ECE #711 Primus Improved Smoothing Plane

This is my third smoothing plane, and by far the best. In comparison to metal planes, adjustment is a snap, basically just one knob. It glides over hardwoods (maple and beech, so far) taking paper thin shaving. The blade comes sharp enough to use, though additional honing is a good idea. My only complaint is that the blade seems to slip back into the body with use, causing me to have to reset the cut depth again. That might be user error though. Pricey, but worth it, especially if you are a novice and want to spend your time on wood working, not figuring out how to adjust a regular metal bench plane. Looks really nice, too.

I expected this plane to be a quality unit and when it arrived, I was not surprised. Although I haven't used it as yet, it has a great feel in the hand, in fact the ergonomics are excellent. The weight is good and the blade very sharp, beware! I would recommend this smoothing plane to anyone looking for a reasonably priced plane or some one interested in having a wooden plane as opposed to a metal plane. Delivery was speedy and the plane packaged well. Very happy with the purchase.

Severely underrated plane and design: A joy to adjust and use! I remember when Peck Tools used to sell out of his trunk to Bay Area shops (I've worked at several union, and non-union cabinet shops) . . . Thank gawd for the internet!

The media blitzkreig of Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley, Wood River and Bridge-City toolworks has completely overshadowed these superb, High-performance German E.C.E. planes. Don't get me wrong! I have planes from all of those makers and they are great, but there are numerous reasons ( besides value) that you should consider with wooden planes. Wooden planes are lighter than metal planes, won't rust and are easier to adjust. They produce a quality surface as good or better than those fancy boutique planes. In fact, they perform as well or better than classic infill planes at a fraction of the price. They won't shatter if dropped, are easy to maintain or repair. The only "maintenance" required is an occasional waxing. Even if you drop the plane and wreck the sole, it is MUCH easier to sand the sole true when the plane is WOOD, rather than fettling a metal sole. If you carry a portable tool kit, then you should definitely consider wooden planes just to reduce weight. The Primus planes are the best commercial wooden planes I have used. Every one is consistently manufactured and comes ready-to-use. Thanks to the EURO handle design, these are easy to use when PUSHING or PULLING. I have numerous japanese planes too and as such, got accustomed to pulling those planes for many applications. But I still prefer the Western style depth adjustments for speed and instant-precision. That's another reason I LOVE the ECE planes. If you are an expert sharpener, you can improve performance a few degrees for special applications... But if you want an easy-to-use, ready-to-go smoother at a fair price, I know of no better choice. Modern boutique plane makers have sold the boutique-tool customer on thicker blades and chip-breakers. Their claim is that thicker blades and chip-breakers reduce chatter. Well, that's true, but it is not a factor in these ECE Primus planes because the supporting system is SO rigid. If you really want a good replacement blade, E.C. Emerich makes the SUPERB HSS blades. Those are made of High Speed Steel; the type that is usually used for cutting metal. As such, the steel is VERY hard and keeps an edge a LONG time. So the advantage is longer-lasting edges, which is great for working dense hardwoods or figured woods. The disadvantage is HSS steel requires a little more work to sharpen. When I last checked the HOCK website, they too had fine replacement-blades for these planes. HOCK blades are superb and they are thicker, if that's what you want. The advantage to HOCK blades is they are easier to sharpen and will take the finest edge possible thanks to the super-fine grain structure of their carefully forged blades. In my experience, the small extra advantages of those replacement blades is not worth it in these particular planes. YES, HOCK blades are DEFINITELY worth it if you are upgrading an older Stanley or Record! But with these, the included blade E.C.E gives you is already very good. Their fine German steel (or Swiss steel) has the right balance between easy sharpen-ability, fine grain-structure and long-wearing edges. These wooden planes resist chatter naturally since wood compresses slightly and absorbs vibration. The ECE blade-holder is SO robust, I have NEVER experienced any chatter, even when taking thick cuts in curly Maple. While it is true that heavier metal planes seem to push through some tough cuts because of shear mass & inertia, I have found that lighter-weight wooden planes are less fatiguing to use when you have a LOT of planing to do. A unique feature of the PRIMUS line is ZERO BACKLASH. That's a HUGE advantage! The clever patented mechanism maintains spring tension or pressure on the depth-adjustment screw so there is no backlash. That means you can instantly move deeper OR shallower without tedious over-spin. You can move the blade forward or backward any distance and it STAYS THERE. There is NO OTHER plane in existence ( that I know) which has this feature. One caveat... You can get this tool for Twenty-Five dollars less at Traditional Woodworker.com and there is no shipping charge on orders over seventy-five bucks. Depending on how fast you want it, that could save you an additional ten to thirty. Adria saws sells the same plane for one-ninety-five! UPDATE 2014---PLEASE NOTICE: Thanks to an observant reader, we note that prices have changed since I wrote this review. Read the comments for more info. As it stands now ( in 2014) this may be one of the lower prices you'll find! It could be that the seller has noticed this review and adjusted his prices. Or he could have old stock and is selling at a discount because he bought at the old price. Either way, this now looks like a good deal!

This plane took a long time for me to figure out. After a long time I re-checked the flatness of the sole, and from there it's been gravy. So, here's the deal: The iron gets backward tension from a spring in the body and held forward by the depth-adjustment knob. Because the knob is a sturdy screw, the iron won't move backward during the cut; however, when it's backed off a little, the spring pulls the iron back with it. The result is that the iron can be moved back without needing to account for backlash. For emphasis: If you're planing off 0.004" and you want to lighten the cut just a little, you only have to give the knob a slight counter-clockwise turn. Unlike the usual planes, you don't have to take up the slack in the screw threads, move the iron back, reverse the the screw to take up the slack, and then do it all over again until you've got it right. This mechanism lets you make even the tiniest adjustments in either direction with just a slight turn of the knob. And it smells great with that sole. The down side is that learning to remove the iron is tricky. It's easy in theory, but takes practice. FYI -- This wasn't available on Amazon when I was shopping, so that's why I'm not identified as a verified purchaser of this item.