Bench Dog® No. 4 Smoothing Plane - Premium Woodworking Hand Tool for Cabinet Making & Furniture Restoration - Perfect for Smoothing Wood Surfaces & Edge Trimming

Just got it in today and I'm already pulling nice shavings with it.How it arrived: It came in an over pack brown box. The inner black box shown in the item picture was larger than I expected. It also had a torn corner. You can see in the pictures how it was packed. I think it could have done with a bit more wrapping for $150. As a result it got a knick in the edge of the iron. It had knicks in the knob. Also the tote was a little loose. It only took a1/8 turn to tighten. This may be due to the dry climate here as it did ship from Minnesota. The sole is quite flat against a straight edge and the adjustment knob is large and has no slop (the old hf plane would do a half turn before changing anything).Set up:As you can see in the pictures, using 1000 grit to hone the flat side of the iron didn't take long to get about half the grinding marks down to a tolerable point. I hones that side for about 20 minutes checking frequently to ensure I was applying even pressure. I spent probably another 20 on the bevel and still haven't quite eliminated the knick in the blade. It assembled very smoothly.Overall:It's a lot more plane than the harbor freight "smoothing" plane I started with. The sole and iron are much thicker. I even easier was able make nice shavings on maple, ash, oak, and cedar after only about 40 minutes of tuning. It still chatters on occasion but that could be more the planet than the plane. I have to say I'm happy so far with the purchase even if I do need to do more work to remove a preventable knick.