mauney@ncsu.UUCP (Jon Mauney) (11/30/84)
I recently received my "Masterpiece Tools" catalog from a company called Mahogany Masterpieces. This catalog sells beautiful Japanese hand tools, including a $12,000 saw. I am not likely to buy this saw, nor even their very reasonably priced $300 or $500 planes. But I am interested in their "Special Value" planes, which cost $40 to $80. These planes feature a high-speed steel alloy blade instead of the traditional laminated blade, and of course the catalog describes them in glowing terms and claims they are better than the laminated planes sold by other importers. My question: does anyone have experience with these "Special Value" tools? If so, would you rate them as better, same, or worse than the Japanese laminated planes sold for about the same price by Garrett Wade and others? And while we are on the subject, do you think that fine Japanese planes really are better than fine western planes, such as the wooden-body Primus or Garrett Wade's new metal "Paragon" planes? Clearly there is more tradition, artistry, rare materials, and handwork in the really expensive Japanese planes, but how much difference shows in the cutting ability? -- _Doctor_ Jon Mauney, mcnc!ncsu!mauney \__Mu__/ North Carolina State University