Cowryman Router Plane Handheld Woodworking Tool

This is solid and a great buy at the price. Works great. Router planes are very simple, so it just needs to be flat (it is) and hold the blade securely (it does). The rest of the performance is from how sharp you keep it and how you use it.I think the advancement screw is solid enough, and it is made from common parts you can replace if you are at all handy. Everything is secure and takes force pretty well.One advantage to this model is that you can use square stock to make custom width cutters by cutting a notch for the advancing screw--very easy and saves money. You can use something like HSS this way if you desired. Also the straight square cutter stock makes this very straightforward to sharpen, easier than bent designs. So a good choice for beginners. Simple all around, which is a plus.Router planes are best for cutting slots for shelves or rabbets for boxes/cases. Very good for small lap-type joints as well. If you are good with a chisel you can reserve it for the finishing cuts. I will keep using this model for a while and given the simplicity of this kind of tool, I wonder if I'll ever really need to upgrade.

I was looking for something to help speed up the "grounding " step of my panel relief carvings. Looked at several makes and models of hand routers and settled on the .003. Out of the box it performed like a througbred. After most of the background wood has been removed the .003 was used to level and clean the areas up. It performed beautifully. Cutting tissue thin curly chips. It cut with and against grain, also cross grain very well, without need for sanding. Cuts were made at 3/8inch depths without chatter or floating of the tool. The total depth of the 8mm blade could be extended to 1inch if needed. Very well engineered and constructed and worth the price. This tool is going to get alot of enjoyable work in the future. Unless abused, this is a generations, hand-me-down tool.

I am not enough of a woodworker to spend over $150 on a premium brand router plane and this tool gets the job done... for the most part. It is rather small, so if you are routing out an area more than a couple of inches wide in any direction you will have trouble keeping the sole registered firmly on the work.But MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, the sole is not stainless steel... I believe it is aluminum. This is a problem because it leaves dark smudges on the surfaces around the cutting area. I suspect that even if you polish the sole it would still be an issue, since aluminum will oxidize so quickly. The best solution (apart from fabricating a replacement sole from iron or steel) would probably be to attach a thin hardwood sole to the existing base. There are countersunk holes on the bottom of the base to attach the handles which could be used for this, or you could drill new ones. This would also allow for a wider sole, making the plane easier to use for routing out larger areas.One last thing: The thumbscrew to lock the blade in place is not great, very difficult to get it as tight as it needs to be. Luckily the manufacturer is aware of this issue and now ships a replacement screw with a locking lever. The lever has a button on it so once it is tight it can be swung around to whatever angle you like.

As a limited use tool this plane is very good. I sharpened it with a micro-bevel, enhancing its performance.

I bought this little guy years ago and it does not disappoint. Easy to do precise depth adjustments, cuts well, joy to use. It may not have the elite status of a veritas or lie neilson but it also doesn't have their price tag either. Excellent value. I'd recommend it to anyone.

If you think you're going to simply drag this across the workpiece and get a perfect dado slot, well, no. But... if you mark the sides of the slot with a wheel gauge, and chisel a beginning knife edge on the slot, then you can go to work. Very gently follow the groove and GRADUALLY LOWER THE DEPTH, then you can get a nice result. I look at this as more of a cleanup tool than a slot-maker. It's well made and sturdy. I make add a larger base to the bottom for stability, but highly recommend.

This is the first router plane I've ever owned (or used), and I love it!!!It came out of the box super sharp and ready to go! Even without any experience using a routing plane, I was able to figure it out- it's a pretty simple device.I recommend using the "alternative" tightening screw provided- it gives a more ergonomic feel to tightening the blade.I only have a few small complaints:First, the depth screw has no markings on it- it's hard to tell how deep you are cutting. This seems to be common in router planes, though. I just got around this by marking the blade with a marker!Second, the hole around the blade is a little larger that I'd like- it makes it easy to accidentally get the plane out of flatness near the edges of the board. (i.e., I was frequently attacking the board at an upward angle, and exiting the board at a downward angle, until I realized what was happening).But seriously, the complaints are minor- I really like this tool! I look forward to cutting some quick and consistent rabbets and dados with it!See pictures of my first "messing around" cuts with the router.