Quangsheng No. 5-1/2 Bedrock Pattern Jack Plane Reviews

5 Rating 15 Reviews

The Quangsheng No. 5½ Plane is a popular choice with students and beginners. It is comfortable, well balanced and if set up carefully makes a reasonable compromise if you can't have dedicated try and smoothing planes.
In many ways it is better to think of the 5½ as a short try plane or panel plane, rather than a broad jack plane. It takes a broad, shallow shaving, so if you work with reasonably straight or pre-machined material it will deal with small corrections on wide surfaces very efficiently.
Conversely, if you work with timber that starts off like a propeller blade, the narrower No.5 honed with a steep camber and used across the grain (the traditional function of a jack plane) might be more suitable.

Specifications:
Precision ground, unbreakable CR40 alloy steel casting.
Engineered lateral adjuster with guide bearing and brass tab.
Low profile cap iron.
Brushed finish stainless steel lever cap.
Cherry wood handles.
Conforms to British Standard.
Cutting iron: ⅛" (3mm) thick 2⅜" (60.3mm)
Cutting iron made from T10 carbon steel hardened to RC63.
Sole Dimensions: 380mm x 73mm.
Please note that we are unable to ship Quangsheng products to North America due to retail exclusivity restrictions.

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“I've had this for a couple of weeks now and went to Workshop Heaven to have a proper feel before buying, it took all of two minutes for me to decide to get it. As a joiner of over 40 years experience I've handled a lot of different planes and this immediately felt right, the weight and balance are just perfect for me. I have a couple of LN planes., a jack and a smoother and this is easily comparable in quality at half the price - does make you wonder! I am getting a better finish off this than my LN. Matt kindly offered to sharpen it for me and that took just a couple of minutes using scary sharpening, no additional fettling was required. This is currently my go to plane, I just love it, I've even been using it to clean up dovetails it's that easy to use, also great on my shooting board. If you're in the market for a new plane then I'd highly recommend checking all the planes in the Quangsheng range. I also have a low angle jack and a couple of block planes all terrific to use.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Disclaimer, I’ve only just got home with the plane, so haven’t used it since a full length shaving in the shop. But I wanted to review immediately just to say how my experience today in the store was unbelievable! I learnt so much, made to feel so welcome and had all my daft questions answered with a smile and some brilliant advice. I cannot thank the team enough. Plane is beautifully made.....and I’ll update after some use!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Have been agonising over Quangsheng, Wood River and Clifton for my 5 1/2 finally decided on Quangsheng when the Wood River went on long lead delivery from the factory. The plane arrived next day and following a quick degrease and sharpen with Veritas honing guides and 3M abrasives I set it to work. Produced a very fine finish on everything it touched from Scots Pine to Oak and Purpleheart. Great value quality item.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Sole is flat (veritas straight edge flat), sides are flat and square to sole. Had a slight issue with the machining on the chip breaker but am assured a replacement is in its way. Ok, the paint isnt the best and there are a couple of imperfections on the top of the casting but really for the money, its spot on. Will be buying more.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“These Quangsheng planes from Workshop Heaven are excellent quality and great value for money. Buy them here as others claiming to be from the same factory just won't have the same quality control. We have a number of these planes both in our school and also in our fine furniture workshop.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 10 years ago

“Excellent at correcting pre-machined timber. The length is really good for covering the majority of timber components and the wider sole makes it easier to judge the angle the plane is being held at. The quality and ease of set up and adjustment of the plane makes it a pleasure to use.”