Actually it's the 220H.

The whole point is this. Some people cannot afford a $200 plane, let
alone a $100 plane. If that's the case, by a bargain plane and then
learn to make it work. Aquire the skills, and then if warranted and
you really want to keep woodworking, then look at investing in a good
plane.

Is it a perfectly fine wood working plane, that's as good as any
other.? No. I'd love to be able to own a couple of nice planes.
But it's more than adequate for the projects I do.

Regardless of what level of quality you purchase, your still going to
have to learn to give it (The Plane) some TLC. Based upon
everything I have read, and my limited experience, this is the most
important part of the equation.

What I have learned making this one work - will come in handy when I
do purchase a better quality plane.

PM




On Wed, 4 Aug 2004 20:56:46 -0700, "AArDvarK"
wrote:


My name is Patrick. That's the icky version of Patriarch.
I haven't bought a hand plane in 3 months. But even then it was only
the $29 foot print, that I could afford. And then after 3.0 hrs
worth of flattening the sole, flattening the iron. Changing the
bevel angle and then some serious honing. I could actually plane oak
and it did a pretty decent job. It did a god job of smoothing the
face and edge. It even did a good job of planing end grain.
Someday the hair will grow back on my arm, and the nicks on my fingers
will eventually heal. Ya know - testing...
I think the reason it started out as a crappy plane, had something to
do with the 25 degree bed angle, compounded with the 25 and 30 degree
bevels. "Try pushing that sucker on oak"... I went with a
single bevel about 18 to 20 degrees. Then put a mirror surface on
both sides of the iron. Goes through oak quite easily.
Oh well, back to the Lee Valley Catalogue and some dreaming....
Maybe someday "assuming I stop buying wood" I'll be able to afford a
real plane. Preferably one that's made by Hawaiian Airlines and
takes me to the Big Island for the rest of my life.


So you bought the Footprint H4 for $29 and completely tuned it "out the bazoo"
and it is now a perfectly fine working plane, as good as any other no matter what
brand, except maybe the iron not being a Hock A2... that teaches me something
about the cost of things and their necessity. Do a little studying on tuning, work
hard doing it and we'll be just as good. It is not so much the tool as it is the crafts-
manship. I suspected as much, and frankly, you get more of my respect.

Alex