I talked them down to $20. Just because I love a bargain.
EDIT: at $48, I don’t know that I would have bought it. I probably would have waited for one of the other brands. However, being German, this also spoke to me. I have a lot of German tools. Some pre-war, some post. Some made when Germany was divided. They make good tools — not like good old American tools, but like American tools, the older the better.
EDIT2: Except I needed it and didn’t know when another one was going to come around, and other brands charge a lot more for one of these new. So I thought I would ask if they could bargain with me. I was glad that I asked because we immediately agreed on $20, no problems.
New in box. I doubt it’s ever been used. If it has, it was used lightly.
You can buy these new between $70 and $89, because Kunz still makes/sells them. Except this one is vintage. Easy to tell because it is nickel plated and has thumb screws.
Compared to the one you can buy today which comes in Kunz-green and has no thumb screws
It needed cleaning and oiling. There was a little surface rust and the plating looks to be in excellent condition
I sharpened the blades while I had it apart. A few passes on 325 DMT diamond finished up on 600. I will give it a proper honing, but for now I just needed to get the backs flat and knock off a massive bur on the left iron.
A side rabbet plane is a useful plane. I am sure someone here will agree with me.
Other makers of side rabbet planes include Stanley, Wood River, Veritas, and Lie Nielsen.
Didn’t know Kunz made one. It saves me from having to buy one of the others.
I can immediately see how the tool is useful in cabinet building — oh, and luck would have it that I just happen to be building a cabinet, with drawers, using only hand tools.
If the groove for a panel on the bottom of a drawer is too tight after cutting the groove, I can widen it with this tool quickly and efficiently.
The relatively small irons proved to be very fast to sharpen, which makes it worthwhile to set the thing up to have it ready. Might as well go ahead and cut the groove too narrow on purpose and widen it to fit. We’ll see what happens when it comes time to do the tongue and groove joinery etc.
Pretty sure it will prove useful. I tend to use what is on-hand and setup for work. What other method would you suggest to relieve a tight dado/groove? Router plane? I haven’t got one of those.
it is if you need or use it ? im just saying, do you need or will you ever use it ? dev just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's cheap if you have no use for it ? so you didn't answer my question 😁
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
I both need it and will use it. Why else would I have bought it?
Now, whether it proves useful is another story.
Take for example my beloved Veritas right-angle edge plane. I needed it, pulled it out to used it, and it failed me. First time a Veritas prod… yes, first time one their products has ever failed me.
I was making a fence upgrade for the Stanley 45 and Record 405 planes. Wanted to make sure it was square on all sides; it was out on one side. Pulled this plane out, which I had not used, but needed for situations like this. It failed me because with each swipe instead of getting better, it got worse.
I took a square to its sole and it was out. A right-angle plane with a 90.5 degree angle. How do I know it was out by 0.5 degrees?
Because at that very moment I had a fit and pulled out every single right-angle measuring and angle finding device in my arsenal and we had ourselves a trust re-establishing exercise. We started with Starrett, moved to Bridge City, then other trustworthy brands and ultimately concluded that the TayTools square that I used to check the Veritas plane was correct, and the other tools also confirmed that the Veritas was out.
Now, if this Kunz is made well enough (and I don’t see why not), it should be able to perform the job that I mean to ask of it. Which is pretty simple …
Provide a thin skate to ride in the bottom of a groove or dado to present a cutter to the wall of that groove or dado to either smooth out said wall or move said wall to widen the groove or dado.
Kind of hard to see it failing to do the job that I bought it for. Unlike the Veritas which will somehow have to be brought square or sent back to the company.
I agree with the "need" versus "want" theory a bit, but when it's pocket change, why not? If anything, you are setting up for a redneck IRA and at a minimum you have the right tool for the job at hand, even if that job only comes along very rarely. Problem is remembering you have it 🤔
You can rightly call this a bargain. I would like to have one myself. But for the little use I find the price here in the EU too high. Below are two links that will make you even happier regarding your purchase.
