My first plane is a LN no7. Not only a great tool but also a work of art.

to be honest as a maker i want to support other makers. the tools should be as beautiful as the work pieces.

hands down lie nielsen

Holy cow, this argument could rage on forever!  Something came to mind as I was reading the comments.  Years ago a fellow who was attempting to make me a machinist said, "Someone starting out could`t make parts on a $15,000 tool room lathe yet a good machinist can still make beautiful parts on a completely worn out lathe.  Over the years I`ve seen beautiful work that was done  with homemade tools as well as top of the line tools and bottom line is that I`ve never heard anyone ask as to the quality or cost of the tools used.

Good honest review, thank you. I use Lie Nielson planes and have found them to be far superior to any other planes on the market. The Wood River is an outstanding plane built by Quangsheng and marketed in the US as the Wood River brand. I will tell anyone, the Lie Nielson is worth the money and I'm a pro woodworker.  Buy the Wood River if you aren't a pro and save you some money. There's nothing wrong with a Wood River plane and can give stellar results also.

I don’t think that Lie-Nielsen cares about selling their tools to the masses. They care about selling the highest quality tools regardless of price. I own a WoodRiver 5-1/2 but totally respect Lie-Nielsen and their customers. I hope they never reduce their superior quality in order to gain market share. Great time to be alive.

For $200, I'll be happy to sharpen the blade, tighten the backlash on the depth adjustment, and add a few lead tire weights.  
Also, both planes will last for many decades.  Abuse kills planes, not normal use.  The LN is a great tool, but one that's not really worth it for the average hobby woodworker.  Paul Sellers advocates buying old Stanley planes.  That's what he used when he was a professional woodworker.  

I have the Stanley planes my grandfather used in the shop a hundred years ago. Try father made a living with those plane for 50 years, and now I use them. Somehow, 3 generations of woodworkers survived without a LN boutique hand plane. No question they are nice, but I also own the #3-4,and 5 wood river planes, and they give me exceptionally performance. I don't need to spend $400 plus on a boutique tool when I can buy one for a fraction of the price that works every bit as well. And, they will be passed on to future generations just like a LN can be.

Buy once cry once. The LN are such a treat to use and own. Once I bought my first LN I never looked back. LN all the way. Replace a blade on the WR with LN quality blade. The “great deal” goes away real quick.

Being as selfless. Heck yea I would have been selfless too!!! In all seriousness, you produce great videos with those tools. Videos a whole lot of use want and look forward to see. Keep it up, man. One of my favorite subscriptions

Can't wait to see the rematch on some kind of curse-grained, tropical concrete wood after you've worked your best hone on both. Love a good experiment. Thanks.

Shannon, you could use a bench hook attached to the bench vice instead of that "pesky" bench dog that you struggle with for no good reason so you don't have to shift the work piece every time. As for the planes, I have no doubt in my mind that  "you always get what you pay for" (in most cases, it's true), There is nothing wrong with the Woodriver plane but if you can afford the Lie Nielsen, by all means, BUY IT.
Thanks for the video.

Whoa! Shannon with power tools?!? I knew from listening to wood talk that you had a past… but I’ve not seen it on video before. lol

I have purchased old Stanleys (early 20th century) off of E By and restored them and they are wonderful tools when properly restored. On some of them I have adapted new, modern blades and on others the original blades were excellent after sharpening and cleaning up. I also have a few LN's and I love them as well. I would not put a lot of stock on peoples opinions who make money off of pushing a brand. Their opinions are bought and they will push their brand obviously. I have many of Rob Cosman's early dvd's and he originally was a LN guy and then switched. Don't know why. He is a great teacher and woodworker. One thing is for sure - if you are just starting out, you can buy an old Stanley and with a little research learn to restore it and learn to use it for not much money. Having a good tool is important but many, many people out there make wonderful wood work with incredibly basic tools that we would consider junk. We must each find our own path :) There is a lot of information and advice out there - find what makes sense to you and run with it ~

The WoodRiver is now $350!!

Just to point something new out. The Woodriver planes are now around 100$ less is all. Running at $269 vs $375, and WoodCraft won't have any in stock for 24-28 weeks. At least for the #5 1/2 plane. Lie Nielsen has many styles in stock. Good crafting to you all!

This video is old enough to make me wonder if this was before Rob Cosman got involved with the Woodriver hand planes. They took a significant jump in quality after he got his foot in the door. I believe he used to work for Lie Neilson. I have never been able to get good lateral adjustment on the iron being square to the bottom by using the lever. I found an upholstery tack hammer which works perfectly.

Thanks for the review, I watched it a year ago then just watched it again. I am sure we all have our favourites. All four of the brands (LN, Veritas, Stanley/Record and WR) have their attributes. I have used all four brands and once blades are lapped and prepared there is no difference on cut quality. What it really comes down to is how the plane feels in your hand as well as ease of use. The premium brands SHOULD feel better, but do they feel three times better? ($350 vs $119). The good thing about WR is the cost, but if cost is your main criteria, then I think restoring and updating a vintage Stanley Bedrock is more satisfying than promoting a plane which aids the Asian economy. I prefer to restore Stanley's first and I would think a lot of North Americans would too (I am Canadian by the way). I too like to support local economies and if I was in the U.S. I would be a strong LN advocate. I reach for my Veritas more than the others for two reasons, feel and Canadian pride.

Recent purchased a WoodRiver 51/2 jack plane.  The sole was out of square to the shoulder by .38 mm across the 72mm sole.  I was advised this is within tolerance (upto .45 mm).  My view is that the sole of a premium plane should be square to a tolerance beyond 1 thou (.04mm) in 70mm - ie less than can be measured using an engineers square and 1 thou feeler gauge

boy this is a tricky bridge for each woodworker to cross! I have a variety including some new veritas planes, my granddads old 4 stanley that i restored from rusted boat anchor and a couple wooden planes i built one krenov pin style and another ramp-wedge style. I have to say they are all comparable as long as theyre sharp! The costs were of course not in any way comparable.  so many ways to go on this..my set in the end looks like this...bevel up 4/ shoulder/block are new veritas..uncompromising build and perfect adjustment. jack, router and fore planes are wood...touchier bade adjustment but they work perfectly ( i was surprised how well), were easy to build and they glide better than metal planes and that makes the heavier work  easier. I still use my gramp's plane as a final or tricky grain smoother. I encourage anyone starting to keep their mind open to alternatives to filling the tool chest with brand new higher end planes. for work without need for constant fine adjustment wood is great. The better old stanleys can be restored to very great quality. The veritas/lie nielsons are nearly perfect...... but so is a new car!

Even Rob Cosman upgrades the blade in his WR planes , so add that to the price