Irwin Record A151r Round Malleable Adjustable Spokeshave

Not made to the highest quality. Rough edges and working surfaces.

With a name Irwin Record one would sort of expect a slightly more finished product even at this price rage than this tool. Yes, it is relatively simple but it certainly feels and looks like a modestly prices Chinese item - which I suspect it probably is. Or at least made there for Irwin.What immediately stood out was the finish on the curved sole. Rough. Actually, rough and not even at the opening for the blade. I took close on an hour with successive grades of emery tape and then polishing grit to get a finish that I would deem to be good enough for use.Blade is thin. And once again finished in a rather rough manner. Sharp enough although one would always hone it regardless.Screws and adjusters are serviceable but nothing more.In the end it took me a good couple of hours to tune this up to a level where it should be for use. With a name brand product that isn't really on. I know that woodworkers will always tune up a plane but this was just a bit more than expected.However, after a bit of elbow polish I did get this to a point where it works well - my (lack of) skills excepted of course - and I have no doubt it will last a long time.

Shoddy. The casting is lumpy and uneven, with one side of the bed being higher than the other - in fact, the bed has not been ground flat at all, just left as a roughish casting painted over.The blade is thin. It judders. and I suspect that it will continue to judder even after I've finished re-grinding the bed. (What am I saying *re-* grinding? I'm grinding it for the first time.)The blade took a good edge, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't last very long.Altogether very disappointing, and a waste of money. It's sad to see such respected names as Irwin and Record devalued by being stamped on such slapdash rubbish. I would have sent it back but on seeing what was up I got out the file before I thought of that.Buy something else.

Blade won't sit square in sole aperture due to the aperture being off square with the sole plate. Because of this the thumbscrew adjusters don't actually reach into the blade in order to adjust cutting depth. Could have been made by an optically challenged person standing on a 45 degree platform somewhere in China.

A good spokeshave at a very economical price. Needs some polishing of the base and blade refining to be really sharp and easy to use. Paul Sellers has a very helpful video on youtube about spokeshaves m

Good product and good value

beautiful tool and works great

Excellent quality all round.DJ.