Few weeks ago I found a Bailey 5 1/4 hand plane from Stormville flea market. It was in decent shape and the craftsmanship in me couldn’t resist not to bring it home.
Something fascinating about this junior jack plane compares to regular Jack. Regardless what the original intention it had to make such a in between odd shape like this, smaller than Jack No.5 and longer than Smoother No.4, for some reasons it feels really good and fun using it.
This old plane I picked up came with the wrong plane iron. It was paired with a Sargent blade and chip breaker. Sargent chip breaker adjusting slot is drilled higher than normal Stanley, causing it unusable for this Bailey. I was in the market for a plane iron.
Found a newcomer in the market who makes elite hand planes and irons. It is a Chinese manufacturer, unlike most Chinese manufacturers, they are selling at prices higher than some of the premium blades I have known. It is one of the most beautiful made plane irons I have seen to date:
https://zenwutoolworks.com/products/plane-blade-with-chipbreaker
Calling them sexy tools are not over exaggerating. I decided to test them out, knowing nothing about their metallurgy, quality and durability to hold an edge or found much of any review.
It arrived in a well packaged box, neatly packed and it just exclaimed with the sound of quality
Fitted on a restored and tuned up Bailey 5 1/4, would not go into detail of restoring the plane, there are tons of youtube videos on this. The mouth was too narrow to fit this unusually thick plane iron, some surgery had to be made to file the opening larger. Once the iron was protruding smoothly, the operation was nothing but phenomenon.
With the first shaving, I am impressed. Out of the box the iron is very well grounded, flat and sharp but not receipt paper cut sharp, a little more honing and it is amazing. It planes thin shaving that competes a well tuned Japanese wood plane.
I have been using Hock blades for a long time, to where I preferred its O1 more than PMV11 or A2. This ZW-V* laminated steel does do wonder and another solid capable competitor to the many available selections in a niche market for plane enthusiasts like myself. Tools by Wright makes a very user-friendly comparison in his video: https://youtu.be/kKn5_WNv4DI?si=QhcASV8hrgm-hJ0e
Bailey 5 1/4, after meeting Zen Wu laminated plane iron, currently is one of my favorite go-to plane
It comes with a little pendent too which I think is a very good gesture, lights my heart up
Wood Analog 