# Buck Bros. 14" jack Plane



## Newton

Works well right out of the box and keeps it's edge for 4 hours. Seems like it should have received a better rating.


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## michelletwo

I agree with Don..even Lie-Neilsen's need some honing at 3-4-5 times the price. Hope it holds up for you…


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## bandit571

I recently sold mine, along with a Fulton the same size. Seemed to work OK, did not like the "pot metal" adjustor wheel.









Modified it to take a brass wheel. It will make nice shavings, once the iron is sharpened up.









Would I buy another one? No.


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## Purrmaster

I got their block plane which was a total piece of garbage.


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## bandit571

Ah, but, IF you buy the blades for these planes, they are worth the price. They do sell the irons by themselves. At around $3 each, one can have an arsenal of irons. Both block plane size, and the 2" wide irons. You have to flatten the backs a bit, but they do work nicely.


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## Oldtool

I purchased that same plane when I started woodworking, back in 2003. After an hour of planing, the handle came off, because the long screw through the length of the tote had stripped out the threads in the base. Took it back, got credit, no questions.
Next purchase was a Marples plane. It still has the tote attached.


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## woodmaker

I gave it 3 stars because of the workmanship.
I don't see this plane lasting for years, and as I think I said I was desperate.


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## skywalker01

I have the same plane. Sole was really out of flat so I sanded that down with sandpaper on a block of granite for hours. The blade was nowhere near sharp and the back was way out of flat. The handle popped right off during planing after all that, threads stripped out. So I drilled the hole down just a bit into the handle so the head of the screw would sink in a little therefore giving more thread into the base. This worked okay so I didn't return it after all I had put my heart and soul into it already. Anyhow, it has some really bad chatter I'm thinking due to a thin blade and crappy chip breaker so don't even think about smoothing anything out that you want to look good. I still use it as sort of a scrub plane so that I don't mess up my lie nielson's with the rough work so I'd give it 2 stars TOPS!


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## Purrmaster

I'm not sure I understand how buying extra blades for these planes helps. I had the block plane blade professionally sharpened and the plane was still unworkable, even with a really sharp blade.


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## BrandonW

I bought a Buck Bros plane once. Sold it Bandit, who apparently sold it on ebay (above). Haha.


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## Greg3G

I must confess…In a moment of weakness…I too purchased a couple of Buck Bros. planes. I must say in all honesty, they were the *Worst *tools I have ever purchased. I tried and tried to get them dialed in but I could never get them to work. The frog was difficult to adjust, it would open up the mouth as I used it no matter how much I tried to get it to work. The iron was way too thin and wouldn't hold an edge more than a dozen strokes. I was tempted to sell them in a garage sale but I didn't want to discourage a new woodworker who might buy them. I took them apart and put them in the recycle bin. Maybe someday they will be turned into something useful…like a bicycle sprocket.


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## crank49

I have a couple of these. A Block and a Jack.
A few seconds on the belt sander and a few minutes flattening and honing the irons and they cut ok.
The lateral adjuster on the Block plane will eat your palm if you don't grind the sharp edges off. And the screw on the tote of the Jack needs to be seated, as mentioned earlier; But, actually, they are ok. I would agree with the three star valuation. I keep mine in my tool kit for onsite work.


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## Dcase

Purrmaster- The spare bench plane irons that Buck Bros sells are a standard size and will fit most #4 & #5 sized planes. So say someone has a vintage plane that needs an iron and they don't want to buy an expensive premium iron they can grab one of these for a few bucks. Are they premium irons? No, but they work fine. I have several and I cant complain.

Greg- I am confused what you mean when you say the mouth would open up as you used it?

Also, in response to you guys saying the irons are way to thin… The irons are just as thick as the vintage Stanley irons. I use both thick and thin irons and have no problems with either of them. I know the Buck bros is by no means a premium plane but any plane is usable if the iron is truly sharp. I would hardly consider them garbage or call them unusable. Just my opinion.


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## woodmaker

It seems like no two Buck Bros. planes are the same. I must have gotten lucky and picked the "good" box off the shelf. As a stop gap plane it's fine, long term use, I don't see it. I'll buy a better plane prety soon, but for now it will do and serve as a back up between sharpenings of my smoother.


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## dbhost

You may have gotten the odd good one from them. I had borrowed a Buck Bros jack plane from a friend when both he and I were building our shops at first… I had trouble giving it back to him. The adjusters for the thing wouldn't stay put, and the sole was slightly convex. The adjusting wheel was some cheap stamped aluminum I guess it was thing, that I could almost pull off the threaded shaft without unthreading it…


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## bandit571

I still have the iron I bought from Buck Brothers…









Stanley iron on the left, BB on the right. Put back onto a "good plane"..









and away we go..


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## woodmaker

I guess everything is relative, some cheap tools work well and some very expensive tools aren't necessarily perfect either.
I reckon anything cheap can be made to work if you work at it long enough.


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## meikou

It's a shame that yet another company that made good tools years ago has had it's name tarnished with the modern day crap, just like Marples.


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## Purrmaster

Greg3G-When I got their block plane and could not get it to work no matter what I did I very nearly did give up on woodworking. So yeah, I wouldn't sell them at a garage sale.

Dan-Ah, I see. That makes sense. Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. As far as the thickness of the iron, I think you're right. I've got a somewhat older Stanley jack plane and the iron, while adequate, is about the same thickness of the Buck Bros. plane irons.

I'd be curious as to whether anyone has posted reviews of the Groz smoothing planes. I've got a couple and don't much care for them. But perhaps I'm doing something wrong. I don't want to post an unfair review of a tool.


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## donwilwol

The thickness of the plane iron will only matter if the plane is not tuned properly. If the plane provides a solid base, which it should, they all work the same.

I have a couple of the buck brothers blades. They work decent for the price.


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## woodmaker

I have a Groz smooth plane, but my go to is the old Stanley. The Groz plane iron is too wide to fit my Work Sharp 3000 so I have to sharpen the iron with a roller guide on top. I don't get as good an edge as I do with the Stanley. 
The Groz is okay, took a lot of work to sharpen the blade out of the box. I would not buy another one for sure. I intend to stalk the flea markets and yard sales and buy the older Stanley tools, they just seem to work better with less fuss it seems.


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## davidroberts

Buck Brothers is an old, old english tool maker. The old stuff was built like a tank, especially their chisels. The new Buck stuff the borgs carry gives HF planes a run for their money. $30 buys a nice pre-war Stanley #4 off the bay, when that you one you got wears out.


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## Ironrooster

I keep my Buck Brothers jack plane as a reminder that when you pay cheap you get cheap. On mine the sole isn't anywhere close to flat, the mouth isn't square, the chip breaker doesn't fit right, the adjuster has too much play. It was my first plane after the Stanley #4 I inherited from my Dad - there is no comparison. The Stanley from the late 40's is much better.

Glad your Buck Bros. was better than mine.

Lie-Nielsen planes cost a lot more, but they are a joy to use - I have 4 so far. I have a Record block plane and a Stanley jointer plane from 20 years ago that work pretty well.


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## woodmaker

I might get a budget for Wood River planes from the wife, but Lie-Nielson might be another story. 
She's pretty understanding though, didn't blink an eye when I wanted the Grizzly G-0690 table saw, which she laet me have for my birthday 2 years ago.  So there may be hope for me yet.


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## ic3ss

Made In China.


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## beemanks

I have two Buck Bros planes, the jack have never been able to get quite right. Also picked up a no7 joiner, buck bros…got it adjusted and it does a great job.


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## JonBikeRacer

I am by no means a pro but…
These planes are inexpensive, and will require work in order for them to achieve their full potential. I don't have much money, so I cannot afford one of the nice "ready to use" planes. When I got my very first Buck Bros #4 plane (little block plane does not count) I knew nothing about how to use it. I didn't even know how to sharpen the blade. After a little YouTube magic, I was on my way to getting it to work properly. Later, I flattened the sole mostly with a belt sander, then some sandpaper taped to a flat piece of glass, and made sure it was dead flat. This is pretty important. I sharpen my blades with 2k grit sandpaper, and I am able to get super thin wisps of hardwood. Last night, I tuned the #5 the same way, and I got excellent results as well.


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## Sodbuster

Should have looked here first before I bought one off eBay. Complete crap! Discouraging that its stamped "Made in USA" because its made like the worst of the junk from China. Maybe the older ones were half-way decent, but after sharpening the hell out of the iron, I assembled the never used thing and the handle popped off on stroke number 4. Just as above, the cheap, soft alloy the body is made out of doesn't hold the threads and the front of the handle had a glop of some stuff that in someone's dream is supposed to actually hold something.

With any luck, both Buck Brothers and Home Depot will someday go out of business. No stars, even one would be pure charity.


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