Customer Reviews
Good product for the money 
2008-02-29
This is a Stanley, not a Lie-Nielsen. I was willing to save the $250 difference and work with the Stanley and I'm happy with the results. Overall it is a good tool and I would recommend it heartily.
Positive aspects: The plane has a good working weight and all of the adjustments work smoothly enabling fine changes in the cut. It does a great job on end grain cuts and small finish or trim work. The construction is generally sound and it is a comfortable tool to use. It is well put together and I am satisfied with my purchase.
Negative aspects: The sole and the cutting iron are not flat out of the box. You will need to spend time lapping the sole and iron in order to get satisfactory results. If you are interested, I put the process that I used below. Otherwise you can find a wealth of information on the internet to help you tune your plane.
After lapping (I use a 12"x24"x1/4" piece of glass as a lap board and adhere the sandpaper with spray-on adhesive) the sole to a mirror finish and waxing it with turtle wax (any automotive wax will work), I lapped the cutting iron as well (same process moving from 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1800 and finally to 2000 grit sand paper) and then used water stones to sharpen the iron to a fine edge. Please note that you can also use the sandpaper method to sharpen the iron and it will yield similar results.
got what I paid for 2007-06-01
This is a decent lo-pro for the money (considering what you would pay for a lie-neilson and the likes)and the fact it's manufactured in England. You will have to tune this lil guy to a fair amount if your using it for furniture work or other than general purpose.The only drawback I see is the minimal amount of contact there is between the blade and the tang that keeps it in place. The upside is it comes with its own lil carrying case/velcro to put on yer belt while working which is a pretty nice perc as well.
Didn't expect much, pleasantly surprised 
2007-05-31
I give five stars based on the cost and quality in relation to it. After reading many of the reviews, I fully expected to sharpen the blade first, but didn't have to. Granted, it would be better and I'll do it, but it came perfectly cabable out of the box. I also found the metal fit of the mouth much better than I expected. No, it's not a Lie or Lee Valley, but I paid only $34 and it works perfectly and it's all metal. In fact, just for fun, I ran it over a one inch thick piece of walnut after my long jack plane and got one nice long shaving time after time. Can't complain a bit.
Edit 9/4/07: I finally took it apart and sharpened the blade by flattening the bacak and honing the bevel. After a few strokes of fine tuning on a water stone, I put it back in the plane and it will give me a nice long clean shave as far as I want to push it. Couldn't be happier with this plane.
Excellent Plane for the money 2007-04-14
I purchase this Stanley plane to do edging and fitament work on a home remodeling project. After taking a few minutes to setup the plane I preceeded to plane all the corner joints and additional pieces of T-111, plywood, studs and finishing pine I cut. I am extremely pleased with the quality, size and perfromance of this plane.
Good value for money. 2006-11-07
Ok, this is no Lee Valley, Lie Neilsen plane etc, and the title marks it as contractor grade anyway (not fine cabinetmaker) so I wasn't expecting a perfect tool. out of the box the product seems strong and quite well made. The sole is as flat as it needs to be for the type of work the block plane is used for. All adjustment features seem to work well, although a little stiff out of the box until you use them a little more, then they start to free up a little and are easier to adjust etc.
The blade itself is ground at 25 degrees and mine actually had a bit of a ding in it out of the box, however, the manual states the blade should be honed to 30 degrees anyway, so after about 20 minutes with a diamond sharpening stone and plane blade sharpening jig, I was able to remove the ding at 25 degrees and then hone a nice sharp edge at 30 degrees. A few quick tests of the product and it worked great.
The secret is in the sharpness of the blade. Hone a very sharp edge on this block plane's blade and it will work just as well as a block plane costing 10x as much. The block plane makes a great addition to any contractors/carpenters kit bag, or even for the fine woodworker too as long as you are prepared to spend that 20-30 minutes tuning it up to shape straight from the box.
good product 2008-06-16
good quality. this plane is perfect for shaving down the tops of doors that are sticking.
Great wood plane 2008-05-27
fantastic quality wood plane. Don't buy a cheap one. You will regret it and it will cost you in labor hours later.
A very good value for the money. 2008-05-23
This plane is a very good value for the money. It is NOT a hand-crafted, artisan-quality plane, like a Lie-Nielsen, but, then again, it doesn't cost a couple of hundred dollars, either. In my view, I got a lot for the money I spent on it.
Many of the other reviews say that you'll need to do considerable tuning work before it can be used. That wasn't my experience. I found it to be fully functional right out of the package. All I had to do was fiddle with the adjustments a little to correct the jostling it got in shipping, and it worked very well.
I did take it apart and tune the blade by honing the bevel and flattening the back. It gives me a very long, clean shaving on most woods, but, in reality, it did almost as well before the tuning.
In summary, I think I got all that I paid for-- and a lot more. I can't complain a bit. I'm happy I bought it, and I'd do so again without hesitation.
Junk 
2008-05-19
One of the reviewer said, "You get what you pay for". In this case I am sure you don't even get that. Stamped parts, and very soft metal make this plane useless junk. After more than an hour of tuning and sharpening, the blade edge just folded over on soft fir end grain. Take some time to find an old plane at a yard sale. I gave it one star because the Amazon rating system requires at least that.
Stanley 12-960 low angle plane 2008-05-17
I am not giving my age away but some of the tools I have purchased new and still use are now listed as antiques. I receiently purchased a low angle Stanley block plane to replace one that disappeared from my shop. I am not sure what country Stanley of England is importing them from but the quality is not the same as the original Stanley tools. The sole looks like it was hand ground with a 30 grit belt sander and the low quality steel blade was not ground at 20 degrees. The adjusting levers are made of poor fitting soft stamped metal. But the shiny brass colored knobs look good.
