Comparing Clifton bench planes to ordinary planes is akin to comparing a Mercedes to a Metro: they both get you there, but along the way you're going to experience radical differences in solidity, control, comfort and performance. You'll feel exactly that kind of difference the first time you put a Clifton plane to work. The weight of the casting, the quality of its finish, the rigidity of the iron and chipbreaker assembly and the precision with which they are controlled makes for extraordinary planing performance. Clifton's adoption of Stanley's Bed Rock design, together with real improvements in both the iron and the chipbreaker design, lets you adjust the planes' throat opening from wide open for heavy work to a gap of mere thousandths of an inch for the finest possible finishing, all with no loss of stability or control.

The seat for the frog is a solid surface milled flat and true all the way to a virtual knife-edge at the rear of the throat opening. The frog itself, precision machined to match the seat, can be loosened, adjusted and retightened without removing the lever cap & iron assembly. Clifton's superb plane iron is a full 1/8" thick, hardened to ~Rc60 for superb edge retention and amazingly stable performance. Easily as heavy as the iron itself, Clifton's 2-piece chipbreaker lies flat on the back of the iron, distributing pressure all the way along its length and eliminating vibration between iron and frog. Clifton irons and 2-piece chipbreakers can upgrade any Bailey-pattern plane.

As specified in the original Bed Rock design, Clifton's castings are considerably heavier than ordinary planes (1/4 to 1/2 lb. more than comparable models), and machining is carried out to a higher standard. Soles are flat & polished, and sides are square and likewise ground very fine. In a bow to Leonard Bailey's inspired design, Clifton has retained the lovely full curve of the side rails, just as Stanley did on their earliest Bed Rock planes. Top edges of the rails, and front & rear edges and bosses as well, have been gently rounded and buffed to a mirror gloss. Lever cap lever & screw are polished brass—accents as tasteful as they are beautiful. In another distinctive touch, handles & knobs are nicely finished Bubinga. We're proud to add these outstanding planes to our collection.

(Click here for replacement iron.)