Kunz 51A Spokeshave With Iron Vernier Adjustment

Product is as advertised - a spoke shave. I had to sharpen the blade, but you should sharpen the blade on any spoke shave or plane before use. I used a hard arkansas oil stone and held the bevel flat to the stone by hand and sharpened it for about 15 minutes (oily fingers). I have only taken shallow cuts and it didn't chatter (be sure to put the blade in bevel down), but it I've only used it for a couple of small projects. So far the blade is holding it's edge, but on every plane type tool you're going to have to sharpen the blade sooner or later. I've only pulled it so far, and it's handles are comfortable pulling, but I can't say about pushing since I didn't try to push it.

Heavy grind on the sole with deep gouges out of the package. Blade had heavy scoring as well. Knowing my way around the wood shop I ground the sole on an oil stone then diamond stone. Blade was good enough to go on the 1000 diamond stone. Removed heavy paint from critical areas and it was ready for use. Good tool overall for the money, can’t complain.

The main problem I have encountered with this tool is that the sole has a sharp leading edge on it for some reason. It's sharp enough to act as a dull second blade, ruining the surface of the board. It has taken quite a bit of grinding to get it smooth enough to slide as it should.

Had to flatten the sole a bit, grind some paint off, and polish the blade but neither of those things really took too long. Once that was done, this thing glides like nobody's business! Highly recommended, top notch machining and tempering. It's one of my most used tools at this point. The only thing I might do differently is giving it a different paint job, but it does look pretty unique in a way. It's a proper woodworking tool so it expects you to have a sharpening system at the ready...but will work out of the box just fine for rough little arts and crafts jobs. If you're unsure which one to buy, don't look anywhere else.

The first thing you have to do to get this to work is remove some paint off the iron cap. Then flatten the cap so it sits perfectly flat against the blade. Then sharpen the cap so it acts like a chip breaker, because essentially it is. After all that you can flatten and sharpen the blade, which you have to do to any hand plane you get. After that, it will work ok. But the blade adjustment is worthless. You need to do some serious machining to get it to work. I was able to get all this done in about two hours and it now works great but you kind if have to be a good problem solver and good with tools to achieve this. But for the price I still feel it’s a deal.

the price is right, the steel is good, just a few rough areas to flatten around the mouth and we are off to the races. Perfectly adequate 151 clone for all your curving needs

Currently using one to shape another guitar neck. I liked how it said “made in West Germany” so I guess that means it’s vintage? Had to sharpen it after a while and got the blade to a mirror finish. That seems to really have made it significantly smoother, so if you buy, I’d suggest putting your own sharpening on it over the factory, or pay someone to. Now it runs super smooth and makes the nice fluffy ribbons. Also, adjust it so the blade barely pokes out of the assembly (width of a human hair) and it should work perfectly.

Good casting. Nice paint job. Sole was relatively easy to flatten and the iron took a keen edge. I feel like the heat treatment may have been a bit off, as the edge is not long lasting. I'm also not crazy about the aluminum tension screw for the chip breaker, but it is completely functional. The tool works well and is solidly built. If you are not prepared to tune and maintain hand tools, this is not for you.