Several weeks ago, I won this Buckeye No 5 plane at auction. The look of the plane was something I had never seen before. I wanted to see how it would perform, so I took a closer look at the plane’s functions.

Buckeye planes were made by the Buckeye Saw Company, which was in business from 1904-1929, and they are known for this patented plane by John Muehl, who more likely sold his patent to The Buckeye Saw Co.

The plane has no frog. The blade simply rests on the casting of the bed, and the Norris style adjuster, pins into holes on the blade.

The lever cap acts as the cap iron as well, which usually is not a good sign for quality. The Norris style adjuster swings from left to right in order to adjust the blade from side to side.

The simplicity of the plane makes it impossible to adjust the gap in the plane’s mouth to produce a thin shaving.

I sharpened the blade to see how it performed. Because the plane is so primitive and basic, I couldn’t get a nice shaving out of it even after messing with it for a few minutes. At best, the plane would only be good for rough carpentry work, like trimming a door and not for fine cabinetmaking.

In the end, my opinion about the quality of this plane is……it sucks!