Irwin Record A151 Flat Malleable Adjustable Spokeshave [Energy Class A]

I bought this Irwin/Record new spokeshave to replace a very old one of the same Record branded one I had lost in a move. I did so in the belief that the quality would at least be equal to the old, shall I say vintage, one.Not a chance as one previous reviewer described it as a POS!! It is true the machined adjusters are rubbish, the blade retainer does seat well. But worst of all the steel quality of the blade is abysmal.I was suspicious after removing the blade for initial honing when I felt a burr on the underside of the cutting edge. Properly heat treated blade irons do not burr over. After honing on a dual sided whetstone I tried the first use on a piece of French oak I shaping for a replacement handle for my vintage garden roller. Boneparte would have laughed all the way back to France - French Oak cuts into English steel!! Although I suspect it is not an British made quality tool. If it is there is no hope.. I could have bought an unbranded tool for half the price of the £26+ I paid for this. It will have to be returned as not fit for purpose..

An honest review, I received two by mistake, one was returned, it had chips in the blade, one of the adjustable screws did absolutely nothing. the second one I kept but even this one was not perfect,odd bits of paint here and there,stripped it down for a good clean up the blade also needed attention ie, a good clean and also sharpening as it too had imperfections.Once done it looks and works beautifully.

Good product just needs some attention before use. If you arenot used to setting up a plane it could be a challenge but once set up, sharpened and remore the rough edges, its good to go.

Apart from the fact that the tool arrived with several nasty looking dents in the blade, it was blunt to the point you would almost have to heat it up to cut butter. The overall machining is very poor, the edge guard is clearly rough cast, and they only bother to machine the side that faces out, and on show, and not where it counts where it makes contact with blade, leave innumerable small pocks and gaps where shavings, (once sharpened) get awkwardly caught. I will be sending both the Irwin spoke shaves back, and spend a bit more for a decent quality of tool. What has happened to Irwin? Didn't they once make quality tools?!?!?!?!?

I rarely feel the need to leave poor reviews but this tool is very very poor. The first arrived and the blade was not true (flat) the blade would not adjust as the holes for the screws were badly forge and the edge of the blade was not at right angle to its side. Unusable. Ordered another to see if it was a one off...it was not. I can't emphasise this enough, buy something else. One half the price will not be half as bad. It can't be. For me, I will look on eBay for an old Stanley one, I'd rather invest time on aesthetics than trying to fix the unfixable.

v/good

I bought this along with the curved spokeshave and the same issues exist. And that's quality. Or rather lack of it. It has Irwin Record on the casting but clearly it's made in a Chinese factory to a price point on the lower end of the scale. Of course I know I wasn't paying Veritas prices so I didn't expect that sort of quality, but to be frank I expected a little bit better for the brand name.Primarily the issue is the sole of the shave. Obviously the casting needs grinding in way of the sole plate but it must have been done as fast as possible on a coarse grit wheel. It's not smooth. Not even close.Blade is thin and the adjusters are serviceable but low rent.So, I spent about a couple of hours - in between cups of tea - tuning this spokeshave up. Most of that time was spent making the sole flat and polished. The blade is thin enough to hone quickly to a decent standard. Its not A2 steel so takes a keener edge but needs to be sharpened much more often.In use - which practice - I got good shavings and a decent surface. I'd probably do not better with a high end shave - but I'd probably enjoy the process more.A serviceable tool that does the job. I'll replace it when funds allow with a higher end product though.