Grizzly International, which has been selling metal and woodworking machinery since the early 1980s and hand tools for a shorter time, has recently introduced a No. 4 smoothing plane. I own several hand planes, including a No. 7 jointer plane for truing thwart edges or hand-cutting a scarf joint; a No. 5 jack plane, which is a workhorse for stock removal; and a sporty No. 4—little brother of the No. 5 and mostly used for general carpentry and bench work such as smoothing and fitting.
Grizzly’s No. 4 measures 9½″ long and is called the Model T34066. It is unique in that it has a ductile cast-iron sole, stainless-steel fixtures, and green anodized aluminum side cheeks and knurled hand knob. The cheeks are affixed to the sole with flat-head Allen screws. The aft handle is solid sapele. Both the forward and the rear handle locations are adjustable to custom fit the hand size (more on that shortly). The machining is crisp and clean and the sole is near-mirrorlike and runs true.
The 2″ chip breaker and plane iron are thicker than those on a traditional Stanley; the iron is sharpened to a 45-degree bevel and tempered to 60-62 Rockwell C. The angled frog the iron sits upon controls the size of the mouth opening in the sole, allowing for either fine or rough cuts; it is easily adjusted by simply loosening the two locking screws located on its rear and rotating the adjustment screw—clockwise to close the mouth or counterclockwise to open it. Then, simply retighten the locking screws.
For some woodworkers, the adjustable handholds on small planes can feel a bit cramped. Typically, whatever handle location was on the plane was what you got. The T34066 is unusual in offering the option of moving those handles forward or back to a more comfortable location. The familiar wooden handle is mounted on a machined track; simply back out the two Allen hold-down screws and slide the track backward to align it with another set of tapped holes in the body (there are several). Reinsert the screws and you are in business. The forward handle can be reset in a similar fashion. On another note, for those accustomed to the smooth wooden forward hand knob of a traditional plane, the 2″-wide knurled hand knob may feel a bit odd. It’s not uncomfortable exactly, but it’s different. It does provide for a solid grip. The Grizzly is hefty, weighing slightly less than 5 lbs. The standard Stanley No. 4 is roughly 3½ lbs while the Lie-Nielsen version runs about 4 lbs.
Included with the tool are removable depth-stop guides. These are fabricated from the same green anodized aluminum as the sides, and they mount to the sides of the plane in a similar fashion to some rabbeting block planes. Simply remove a couple of the Allan screws in the sides, mate the two guides to the sides symmetrically, and affix them with the included longer screws into the same holes. The manufacturer claims their purpose is to ensure “precise planing of thin and narrow workpieces, perfect for detailed work.” There is probably limited application of this fixture in boat construction but perhaps it would be useful in truing up rails, inwales, and outwales.
How does the tool perform? All in all, I liked it. It worked just like a good plane should, removing stock cleanly from hard and soft woods. I honed a micro bevel into the cutter and there was no perceptible chatter from the substantial plane iron. The depth adjustment mechanism and knob work as smoothly as the venerable Stanley versions. One observation: on my Stanleys, I’ve always used the forward tip of the lever cap as a screwdriver to back off the cutting-iron-to-chip-breaker screw when preparing to sharpen. The Grizzly lever cap edge is too thick for that, requiring an actual screwdriver. That’s no big deal, but it’s funny how one gets accustomed to doing things. The tool feels solid and I didn’t find its weight problematic. I appreciated the feature that allowed backing off the rear handle for comfort. The Grizzly T34066 is a worthy addition to the pantheon of quality No. 4 hand planes. 
Greg Rössel is a contributing editor for WoodenBoat
The Grizzly T34066 No. 4 10″ Legacy Smoothing Plane is priced at $225. It comes with a one-year warranty and arrives in a foam-lined, box-jointed wooden storage box. For details and to order, visit www.grizzly.com.