Anant Bench Plane No. 3 Smoothing
by Highland Hardware
Our Price: $34.99
Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days
Category: Tools
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Product Details
Manufacturer: Highland HardwareProduct features:
- Excellent value for the money!
- Frogs surfaces are milled finer than either Record or Stanley
- Lever caps are fitted with levers
- Both handle & front knob are hardwood
- 9-1/4 x 1-3/4, 3-1/2 lbs.
Description of Anant Bench Plane No. 3 Smoothing
With the disappearance of Record, this line of planes arrives at a very opportune time, as woodworkers have been left without any moderately priced choice between the construction of contemporary Stanley planes and the price of premium tools like Cliftons or Lie-Nielsens. Anant planes offer excellent value for the money. Machining quality is as good as vintage Record; soles and side rails are respectably flat and perpendicular, and can be polished completely smooth in short order. Frog surfaces are milled finer than either Record or Stanley have done in quite some time. Lever caps are fitted with levers, another welcome improvement over the late Record screw design. More importantly, Anants throat openings are discreet and properly milled. They average just under .200 wide; with the frog set correctly, the opening forward of the blade is only about 3/64. The rear edge of the throat opening has been milled, exactly as it should be, at a 45? slope. With the frog set flush with this beveled surface, youll note that the irons ultimate point of support is actually the sole casting, stabilizing the iron right up to the heel of the bevel, a good 3/32 closer to the action than the lowest point on the frog. Overall, were impressed with the quality of Anant planes, and were pleased to recommend this new line of moderately priced, fully functional tools.Tools and Hardware Reviews of Anant Bench Plane No. 3 Smoothing
Customer Review: Quality vs. Price Trade-off
Summary: 3 Stars
As you would expect for the price, this plane is not the best quality. Two stars for quality, but one more for price. Hence the three stars.
I had to do quite a bit of tuning. The body casting was acceptable and didn't require much flattening of the sole. The iron grain is somewhat coarser and softer than some pricier planes, but since it will just wear against wood, this is psychological.
The blade itself was somewhat concave and took quite a bit of grinding to flatten out. I will replace it with a Hock aftermarket blade. The chip breaker required quite a bit of grinding; it's almost as if it was a straight casting with no machining at all.
A lot of backlash in the adjuster.
As to quality, don't even think for an instant this is anywhere near Clifton or Lie-Nielsen. I would say that it is somewhat inferior to the current Stanleys in terms of the adjuster and frog machining.
It's a good tool to learn plane tuning on; if you wreck it, you are not out of much money. That's why I got it.
When finished with tuning, it produced shavings on par with a a current Stanley No. 4 in Pine & Alder, so it IS possible to get it to work, if you have a lot of time on your hands and the necessary tools to flatten the sole and other surfaces.
Still, if you are new to planing & tuning, this might not be a good choice.
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