# Quangsheng Planes and plane irons-Anybody tried one?



## Visions (Sep 12, 2011)

I saw these Quangsheng planes and plane irons while perusing Ebay in hopes of finding some new treasure, like a nice pre-war #4 smoother with a frog adjusting screw (still looking!).

Well, they looked to be of very nice quality upon first glance, so I researched them a bit. They are sold by Workshop Heaven in the UK, and are said to be developed by the manufacturer in conjunction with Woodcraft, ie: being either direct or near copies of the WoodRiver planes, which are very nice planes indeed!

Upon further inspection, they are mostly all BedRock design planes (save for the bevel-up planes), and use blades of T-10 water-hardening carbon steel, hardened and tempered to 63Rc. They also claim to grind the bodies to +or- .0015" flatness tolerance, which is pretty good in my eyes!

The prices seem to be close to the WoodRiver, so import duties, shipping, etc. may not make it a worthwhile venture for all. BUT, they do make a rabbeting block plane that sells for apprx. $102 (US), as well as a bevel-up jack, and stainless and bronze spokeshaves, which I have not seen from WoodRiver as yet.

They sell replacement blades and breakers to fit Stanley type planes too, and at a decent price. As well as one other really neat item I have never seen offered before, an extended blade adjusting yoke to allow for thicker blades to be installed than would be possible with the factory Stanley piece.

So, has anyone bought/used/seen one of these planes as of yet? I'm very curious to hear feedback.

I will have a review on their 2" bench plane iron in a few weeks, as I have one on order. I figure the price wasn't bad, and if it's not as good as I hope, I'll cut a serious camber on it and stuff it into my #5 two-tone Stanley and have a scrub plane.

Thanks for any info!


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## ShipWreck (Feb 16, 2008)

I stumbled across a article about the Quangsheng planes the other day. From what I read, they are sold in the USA as WoodRiver planes.


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## wingate_52 (May 14, 2011)

I have the QS LA jack 62 from Workshop Heaven. It is great with it's 3 blades. I have Quangsheng chipbreakers for all my Stanley/Records, QS blades for 3 of the above. I also have a Rob Cosman combo and 3 Smoothcut Japanese laminated blades. Value for money are the QS combos. The Cosman is brilliant, but so are the QS blades and chipbreakers. I have 2 QS yokes, one steel the other brass, both fit no problem. Some of the planes needed some work to seat the blade, others just slipped in. I have a QS 97 large chisel plane and may buy a QS LA block plane.
I have recieved great products and help from Matthew at Workshop Heaven. I live in the U.K and their planes are better specced than the Rutlands models. A colleage has bought a QS no 5. It is excellent. If I was starting again I would but the all their range. Quality and value for money.


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## llwynog (May 5, 2011)

Hello. 
I own, a QS low angle blockplane, a QS#4, a QS#5 and a QS bevel up jackplane.
So far, I am very happy with these planes. I also own a vintage Stanley #7 with a Veritas replacement iron/breaker and I do not see any noticeable difference in cutting/edge holding abilities.

All the QS planes were very flat and the machining is good.
Good point also is that the low angle block plane came with 2 blades while the bevel up jack plane came with 3 blades with various angles. That makes for a lot of combinations.

I think that QS#4 and the the bevel up jack plane are both very competitive and I would not be able to find such a good quality/bargain for any lower price. The bevel up jack plane is very good on a shooting board. Of course, you could always find a vintage #4 for cheaper but it would probably take quite a lot of work to bring it to the same level of flatness and the equivalent bedrock 604 would be much more expensive than the QS. Also, when it comes to bevel up jack planes, most vintage ones end up selling for more than what the QS version costs.

For the QS#5 and the blockplane, this is more debatable. I am glad I can depend on them but the 2 equivalent vintage planes would be just as usable and likely cheaper (flatness is not much an issue for a jack plane).

For the records, when it comes to jointer planes, vintage planes are still the most cost effective way to go in my opinion.

I hope this helps,


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## wingate_52 (May 14, 2011)

I bought the QS Low angle block plane with 3 blades. I had thought that my Record 9 1/2, which I had fettled up was good. But the weight and quality of cut of the QS is so much better.


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