'Basic Grade' Japanese Planes

[Tony Wilkins]

Stu has Basic Grade Planes on his website that are about $50-$60.  I'm thinking of getting one to play around with.  I have a little 48mm one of similar build I got from him a while back that I use as a block plane and really enjoy.  There's times I feel like pulling is easier on me than pushing so I always think about Kanna after a rough patch.

 

So would these inexpensive 'basic' kanna be a good place to try?

[G S Haydon]

This is the man to ask http://giantcypress.net/

[wm_crash]

I'd like to see a side view of the blade from those planes. I have seen some (and I own one) that have very thin blades with no tapering at all, basically 1/8" thick at all points. Those are trash. I am not sure that's what's being sold, but those planes you mention are the bottom end of pricing and I am tempted (possibly mistakenly) to link that to the bottom end of quality.

If you are in the $50- $60 range, I think you are much better off picking a used one off eBay. If I were in the market right now, these are the planes I'd target:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hira-Kanna-Smoothing-Plane-Japanese-Carpentry-Vintage-66mm-/251325234939?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8426befb

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SIGNED-TOOL-ENGRAVED-DRAGON-JAPANESE-FORGED-IRON-KANA-PLANE-RAZOR-SHARP-/330998183357?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d110775bd

http://www.ebay.com/itm/39k96-old-Japanese-smoothing-plane-Hira-ganna-60mm-2-3-8-Tsuneaki-from-3-/121165672323?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c36096f83

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Carpentry-Tools-Plane-Hira-Kanna-66-/221274529334?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3384fd5e36

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Carpentry-Tools-Plane-Hira-Kanna-67-/321195501238?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac8be66b6

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Carpentry-Tools-Plane-Hira-Kanna-68-/221274531330?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3384fd6602

 

 

cheers,

wm_crash, the friendly hooligan

[wilburpan]

Just to give you an idea of the difference in thickness between a cheap Japanese plane and a better quality one, take a look at this. The cheaper plane blade is on top. The better plane blade is on the bottom. I got both of these planes from eBay.

 

I wrote a blog post on what to look for in terms of used Japanese tools on eBay here.

[Tony Wilkins]

Wilbur et al, so if the 'basic grade' won't give a good kanna experience at what level do you start to get a good representation?  What would you recommend for a first Japanese plane?  I've been looking at the Tsunesaburo planes that Tools from Japan has.