Along with ourFeatured Member of the Month we are highlighting our featured tool of the month!!!

The WoodRiver No. 4 Smoothing Plane.

The line of WoodRiver Hand Planes has gone through some changes over the years, once considered to be a "so-so" alternative for the hand tool enthusiast who wanted a plane that offered good tooling at a great price, the WoodRiver line up is now being considered as one of the primary "Go To" hand planes giving the high end manufactures a run for their money.

The new V3 series of WoodRiver Hand Planes did away with the defects and the fit and finish issues that customers had concerns with in the past and they have become the plane of choice for woodworkers ranging from amateurs to professionals. One could spend two times as much for a hand plane with the same characteristics and assets. You can count on a WoodRiver hand plane coming out of the box virtually ready to use, if you Google WoodRiver Hand Plane reviews you'll find that the tool is getting rave ratings and about the most that woodworkers need to do is give it a quick honing to bring it into compliance.

For the WoodRiver owners out there, there are some great videos on the use of the WoodRiver Hand Plane and what to expect from it out of the box. Rob Cosman and Charles Neil have used the WoodRiver line up and have made some great videos on the subject.

For more information on the WoodRiver line up, please visit the Woodcraft Page of WoodRiver Hand Plans and see for yourself the value and quality available in this new line up of the V3 series.

Our Featured Member of the Month Steve Newman was awarded the No. 4 Smoother as pictured below.

WoodRiver #4 Bench Hand Plane, V3

Item #150874

$139.99

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

I agree.

Walter A said:

I would rather buy the Lie-Nielsen since you cannot get any better.

This is quite a nice plane, for a LOT LESS cash than the L-Ns.     Of course, IF one wants to lay out the amount that L-N wants for the same plane as a WR#4 V3, Fine and dandy.    I do think that one could buy TWO Wrs for the same over-inflated price of an L-N.  

I do a LOT of refurbs of Vintage  handplanes.  many are the "L-Ns"  of their era.    A Millers Falls #9 back then WAS a top of the line, Premium handplane.  It had to be, to compete with the "World's Tool Box" guys over at New Btritain, CT. 

Just got in a Stanley Four Square Junior Jack plane today.    It even has a SW iron!    Made in the late 20s by Stanley.   A small notch below Bailey and a lot way above Handyman/ Defiance planes.

A lot of the aurguement going round is an L-N is ready to go out of the shipping box.   Pure BS!    You have to at least hone the edge, and set it up to make a cut.    Later on, WHO will sharpen the iron for you?    L-N?     Dream on.  

Heard this before?    " I can't afford the time ( 15 minutes??? Really?)  to sharpen an iron, as my time in the shop must be paid for.     Can no afford to spend even a small bit of time to stop and re-sharpen a plane.    Costs too much time for my shop.  "   

What a crock!    It is called Tool Main-tain-ence!    Let me spell it out!    Unless you have so little available time to MAINTAIN your tools in your shop, that you can't "afford" to do so, I suggest you just go to Harbour Freight, and buy enough throw away tools that you can just keep going, without the "trouble" of doing some basic upkeep on the tools.   Just throw them away and get another off the shop's shelf.   

Even a plane by Briese needs a little work out of the box.   And they cost a lot more than an L-N.  

Rant done, Carry on!

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Planer? I'm the 'planer', and these are what I use...

 Heard this all before..

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Planer? I'm the 'planer', and these are what I use...

Case in point: 

Just got in a Stanley Four Square Junior Jack.    Rusty, parts in backwards, paint in the wrong places.    Two whole hours laterHad to polish an already flat back on the SW iron, clean off the dirtiness.   Should be good to go for the year, thank you very much.  Plane cost me $24.50 all together.    How many could I buy with the cash for an L-N? 

Besides, does L-N even have this size?    

Closest i got to an L-N?   Last year, I picked up a Bedrock #606 square side.   Wasn't too bad a plane.    I tend to like my Millers falls planes better.. 

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Planer? I'm the 'planer', and these are what I use...

Ron Bresse planes need zero work out of the box. I have had the pleasure of using one and speaking with its owner. If you want to call a plane over-inflated, Bresse and Holtey are the ones. As an owner of several Lie-Nielsen (and Veritas) hand planes, I can assure you that less than five minutes of sharpening is needed for them to perform as they should. A quick rub on the back of the iron on an 8000 grit stone and the back is ready to go. Five to ten passes on the beveled side set a few degrees higher than 25 (or whatever your preference is) on a 1000 then an 8000 grit stone and you are good to go.

The quality of the tool steel used to make the irons on Lie-Nielsen and Veritas planes is far better than any vintage plane I have ever tuned and I have tuned quite a few to say the least. A2 and O1 steel irons that are lapped perfectly flat are part of what you pay for when purchasing a premium tool. Do you need an iron that is lapped to .005 or whatever to do good work? Absolutely not. As a professional woodworker and furniture maker, I can say that I used vintage tools since I was 13 and produced many beautiful pieces using only refurbished planes and saws. But the overall quality of premium planes makes them worth every penny.

Sure, I could buy ten used Stanley jacks for the price of one Lie-Nielsen. But my time equals money and the hours I would spend to make one of those planes perform as well as a premium plane negates the savings and, on top of that, no matter how much I fettle a tool, it will never be as dead flat as a premium plane. Can you hold a straight edge on the sole of your vintage plane and get a feeler gauge under it somewhere along its length?

All that said, I think that Woodriver planes are simply cheap knock offs of Lie-Nielsen planes. Yes, they can be made to preform well. After a bit of work. For $139.00, I don't want to have to do anything but lightly hone the blade and go to work. Unfortunately, a $139.00 plane like that does not exist so I will keep paying top-dollar for premium planes until someone figures out how to make them cheaper.

Steve, I am one of your most enthusiastic followers on this site. I read and look forward to every discussion you post. But on this topic, I think you are wrong. Premium planes like Lie-Nielsen and Veritas are worth every penny. They are certainly not nesassary for doing quality work. I guess it all comes down to this: I like to use heirloom quality tools to build heirloom quality furniture. I take pride in my tool set and clean and maintain them daily in part because they are so expensive but more so because they work so much better than any vintage tool I have ever used and I intend to keep them that way. Do hobby woodworkers need them? No. Do they make you a better woodworker? No. They are lifetime tools that are worth the investment. I will never need another smooth plane unless mine get stolen (which has happened before). Lie-Nielsen garuntees their tools for life whether you break it or it has a fault from the manufacturer. Another reason why they are worth the money.

Also, I always liked Miller's Falls better than any other vintage plane as well. My dream plane is a Miller's Falls #4 Buck Rogers Smoother. I would pay top dollar for one as well.

And, yes, Lie-Nielsen does make a 5 1/4 junior jack although I have never found a good use for one. Too big for a smoother and too small for a jack.

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Adam Welker
Red Car Construction and Fine Woodworking

Thank you so much for your support and spirited discussion here guys.

As in anything, there are opinions and there are loyalties. There are tools for every budget, and there are budgets for every tool. In other words, when it comes to hand tools they can be as personal as a tooth brush, you just get used to a certain type, and you stick with them for life. 

And Hand Planes are no different. I have many types and many brands of hand planes. I own some Stanley round tops, a couple flat top Bedrocks, I have some LN's and some Veritas's. Each serving a purpose and each excellent in their own right.

I have a Stanley No.5 that I absolutely love and would not trade it for anything, it is tuned, cambered, and it fits my hand and my style like no other, you could not get me to give that ol Stanley up for even a Holtey infill, well, maybe, but you know what I mean!!!

Then I have a small line up of LN's that I am very proud of, a No.8C, a full size Rabbet and a No.3 Bronze. Sitting by my LN's are my Veritas's, a 4 Smoother, a 7 Low Angle and a scraper plane. I have fallen in love with all.

When I bought my Stanley's, at the time it fit my budget, they are fine planes, and like I said, that No 5 you'd have to kill me and pry it from my cold dead hands before you could get it from me. Then I discovered the Veritas line up and have been very happy with them as well. And I took the leap and got to know the LN brand, tried them out, and fell in love with their tools as well.

I like my variety of hand planes, they each have a time and place for their use, and I like to touch and feel and use hand planes I have never seen or held before to broaden my own knowledge of them. To limit oneself to one brand, I think is limiting the creativity in your work. Just my humble opinion.

Before we shipped off Steve's WoodRiver, I got a chance to see it, hold it, and get an idea of the fit and finish, I can honestly say I was very impressed. It had some really good heft to it, I love a heavy plane, the iron was nice and thick, and the fit and finish was excellent. Someday I will spend more time with a WoodRiver. They seem to be great planes, rave reviews where ever you look, just google WoodRiver Hand Plane reviews and you'll see a plethora of great reviews, it's hard to find anything very negative beyond a quick honing or possibly a shipping defect as Steve experienced.

My point is, it's hard to judge a plane unless you use it, it's hard to categorically say it's not up to par unless we put it through its paces, and I know Steve will put his through its paces, and give us an honest review. We have a WR low angle block plane waiting to go out to a deserving Featured Member of the Month, and I hope they give it an honest review as well.

But most of all, I'd just like to thank Woodcraft for donating the WoodRiver Planes to The Patriot Woodworker Community to award a deserving member who has proven to be an asset to our community here, and at their local level as well. Woodcraft stepped up to the plate as not many other tool companies have. I put out the call to some of the retailers mentioned here to help a site who helps our disabled vets, and to help us reward some deserving members who have done much for our site, and there were frankly no takers who wanted to support us (at least I never heard from them), but for three retailers, Woodcraft, Laguna Tools, and Easy Wood Tools, and a fourth tool maker who is set to come aboard, Bessey Tools. All staunch supporters of our active duty military and the disabled vets we serve. So when it comes time for me to plunk down my money for tools, I know where I'll go, I'll shop with those who support our efforts here and our troops.  For me, there is much more behind a manufacturer then just their tools, I need to know where their heart is. But that is just me guys, it don't make it better or worse or whatever, it's just me and how I operate.

Woodcraft is our main sponsor here, along side Laguna Tools and Easy Wood Tools. We are a non profit all volunteer site here, nobody here makes a dime off this site, and if we can't meet our expenses, it comes out of my pocket to keep this place running, and it happens frequently. But without the supporters we have, we could not have a glimmer of hope to survive here and keep our woodworking community live and up.

I like this discussion that we have here, you guys came in here, put your thoughts and opinions out there, and you kept it civil and lively. I can think of many other forums where this discussion could have blown sky high. I love this site, we have quality folks here, no egos, and just a great bunch of folks who can agree to disagree. Thank you all for being here and helping us grow. Ultimately we exist for the disabled vets we serve, while we do that, let's have fun and make sawdust!!!! Errrrrrr, I mean fine thin micro lacy shavings!!!!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

Woke up this morning and some jerk rambled on with a boring long post last night, wait a minute, that's me!!!

Hope nobody thought that post was a "Lets Move On" type of post, quite the opposite, it's a great discussion I'd like to encourage more folks to jump in and tell us of your hand plane experiences, loyalties, likes and dislikes, etc etc. Like I said, it's a great discussion!!! Carry on!!!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

Lookee what came today!A Replacement Plane has arrived!    This is almost right out of the box.   I set the depth of cut, and had some oil to wipe off.  Old plane has been boxed up, and sent back to Woodcraft/ Wood River.    So far,......Me likey!!!

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Planer? I'm the 'planer', and these are what I use...