KunzScraping Plane, No. 112

At the price, this is a great tool. As with any hand tool in the mid-range expect to do some fine tuning. The blade is reasonable, I would prefer a little thicker but again...Price, and it does work fine after a little lapping. There's a few videos on YT that'll help with the learning curve. This style is meant for larger flat surfaces, so it is kinda a one trick pony, If you want versatility, go with the Cabinet scraper version. The one nice thing on unboxing was there wasn't a whole lot of oil cleanup needed, just two quick wipe-downs, once to clean and then once with the oilrag can for rust curtailment. I found it helpful to file over the end of the blade holder wing screw (just a little) while I had it out for oiling, it was a little grabby and shifted the adjustment when tightening it down. I might wind up making a set of wooden handles eventually. but the plastic ones work... they just feel a bit impersonal.

I was thinking of getting the LN because they are awesome tools, but for the cost and for not being sure how useful it would be for me I bought this instead and I am glad I did. This tool takes some time to learn how to use, I would say an hour or two to really figure out all the ins and outs. You need to fiddle with it before you understand how to use it to get the results you are after. I first thought actually on initial use was "what a POS" but it was actually me that needed to be calibrated. My only thing negative I can say for it is that it is only really useful for large flat surfaces, life table tops. The Kunz #80 is way more useful overall and much more handy. Another tip I can give is to make sure you round over the corners of the card otherwise it will leave planer marks in your surface, feel they should have done this in advance and had to learn this fact from a LN video on Youtube. The card should always be tilted forward at the top just like a card scraper other wise it will gouge your workpiece, badly. Just remember it is not a plane. But over all it does a great job and I saved two hundred dollars over the LN for a tool that I will only use on larger projects. Don't mind spending money for a great tool but I don't like to waste it on a great tool that I don't use all the time either. This is a great tool because for the money, use, and quality, it does the job I wanted and it does it well, fast, and efficiently.

I was very surprised at how well this plane worked. When adjusted properly and the blade well sharpened it works well to put a buttery smooth surface on hard maple even highly figured flame hard maple. It covers a lot of territory quickly and mine does not leave a visible line at the ends of the last pass from the edge of the blade. I honestly have no idea how it does that other than my being attentive to setting it up carefully. I did not need to round the edges of the blade. The plastic handle / tote and knob are far more durable than expected and they snug up rock solid without excessive tightening. I have no regrets buying this scraper plane and my arthritic hands are glad to get a break from my card scraper!

Spend the extra $50 for the Veritas version. I could live with the plastic handles (replace with shop made) and the lower quality manufacturing, but not having an adjuster screw to bow the blade is a major omission that dramatically affects performance, requiring blade corners to be rounded and making adjustment more difficult. With the shortcomings not worth saving $50 over a pristine tool like the Veritas

Ho comprato questa pialla-rasiera avendo necessità di rifinire grandi piani in legno massiccio a venatura spesso contorta, che lavorare a rasiera è possibile ma estenuante. Questa è la soluzione ideale, ma le pialle-rasiera - molto poco note e scarsamente diffuse da noi - si trovano sul mercato come Stanley vintage (difficili da reperire e molto costose) o, nell'ambito dei prodotti nuovi, nel catalogo Veritas, di grande qualità ma con prezzi orripilanti.La soluzione Kunz è quella di perfetto compromesso: un prodotto nuovo, che non obbliga al lavoro di restauro del vintage, ma ad un prezzo "umano".Avendo provato con mano anche la sorella Veritas, posso solo dire che questa Kunz non sfigura assolutamente, se non per i dettagli costruttivi e progettuali che caratterizzano la canadese (per la quale ergonomia e materiali sono al top). Qui abbiamo finiture un po' approssimative e manico e pomello in plastica, nell'ottica del contenimento dei costi, ma la suola è piana, il corpo solido e la lama adeguatamente spessa. Quindi, pochi fronzoli ma tutta la sostanza che serve.Dal punto di vista pratico, nell'uso quotidiano, le prestazioni sono ottime e senza compromessi: del resto, si tratta di uno strumento di costruzione molto semplice, e i risultati dipendono fondamentalmente da 1) preparazione della lama (che arriva quasi pronta, ma va rifinita e preparata adeguatamente stondandone gli spigoli laterali, affilandola a dovere e infine creando il ricciolo), 2) taratura accurata dell'inclinazione e della protusione del ferro, e - cosa più importante! - 3) competenza dell'utente.La finitura risultante è pari a quella fornita da una rasiera ben preparata, quindi a specchio, ma col vantaggio di non bruciarsi i polpastrelli e non spendere ore a sudare come matti.Per la mia personale esperienza, promossa a pieni voti.