SawDustB Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Hey guys, I saw that a couple of ECE planes have shown up locally for sale, a jack and a smoother. They look like they've seen very light use. I'm thinking about making an offer on them, but I was wondering how they actually behave in use. The jack might enter into my milling workflow, since I joint by hand (and the idea of a lighter plane for that is interesting). Do they require much fiddling or tuning to use? If so, I'll probably pass, but if they're pretty problem free then it might be nice to add to the collection. Just to be clear, this is the jack: and the smoother: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 ECE planes normally have an excellent reputation if you can get by the German style handles on the front. I've tried a few out and coming from the conventional metal plane school (Stanley, LN and Veritas) I was pleasantly surprised how nice the high handle on the front works. Like most high end planes they don't really require much tuning other than honing and work straight out of the box with very good results. They are normally quite expensive when bought new especially the Primus ones shown in your pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 The lumber dealer i went though in Bismarck loved ECE planes. This was coming from a guy that had some BCTW daily users so the guy appreciated quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 I have a block plane I really like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 Cool, sounds worthwhile then. Around here can sometimes be a bit hard for buying and selling more specialty items, so they've been sitting on there for a while probably because they're made of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 That handle is confusing to me. Do you pull it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 31 minutes ago, Isaac said: That handle is confusing to me. Do you pull it? Kind of. It can be held similar to a joystick should you chose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 I'd buy them in a minute at a decent price. They are excellent planes once you get used to them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 You push just like other Western planes. The shape of the front handle fits your hand nicely-if you're right handed with the ones in the picture. They work great if you are not a high speed hand planer, but if you go too fast with one, it will chatter-something about the die spring harmonics that tensions the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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