WoodRiver No. 5-1/2 Jack Plane with Preparation Service

I received the hand plane that had a tote damage. After notifying the customer service, the tote was promptly replaced.
This is now my jack of all trade hand plane.

I've been following Rob's channel for awhile now and decided it was time to add a larger plane to my shop. All I had was an old #4 Record plane which works fine, but is not of the same quality as modern planes and also too small for a lot of planing tasks. Based on Rob's recommendation, I decided a #5 1/2 was the best choice.

I went back and forth between the Veritas and Woodriver planes. I like to support Canadian companies so I buy a lot of Veritas products. But after the pandemic they have been very slow to ramp up production so they have no stock until June. I figured if the WR is good enough for Rob, it is definitely good enough for me. I received my new plane yesterday and it is exactly as Rob describes it. Their preparation service is top notch as the plane was ready to go right out of the box. The sole is flat, sides are perfectly square to the sole and the machined finish is excellent. A few small flaws in the casting on top, but purely cosmetic. All of the surfaces that matter are perfect. I also added the star adjuster (which is brilliant) as well as the grip for shooting plane use. Extremely happy with the product and the service.

Several months ago I watched Rob sharpen a plane. The only plane I had was an old no-name block plane that would not cut cottage cheese when I found it. After giving it a treatment I could get beautiful curls every time. That led me to the conclusion that, if a block plane can be that good a tool, a bigger plane must be much better. After watching and reading reviews of various makes and models I decided to trust Rob's advice that a #5-1/2 jack would be a great plane to start with. I got it last week - love the little demo shaving! - and set to work to see if it was as good as advertised. I had a glued up panel for a cabinet top that had slipped a bit in the clamps. What better start than to jump right in and flatten it? After a few runs over a piece of scrap to dial in the thickness I was looking for I set to work on the panel. Did I say work? It was pure pleasure watching the long curls flow off onto the bench and floor. Before I knew it the top was dead flat and almost glassy smooth. I am a very happy customer. (The picture is of the first few heavy passes. The battery died before I could shoot the later fine ones - but they were beautiful.)

If you’re going to get one plane to start hand tool woodworking. This is it. Great quality. Thanks!

The plane arrived with the sides in quite poor condition. Instead of the nice surface ground finish shown in the photo, the sides were Blanchard ground and done so to a very poor standard. A very coarse finish resulted and of course being blanchard ground, the grinding marks were perpendicular to the direction of travel. They were bad enough that they acted like a rasp on my shooting board and immediately started abrading lots of material off the base of the shooting board.

I sent it back and they were good about a refund, but I wouldn't buy another one. What I received was NOT what was shown in the photos or videos.