WoodRiver No. 5-1/2 Jack Plane with Preparation Service
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Full Description
Customer Reviews
KITs
Sorry, our agreement with Woodcraft restricts us from shipping WoodRiver Planes to the U.S.
I own and recommend WoodRiver V3 planes. These planes are based on the reliable Stanley Bedrock design, are very well made, and have an excellent price point making them a "BEST VALUE."
All of our WoodRiver bench planes receive our Cosman preparation service so they are100% ready to use out of the box. See prep service below for description of what we do.
Jack planes are general-purpose bench planes, typically with bodies between 13 and 16 inches long. As the name implies they are a "jack of all trades" and can perform most of the work of a smoother and on small and medium stock can perform as a jointer plane.
I use my WoodRiver No. 5-1/2 Jack plane for 85% of all my planing operations. It is my "go to" plane and I recommend it as your first plane purchase.
Plane Description
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No. 5-1/2 Plane size: 2-7/8" wide x 14-15/16" long with a 2-3/8"-wide blade
- Heavy, stress-relieved ductile iron castings.
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Fully machined adjustable frogs bedded at a 45 degree angle.
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Thick (.125 inch) steel blade and chipbreaker dampens vibration making solid planing.
- Rockwell 60-62 hardness blade
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Lightly finished Bubinga handles provide comfort and control.
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Soles and sides are machined flat and square within tightly held tolerances.
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Sorry, our agreement with Woodcraft restricts us from shipping WoodRiver Planes to the U.S.
Plane Preparation Service: All planes require some preparation. Our complete plane preparation service makes it so that no set-up is required by you. Your plane will be ready to use 'out-of-the-box! Our Plane Preparation Service includes:
- Flattening the sole to within +/- 0.0015 of an inch (0.038mm) of perfectly flat.
- Squaring the sides to within +/- 0.0015 of on inch (0.038mm) of 90 degrees to the now flat sole.
- Flattening the bottom of the the rear handle (tote) and the front handle (knob) and their boss so they mate properly with no movement.
- Chamfering / easing all edges and corners on the sole of the plane.
- Tuning the lateral adjustment lever so it moves freely.
- Applying a back bevel (Charlesworth ruler trick) to the back of the plane blade.
- Sharpen the blade using micro-bevels. Final polishing is done using 16,000 grit ceramic waterstone.
- Flattening the back edge of the lever cap so it mates properly to the chipbreaker.
- Flattening the leading edge of the chipbreaker so it mates properly to the blade.
- Testing the plane for proper operation and set-up.
- Removing all of the shipping / packing grease and applying a light coat of camellia oil to all the metal surfaces to prevent rust.
Which Plane?
I've been following Rob's channel for awhile now and decided it was time to add a larger plane to my shop. All I had was an old #4 Record plane which works fine, but is not of the same quality as modern planes and also too small for a lot of planing tasks. Based on Rob's recommendation, I decided a #5 1/2 was the best choice.
I went back and forth between the Veritas and Woodriver planes. I like to support Canadian companies so I buy a lot of Veritas products. But after the pandemic they have been very slow to ramp up production so they have no stock until June. I figured if the WR is good enough for Rob, it is definitely good enough for me. I received my new plane yesterday and it is exactly as Rob describes it. Their preparation service is top notch as the plane was ready to go right out of the box. The sole is flat, sides are perfectly square to the sole and the machined finish is excellent. A few small flaws in the casting on top, but purely cosmetic. All of the surfaces that matter are perfect. I also added the star adjuster (which is brilliant) as well as the grip for shooting plane use. Extremely happy with the product and the service.
Several months ago I watched Rob sharpen a plane. The only plane I had was an old no-name block plane that would not cut cottage cheese when I found it. After giving it a treatment I could get beautiful curls every time. That led me to the conclusion that, if a block plane can be that good a tool, a bigger plane must be much better. After watching and reading reviews of various makes and models I decided to trust Rob's advice that a #5-1/2 jack would be a great plane to start with. I got it last week - love the little demo shaving! - and set to work to see if it was as good as advertised. I had a glued up panel for a cabinet top that had slipped a bit in the clamps. What better start than to jump right in and flatten it? After a few runs over a piece of scrap to dial in the thickness I was looking for I set to work on the panel. Did I say work? It was pure pleasure watching the long curls flow off onto the bench and floor. Before I knew it the top was dead flat and almost glassy smooth. I am a very happy customer. (The picture is of the first few heavy passes. The battery died before I could shoot the later fine ones - but they were beautiful.)
If you’re going to get one plane to start hand tool woodworking. This is it. Great quality. Thanks!
The plane arrived with the sides in quite poor condition. Instead of the nice surface ground finish shown in the photo, the sides were Blanchard ground and done so to a very poor standard. A very coarse finish resulted and of course being blanchard ground, the grinding marks were perpendicular to the direction of travel. They were bad enough that they acted like a rasp on my shooting board and immediately started abrading lots of material off the base of the shooting board.
I sent it back and they were good about a refund, but I wouldn't buy another one. What I received was NOT what was shown in the photos or videos.
Following on from my previous review, I am now delighted to say that my issues have been resolved. I received a call from Rob himself on 9th November, and yesterday a new frog for my plane, and additional plane wax and additional Canadian syrup, arrived and at no extra cost to myself. I’d like to thank Rob and the team for making this happen, great customer service.
