Premium WOODRIVER #3 Smoothing Bench Plane - High-Quality Woodworking Hand Tool for Fine Finishing | Perfect for Cabinet Making, Furniture Restoration & DIY Wood Projects

First off I'm not a woodworker but I'm trying to be in my older age. Though I'm not a woodworker I am a mechanic, welder, fabricator with well over 200,000 dollars in tools. I think I know tools, how they're made and how they work. I have never used a plane to build anything. My planing experience was limited to digging the old planes out of my granddads tool box to stop my door from sticking. This method severed me well for decades until I retired and started to build a woodworking shop in place of my welding shop at my home. Steel gets heaver as one gets older. The first project I attempted was a simple storage chest. I needed an edge trued up so up to the attic I went only to pull out a plane who's wooden handles had cracked from time and poor storage. The parts were badly rusted and I'm sure the surfaces were not straight. Time to buy a new plane. First time plane buyer here. Out of the 4 or 5 planes in my granddads tool box I picked the one I liked best as well as the one I used the most over the years. Now I don't even know what to call this size and type of plane? I looked it over and it had a big number 5 on both the front and the rear of the body so I thought I'd start there.I went to the web site where I know they sell nice tools. I'm sure if I put the name here all would recognize it. Lets just say LV might be part of the name? I look up planes and all the different kinds was dizzying. I typed No. 5 into the search box and sure enough granddads exact plane was still made and a beautiful photo of a brand new unit in all its glory was on my screen! What a nice tool. Wow! Made me wish I'd started in woodworking sooner. I added the No.5 to my cart as I looked at other items in their store. When it came time to check out my bill was all of 400 bucks. I thought I must have added 2 planes or some other items to my cart my error?? NO!!! That was what the cost of the plane!?! The photos in my woodworking books of the shops with hundreds of those planes on the wall?? Must be over 1/2 million in tools if this is any example of what woodworking tools cost? I thought mechanics tools were expensive? WOW! I said there must be a cheaper tool available. Off to Amazon I went to find No.5 planes from 35 to 400 plus dollars. 30 years ago if one had any Chinese tools in their box they'd be laughed out of the shop, not so much lately. I find even some of the tool truck tools are Chinese made. So a Chinese plane was for me. Now I'm not even sure where this particular plane is made but from the cost I'm assuming. Over 175 bucks is still a lot for what I thought a plane was worth so I picked this piece from the 7 reviews and the price. 35 or 40 bucks was way to low for something like this so I wanted to go mid way between 35 and 400. My plane arrived today so now to the review.This tool is an amazing piece of workmanship. The painted parts are painted well no over spray or powder coat or what ever method they use, it looks real nice. The machined surfaces are evenly cut and are dead flat according to my straight edge. The handles are real wood and well sanded and stained. I know the parts of a plane all have their own special names like frog, yoke, sole, heel, toe, etc... but I've yet to learn all of them. So bear with me. The handles are held on by what looks like brass screws. The blade adjuster looks to be brass and turns real nice. The lever cap is either chrome plated or polished stainless as it has a nice shine to it. The blade is super sharp and even the burr was removed unlike a set of chisels I bought here last week where every chisel had a huge burr. You can tell much thought and care went into building this plane. Makes me wonder what a 400 dollar plane would look like? Must have gold screws instead of brass. Just trying to be funny as I know from experience that a top of the line tool feels different to the master craftsman. 400 dollar planes have their place in the masters workshop. In the shop of a future master this is the plane for me. Thanks for reading.