a piece of car leaf-spring, and some sort of wedge tapped in with a hammer, because that is all that they have.

It's odd seeing all these plane restorations that have a frog adjustment screw. I looked through all my planes, and only 1 plastic handled plane(unmarket brand from a quick once over) has one. all the rest have nothing but the frog holddown screws.

These videos actually help. There were these God awful block planes being sold at traveling tool sale. They said Stanley, but damn the looked bad. Three parts only. I flatten the sole. Shaped the blade
Works fine. Still use it.

What Will didn't tell him is that he was planning steel, not wood.

I agree with all those who have said that if you are going to err about the nature of human beings it's always best to err in their favor. Given the evidence we have there's no absolute way to know if Will was trolling. Its incredulous, sure, maybe even bordering on unbelievable, but barring a confession the shadow of doubt remains. He may have tried. He may have needed help.
I admire Rex for taking the project seriously, making one of the better restoration videos I've seen and giving the man the benefit of the doubt.
Dont worry about it, Rex. The man's intention is totally seperate from your response. It doesnt matter. When someone asks for help and you can give it, give it. To deny your help due to being tainted by unscrupulous people and then to be wrong...well, that just puts you in the wrong camp. Kindness and treating others with respect is always the right thing to do.

I'm a beginner's beginner when it comes to woodworking. But (even before I saw saw any comments for this video--first initial playthrough) one of my first reactions was "What videos did this guy watch?? What is the "everything I was supposed to do" that he did? The sole wasn't flat, the blade had a chip in it, the chip breaker wasn't secured to the blade.

Seems like someone trolled Rex. And.. DON'T troll Rex. Rex has been giving us Everyday-Joes incredible and educational content for years. Invaluable content.

So, as a fellow Clevelander, I will say again: DON'T TROLL REX. The people of Cleveland won't appreciate you wasting his time.

Thanks a lot Rex, finally someone who tells me how to grind the chipbreaker. I like your video's a lot. Cheers, Harry

Hey Rex, I have a cracked tote and rusty cap iron from an old 4 1/2 Bedrock. If I send them to you, can you turn them into a plane for me? lol

This guy said he watched all the videos and couldn't figure out what he did wrong? Really?

Im very impressed by you professionally assessing the plane instead of going "daaaaaaamn" when you opened the box

Thanks

just got almost identical plane for restoration (so far looks to be in a bit better condition though), your video will be a a huge help for me in restoring it, huge thanks!

Don't seem like a troll to me.
Now, unless will sends a letter... 😅

The packaging shows you why he couldn't get the plane correct. Some just have no patience or perspective on what it takes to things right.

Great job, l learnt new things every time I watch your videos, please keep doing such great videos, cheers Barry from the UK

lol at that handle 😂
this guy has no use for a hand plane.

So basically Will didn’t want to restore it himself so he sent it to you for a free repair

REX MAN. This gave me such a good laugh. Your a top bloke.

I near pissed Myself laughing when I saw that freakin plane.

Hello Rex, I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice from you. I've been watching your content a lot lately and I've decided to try hand planes but I'm having difficulty finding any in my area. I have learned a lot from your videos and I want to get a Stanley #4 or #5 to start with possibly but I'm not sure how much I should try to get it for. I haven't found anywhere close to me yet to find them cheap and I'm limited on funds so cheap is really my only option unless I save up. My question is in today's market how much is too much from a flea market or an individual purchase? If I take the online approach what would be a good price range there? And lastly, is the number 4 or 5 still a good place to start with hand planes? I saw a video of yours that you recommended those and you are a very large reason why I want to try them. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Your videos are very helpful and I can't thank you enough for the valuable information I've learned from you so far, I will continue to learn as much from them as I can. Thank you so much and hope you have a great day.😁

You may as well have started with a raw casting fresh out of the mold, Rex.

OMG. First 1 minute of looking at it, and forget about the handles, the dude hadn't even flattened the sole? And he "followed all the videos"? NOPE!

Rex did amazing work here, so let's lead with that. Secondly, if Will is not being a troll, I'd love to see him post here and explain why he clearly didn't follow Rex's advice from the other videos as he claimed; at the very least, the sole should have been flattened and clearly it was not even touched. It really does feel like trolling, but Rex did a masterful job of turning it into a teaching opportunity for the audience.

Hi Rex. I really enjoy all your video's. My dad had a huge collection of Planes & when he passed I wasn't in a position to take them, Now I'm sick that I didn't because now that I'm doing woodworking I wish I had them. But my Question is have you done any video's on the Victor 1104 made by Stanley I just picked one up from a flee market & it needs a little love, I payed just under $20 for it & it seems in decent enough condition. I have figured out that it was made in 1953 as long as what I found was correct. It has a red frog. do you have any opinions on the Victor? thanks for your Videos'' they are very informative & helpful.