Stanley Sweetheart low angle block plane review – How does it stack up to Veritas?
Stanley Sweetheart low angle block plane review – How does it stack up to Veritas?
I purchased new Stanley Sweetheart low angle block planes for my students. Decided to do a tool review on it to see how it compares to my Veritas low angle block plane. I’m trying to expose my students to hand tools like hand planes, chisels and hand saws as well as power tools. I want to be sure to get quality, working, and functional tools in their hands. I think these Staley’s will be a great edition. It’s not about what is the best hand plane ever but what is the best hand plane for the work you will be doing with it.
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I bought one of this stanley planes and the pin was crossthreaded or the threads had otherwise came damaged, not my doing I am very certain. This basically made that bolt unusable and I had to use a tap to clean out those threads and replace it with a steel bolt I found at the hardware store… Major disapointment. But that got worse because you will find with these that the level cap is some alluminum or other weak material and the wheel on the lever cap, I honestly can not trust that to not ride up and risk stripping that threading out too. In my opinion this is not a good tool and it just feels bad to use (the weight is good but the mecanicals of how it goes together feel wrong). Years later I had a chance to use a high end block plane when I took a coarse and I can say they are not comparable.
Excellent review. You hit all the key points and answered all the questions someone might have. This video makes the decision of which block plane to buy (i.e., high vs. lower price points). Very nice and thank you !!!
Nice to hear some schools still have woodshop. Such a huge mistake when most schools quit having shop class
Backlash on the adjustment screw is pretty bad, and it’s not caused by the thread, it’s mostly the play in the mechanism. Also, knurling is pretty useless, I had to chase it with a needle-file.
Who holds a block plane like that
I see people saying on the stanley site the brass screw breaks…
The adjuster and other fittings on the Stanley are brass.
Where is it made?
How long does the edge last on both? How well do they both do end grain? These are some of the things that set them apart, otherwise get a cheapo Chinese knock off for half the price and re-sharpen often.
The Stanley SW planes are a really good sweet spot for price/value. You are getting the heavier casting and thick blade performance of the Veritas and Lie Neilson planes for a much cheaper price. For anyone thinking of buying an old Stanley or even a cheap plane from a big box store, they are a good step up.
Thanks for the review, I am searching for a block plane at the moment actually!
I thank you for being interested in keeping the manual arts alive, but I strongly disagree with your accessment of this plane. Do your students a favour and do not consider the Stanley Sweetheart. I bought one and returned it as it was not only rubbish, it arrived damaged due to nothing more than the USPS not handling the box gently. Poorly designed and made of low quality materials with little or no attention to the manufacture and no possibility of being made to work properly . Look at Woodriver or even the Chinese Qushang brand also sold as Luban. I collect block planes and have around 60 from old pressed steel stanleys to the full range of Veritas and lie Nielsen block planes. These low cost Chinese planes are well made and well finished ,perform well and will provide the students with a positive experience of block planes at a price that is not going to break the bank. I have a couple of Luban planes that I cart around to woodworking groups with me so I will always have planes that are sharp and work well and that I am not worried about letting others use them. I do not take my Lie-Nielsen planes out of my workshop and I do not allow others to use them, not so with the luban planes. they are made of malleable iron so would survive a fall and only cost a fraction of the premium planes cost.All the best.
He’s too nice of a guy to be doing a product review/comparison.
At 5:40 you compare lever caps, one being machined and the other one just painted and gave it a thumbs down for the Stanley, yet at 7:00 you didn’t give a thumbs down to the Veritas when you discussed the machining of the frogs between the two. In my opinion, either the lever cap or the frog needs to be machined to provide a good bearing surface for the blade. That makes the two planes equal in that respect.
Trick the kids into restoring the beat up tools. Pretend they are antique.
I have the Stanley, I restore victorian houses, and use I almost daily. The threads are stripping out in the lever cap. I bought it because I dropped my old 60-1/2 actual sweetheart and cracked the side, the new one is a damn boat anchor. It’s ok, but that lever cap will be junk in les than a year, the tread length is too short, and good lord why isn’t the anchor screw got a slot in it? It’s also too short, and will strip. Also, the mouth adjustment slot was too short and I had to file almost 1/8” of the slot out.