Customer Reviews for Stanley Sweetheart No. 60 1/2, 6-1/2 in. Low Angle Block Plane

Great solid block plane with A2 steel blade. It is good you can still order replacement blades through other companies allowing you to have different bevels angles on each blade. It would be good if the replacement blades could be ordered directly from Home Depot for all Stanley blades they carry since this page shows the replacement blade part number. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Home Depot Customer Support trying to find companies that would supply replacement Stanley original blades. We found them due to Great Home Depot Customer Support but it would be good if you could just order replacement blades from this page. Some folks have commented that their brass cap screw broke and they can no longer use the plane. My solution was to get a 10-24 x 3/4" machine screw and #10 washer and use those to replace the brass screw. My brass screw is still fine but I thought I'd take some preemptive action using a steel screw instead. I do agree that the design of the brass cap screw could be done better (knurled part of the screw head could be larger making it easier to remove and the screw could be a bit longer), for now that is my only suggestion for improvement. I gave it an overall rating of good for the cap screw design but excellent for all other categories. See photo below.

Unlike the 9 1/2 this has an angle of 20 degrees in the bed of the blade this has an angle of 12 degrees which makes it ideal for many applications. Understanding all the components of the tool is very important, it has a good setting and easy to configure, good construction, I love bronze nuts. To clarify the top of the adjustment above is not plastic, it is made of good construction aluminum. Thanks Stanley.

Bad Quality Control: First of all, I really like the features of this block plane. It's based on an old high quality design. Unfortunately the quality of the machining of the body of the plane is not good. Out of the box the plane blade was very sharp, back was flat, bevel was good, even a microbevel. I couldn't shave with it, but it was good for factory sharpening. I shot a few cuts and noted that all the material was coming from the left side of the blade, None from the right. I backed off the little set screw and moved the lateral adjuster over to the left. I got a bit more bite on the right middle but none of the right. I then moved the adjuster all the way over to the left. (Meaning the blade was way out on the right) It was still cutting just right of middle and to the left only. Depth adjustment only made the curls bigger. I took it apart and checked everything. Finally I took off the front adjustable bed plate and looked down into the frog area. With my "not great" old eyes, I could see that the frog area was not parallel to the bed. I measured it and it is 0.020" (20 thousands of a inch) off from one side to the other. I worked in the world of precision metal machining and 20 thousands is NOT precision. A half way good mill will easily get within 0.0005". So who ever set this body up for machining really screwed it up. Why didn't quality control catch this. Don't they even do a test run. (Obviously not). I had my hopes up that Stanley really could build a reasonable quality product, So I'm done with Stanley planes. See pic.

It was not easy to loose the cap screw and finally the screw was bended and damaged. The screw was made of copper and has only a few thread to support the force. It is too soft compared to the old version of planes. Now I do not know where to get an new screw to replace the damaged one.

Block Plane I received was poorly finished at the throat opening. After flattening the blade, which required very little work, I noticed there were gaps along the width of the blade where there is no blade contact at the throat opening causing chatter. Stanley's supposed fix was to send me a replacement blade. I refused. The unit will be returned for a refund. Another sad Stanley product story unfortunately

The lever cap screw threads are fouled (screw and body) and the screw itself is impossible to turn for those who can't grab the ribbed screw as the cap is elevated such that one can't get a grip on the screw. Why this screw wasn't slotted for screwdriver is the question and the suggestion. But now I have a plane where the screw is fouled and the threads our fouled too. This should be covered under warranty from what I can tell...

Got this plane as gift and the threads in the lever cap stripped out right away. Incredibly soft threads and not enough of threads in the socket to properly adjust it. Has been a disappointment considering Stanley’s Sweetheart reputation.

Blade not square, blade bed skewed, lock is bad..

High quality with precision blade control. Good purchase.

I would not recommend this product. It’s not the same Stanley Low Angle plane that I’ve used for almost 50 years. The machining is terrible. The sliding plate rocks on the body of the plane, rendering it useless

I’ve used this plane for a while. I’ve found that the brass iron plane “tightener” strips out. I can still use it, but will have to replace it. It appears that the material the plane is made from is less than premium.

Regrettably, the build quality of the plane was disappointing and because of this adjusting the plane to perform even marginally well was not possible. I returned it (easy return with Home Depot as always) and replaced it with a Lie Nielsen.

Great plane use it everyday as a professional installer

Properly set up, and honed, this plane compares well to a Lie-Nielsen 102 which I also use for trimming end grain, and chamfering edges. The iron stays sharp fairly well even in hardwoods, and a quick touch-up of a micro bevel brings it back. It may need honing a bit more often than the L-N, but it's not unreasonable. The only thing I don't like, is the adjustment mechanism for the mouth. It is not smooth. It isn't a big deal, and I have in mind to try a file on the adjustment lever. Not sure how useful the set screw is for locking the lateral position of the iron, I've tried it a few times, but my method of work is to adjust the plane as I use it, looking at the shavings it makes. I've not had any issues with the threaded adjusters at this point (several months of use), but I learned a long time ago not to tighten anything until the threads emit smoke. You might think that planes need a lot of tension on the adjusters and cap, but it's not so.

I keep my low angle block plane handy when I need to plane some end grand or high spots quickly it is always accurate and easy to use. Iron stays sharp.

The mouth of the plane is not flat

The blade could not be lowered below the base. Perhaps it was shipped with the wrong blade. No response from Stanley. This seems to be a manufacturing issue based on other reviews.

It's a nice peice of equipment. I need to learn how to set it up better. But, I'm learning. The biggest complaint that I have is that you can't change the blade depth without loosening the lateral adjustment set screw. This is very inconvenient and I don't really think that it was designed this way.

Like others have reported, you have to do some maintenance before using it. The base was almost flat, so I just did some sanding and polishing. First I tightened the adjusting screws to the level I would use in my garage. The tension will have an effect on shaping the base. I used some 400 grit sandpaper glued to a slab of granite. I finished with 1,000 and 2,000 grit and then some carnuba wax. The blade came pretty sharp with a straight 25° angle bevel. After reading about it on line, I ground and honed just the end of the bevel to a 30° angle. And I felt it was good to use. I am new to using planers and was pleased with the way it worked.

The frog was not machined parallel, and cause the blade to be skewed from the mouth opening in order to have even shavings. I had to use aluminum tape to shim the frog to bring it back to square blade. Now it works. The A2 blade is sharp and remains sharp for a long time.

Even with the lever cap wheel completely open, I couldn’t loosen the screw securing the cap/blade to the body with my fingers (no screw slot). Took it back.