These competitively priced Chinese bedrock pattern planes are remarkably well made and come in a useful range of sizes. The bodies are cast from 40Cr high-chromium steel, annealed and surface ground under a constant flow of coolant to prevent stresses from building up in the casting.
Securely mounted between a bedrock pattern frog and a nice almost-flat cap iron, the blade is made from 3mm thick T10 (the Chinese equivalent to W1), quenched in distilled water and tempered to between RC60 and 63.
The handles on the bench planes are made from Chinese grasstree. Although not technically a tree, these plants produce a dense fine grained timber popular with turners in the southern hemisphere.
