Taytools 469614 Smoothing Bench Hand Plane #4, 9-3/4 Inch Sole, Ductile Cast Body, Lapped Sides and Bottom, Blade RHC 55-60, Sapele Handle and Tote

The first plane I ordered was a quality disappointment. Excess casting on the underside of the frog that would not allow proper blade advancement, excess powder coating on frog surfaces that should have been unpainted, and sides out of square from dimensions in the product description. Amazon authorized a return and exchange. I had heard such a good review of this plane on YouTube that I wanted to see if I just got one that slipped through quality assurance. The first one was obviously one that slipped through quality control. The replacement plane is every bit as described and equal to the one I saw reviewed. Flat sole, sides square to the sole, powder coating only where it belongs, etc. All I needed to do was flatten the back of the blade and hone it. Beautiful results. For the price, this is a quality plane at a bargain price. Just make sure you get a good one.

The good stuff: Mine arrived well packaged with no rust or damage even though the outer box was a little wrinkled on one end. This tool just looked nice and is very well made and very well balanced. Although I know it's different for different people, the feel and angle of the handle, and knob for me is very comfortable and gives good feedback from the wood. The sole was as flat as I think anyone would need and the sides were right on 90 degrees. Not all of the cast surfaces are milled real pretty but, the critical ones are and they seem to be well done. The not as good stuff: The throat had a burr that I discovered by pushing the sole across a flat piece of wood and detected scratching. It was such that I may not have noticed it otherwise until I had put it to use. However, a few passes with a thin file took care of that. The real negative and the reason for the four stars was the cutting iron. It was very concave (cupped) on the back to the point where it would have made proper sharpening impossible. It actually took me just over 4 hours (I'm not exaggerating) of diamond stone lapping to get it flat across the back of the cutting edge and far enough back from that to assure good clamping. It was a LOT of work. Beyond that it just required the usual 'out of the box' sharpening and a little cleaning up. Comment: I saw one reviewer complaining about the slop in the iron advance/retract adjusting knob. They said it required a full turn to take up the backlash. Mine requires just under half a turn and I don't see that as a problem. Then again, I don't see a full turn as a problem as long as your last adjustment was toward the iron to help keep it from pushing back. After all, this isn't a $240.00 Vatitas or Lie-Nielson(SP?). It was 80 bucks. In summary: Except for the iron issue, this inexpensive tool is very well made and after some effort it worked surprisingly well. In fact I would buy it again even knowing the elbow grease required to make it a fine tool.

My TayTools #4 bench plane arrived in excellent condition. The plane worked right out of the box before I even sharpened the blade. Once I sharpened the blade it cut extremely well, and I was able to take shavings as thin as 0.0003 inches and as thick as 0.15 inches in consistent passes depending on how I adjusted it. It does have a little slop in the depth adjustment knob almost a full turn before it engages the blade in either direction, but that is far better than my last plane. The sole of the plane is mostly flat with a few minor imperfections that will come out with a little fine sanding. The tote was a little bit loose, but I fixed that with around 1/4 turn of the attachment bolt. The finish on the tote is a bit rough to the touch, but an application of wax will probably solve that.

There was a problem with my hand and the base of this plane where my hand rubbed on the edge of the plane and left a really painfully mark, before I was able to even start planning with it. But otherwise it was a great tool with a strong value for the cost. I wish it would have worked for me.

Great tool, a must have. Needed very little to get it in working condition. Iron needed to be sanded flat on the back side and took a while to get a good edge. The sole was perfectly flat on mine and the mouth had a few, very very, small burrs that I removed easily with a file. This is easily as nice as a tool at twice its price.

After tuning and living with it a while I'm pretty satisfied with this plane. I purchased it more or less out of curiosity as like most hand tool woodworkers, I don't lack for #4 planes. The good: -the tote is a nice comfortable shape, a nice height and the finish feels good in the hand. -The sole was indeed lapped flat. This saves a ton of work tuning a plane. -the adjustment is easy and there is a pretty normal amount of lash between advancing and retracting the iron. -the iron holds an edge nicely and sharpens easily. -the fit is good, the frog holds tight and nothing shifts as you cut. -nice thick castings. The bad: -You have to lap the back of the iron into flat. This is pretty normal but must be done before the plane can be an effective smoother -the bed needs flattening. This is not necessarily normal. In order to get a good performing smoother, this must be done accurately and it was not quite acceptable out of the box. This is easily fixed but a beginner might not know why they can't get their plane to perform and it could be a major source of frustration. -once I got the frog off I found that the making surfaces to the plane body both on the frog and plane body were not smooth at all. I filed and polished them carefully so they stayed flat but are now smooth. The adjustment feels much smoother now and the frog is obviously more secure feeling. This should prevent a source of chatter. -the castings have only the minimum cleaning of burs and flash. Does not effect the plane performance but clean them up while you have the plane apart for a better looking tool. -the chip breaker must be tuned. I needed to stone it until I got a clean, even mating surface between the back of the iron and the edge of the chip breaker. This is normal and expected on inexpensive irons but necessary to get a good performing smoother. The take away: Don't expect this to be a finely tuned tool out of the box. Be prepared to tune it up. It has good bones though and once you put the work in it gets quite nice results. Critically, the sole is flat. This saves hours of work over other inexpensive planes. Out of the box it performs acceptably for Jack plane type jobs but it will not perform as a smoother. You must get it the rest of the way there.

I bought this plane for 65 bucks not expecting much. My #6 arrived recently and I figured if the #4 was as burly and well-made as the #6, then I had just scored a bargain and perhaps worst case, I might have to put an aftermarket blade in it. WRONG. It arrived as well packed and prepared as my #6. Also arrived fast. It goes without saying that they make sure you have a good purchasing experience on that end. On Saturday, I had spent the morning prepping the #6 and I set it down. I was not done and thought I was going to be buying a blade. See my #6 review for how that whole episode turned out. I started prepping the back of the blade and I thought, oh, this looks like its going to be bad. The concave actually cleaned up pretty quick as you see in the photos. Blade was good to go in a short period of time and I assembled the plane. The product of this plane against a piece of poplar was whispy-thin see-through shavings as you see in the pic. These planes are stated to be ground to 3 thousandths. Not saying I dont believe it but I am that guy that figures, if it is .003, I can get it to .001-.002. I put the plane on my marble block and ran it over some 320. As you can kinda see in the photo, it is taking material off to the right of the heel, at the toe, and it is starting to get the mill marks out on the left side of the throat. I am guessing it was .003 as stated and I will go through the extra effort to bring it a little closer. This plane is just incredible even without doing anything other than prepping the blade. I did check the chip breaker and ran a little chamfer around the sole of the plane but that's it other than the polishing job that I want to put on the sole. These planes are an incredible value.

This plane looks and feels decent and the materials are mostly of acceptable quality. The sole is flat. However, that's about where the positives end. There are numerous deficiencies, including the following: -The iron. It itsn't even close to flat out of the box, requiring about an hour of work on a coarse diamond plate to fully clean up the back of the cutting edge. After sharpening, the iron does not hold an edge satisfactorily. You'll need to sharpen it after every 20 minutes or so of actual work. -The frog and the interfacing surfaces in the body are not machined accurately. The front contact points are at least .010" out of being coplanar. This means the frog does not mount solidly to the body nor support the blade firmly during use. -The retaining screw holes in the frog are drilled too far forward. As a result, the frog can not be advanced farther than the very back of the throat. -The casting is crude with lots of lumpy areas of scant and surplus material. In general decent materials can be the saving grace for an inexpensive plane, because some time spent properly setting up the tool can make it function well. However, in ths case of this one, there are defects in the machining that would be extremely difficult to correct by hand. Further, the quality of the iron is poor. You'll probably spend more time sharpening it than actually planing with it. Spend a little more and buy a better tool.

This is the second western-style hand plane I have used, and I think it is an amazing tool. The first one I bought was a cheap block plane, and it was useless. I simply could not get the bottom flat and eventually gave up. That was for a different purpose and not as necessary as the number 4, so I had gone on the cheap for it. This one was a lot more expensive, so I expected it to be better, and I was not disappointed. All I had to do was sharpen the blade and it was good to go. I was able to get very fine, full-blade-width shavings on ash and black walnut without having to do a thing to the sole, and I am a beginner, so that has to be down to it being a good tool. It also looks and feels wonderfully robust and expensive. With shipping and customs duties, I paid about $200 CDN for this tool, but I am still satisfied. I am amazed that some who posted comments got this for just $65 USD. Experienced, extremely picky woodworkers might find fault with this, but I cannot imagine getting the wood I've planed with it so far any smoother and flatter. Full marks to Tay Tools for this one.

Very solid plane. It will need to be set up properly before use.