Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The internet has somewhat scared me off of handplanes. Woodworking sites all say how "hard they are to use" and that "they are best left to professionals," but I thought... for $25 it's worth trying out. To be clear I am a pretty big novice. I was very skeptical that this would work on the project I was doing. Before I got this I did some research and it's true what other reviewers have said. It does take some prep work to get it working optimally. But once tuned it's pretty amazing. I have used a palm sander, belt sander and a planing attachment for my Radial Arm Saw and none of those gets a quick and sexy flat plane like this. I had three 1"x6" oak boards glued together to make a solid wood panel 18" wide. Of course there was some slight variances in the boards and the seams were very noticeable. After running this thing across the seams a few times I couldn't tell ya where the boards joined together. :::::::Recommendations Before Use::::::: - When you first get it open take the blade off. You'll have to sharpen it. I used the "Scary Sharp" method similar to another reviewer. There are lots of guides online on how to do this. Just requires some sandpaper and a hard surface. Takes about 5 mins. - When you first get it open take a straight edge and lay it across the bottom to check for flatness. Mine wasn't too bad but judging by some of the reviews some can be pretty bowed. - Get a big piece of ~60 grit sandpaper and lay it on something hard and flat. Then run the plane back and forth for a while. Check the flatness every couple of minutes. When it's completely flush with the straight edge, go up in grit with the sandpaper. Go back and forth on 100-150 grit for a while to smooth out the surface. - Then take some Parafan Wax and lightly buff the bottom. This will help it glide across the wood better. - Add a drop of oil to the screw in the back. This will help with micro adjustments to the blade. :::::::::::::A few other tips::::::::::::::: - The wood MUST be clamped down or in a vice. Any movement in the wood will make the blade stutter. Just holding it down is not enough force to keep it from moving. - The instructions say to expose the blade only a hair's width. They mean it! There is a very fine line between too little and too much exposed blade. Better to start with less than taking big gouges out of your wood. - Try and limit your downward force. You want forward force not as much downward.