: Brian,

: I have two Record shaves that I tuned (flat and round sole), and I ground the
: cap so that it would sit flat against the blade, without a gap to catch
: shavings. I don't set the cap very close to the blade edge, as I do on my
: planes.

Mine will get the same treament tonight.

: I don't like either of these spokeshaves.

This is the first one I've owned, so I have no basis for comparison. However, it seems like a pretty crude, imprecise tool. The blade adjusmemt mechanism flat-out sucks.

: Although you can get good work out of them, I found the new Record shaves to
: be very aggravating due to the extremely wide mouth openings that are used
: (the slit in the bottom of the sole). To help close the mouth I bought an
: excellent Hock carbon steel blade, that is much thicker than the stock
: blade. Although this helped, the throat was still too wide for my tastes.
: Some folks use brass shims behind the blade for a fix, others just live
: with it.

I may try the same things. I do occasionally get some chatter or tearout, despite setting the blade carefully for a very shallow cut.

: I eventually searched some of the old tool web sites and bought
: several antique Stanley shaves. My favorite is a Sweetheart-era #151, that
: adjusts with two threaded posts, like the modern Record. The mouth opening
: is very fine which prevents tear-out and is more in tune to the fine work
: that these tools are designed for.

What about wooden spokeshaves? I found instructions for making one and I saw that there are kits available that include Hock blades and high quality hardware. Have you tried any of these?

: If you frequent the old-tools mailing list, you will hear frequent gripes
: about the quality of modern Stanley and Record planes and spokeshaves as
: compared to designs produced before WWII.

That seems to be the case with pretty much anything that requires precise machining; tools, firearms, etc. Technology driven items have improved, but most things that require time and labor intensive fitting have slipped in quality.

: Although the old tools are not
: always perfect, they usually have much finer machining, tight mouths and
: nice rosewood handles (on planes) rather than plastic. I prefer to buy
: antiques in fine shape, unless the tools are offered by Lie-Nielsen or
: some of the new makers that are again building high quality hand-tools.

I have a Lie-Neilsen block plane (I saw it at the Newfound Rendezvous and couldn't resist it) and I'm astonished at the difference in performance vs. the Record tools I have (low angle block plane and spokeshave. I suspect that much of the difference is simply due to reduced vibration from the thicker blade. Perhap I'll order Hock blades for the other two tools. I can't justify springing for more Lie-Neilsen tools when the Record stuff is still serviceable.