Negative Positive
Title: Ain't what they used to be
Review: I have a real problem with the overall machining on this. The sides and bottom are very roughly machined. The sole is so far from being flat - I have spent a couple hours lapping the bottom and I still haven't gotten to the lowest depressions. This makes me wonder if the sole will be 90 degrees to the sides when I'm done. Stanley seems to be trying to compete with the (junky)l ow-price Chinese and Indian planes, rather than be a mid-price alternative to the $250+ Lie-Nielsens and Veritas. I would have preferred to pay in the $80-100 range for a decent plane than $40 for this beast. I've since gotten a few old Stanley planes at the internet auction site, and they have been of much better quality and needed less tuning than this. And that's all I have to say about that.
Is the review positive or negative? 