Microplanes...any good?

They work great. They create small chips rather than dust. Some type can be quite fragile so you can’t treat them like you would a file.

Not a big fan of their sanding discs though.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I have used them and they work very well for removing a lot of wood quickly.
I have seen them being used by Sam Maloof in one of his videos and he says that their
great. I hope this helps but for the few bucks they cost I would give them a shot.

-- Frank Auge---Nichols NY----"My opinion is neither copyrighted nor trademarked, but it is price competitive."

I’ve used them quite a bit lately. I think they are great. As Gary said—they make chips not dust. You do have to be careful about getting tear out on the edges of the boards—but that’s easily taken care of with a backer board. I’d highly recommend these “rasps.” They make shaping a part very easy.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

They work great but leave a fairly rough surface. I like to switch to a Nicholson once close to the final shape as it looks smoother. They can hog off a lot of wood in a hurry. When I first got one I was showing it to my uncle and on a bet I showed him how I could crosscut a board without a saw. In about 30 seconds I microplaned across a 1×6. (He lost).

-- Use the fence Luke

I have several sizes and they really come in handy at times. It’s not some something you use every day, but for a small investment they are great to have around when you need one.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

They used to make a microplane drum that you could mount on an arbor on a dp or a drill. unfortunately I havent seen one in the stores in a long time

they remove a lot of stock quickly. and they work great for grating cheese :-)

fred

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

They are superior to a surform, both in terms of quality
of cut and how long they stay sharp.

They work great in the kitchen, too, for mincing garlic
and grating hard cheese.

Some of them can be mounted on a hacksaw frame and
with it you can really work fast.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online business building

I think they are well worth the money, I even made this slight modiification to the hacksaw type, use it all the time…

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Just as everyone has said – they are great tools. I did rough shaping of the the cabriole legs on this project with them. The small chips that they create are a lot nicer than a lot of fine saw dust.

-- Mark, Webster New York, Visit my website at http://thecraftsmanspath.com