richarddownunder
Established Member
Currently a Graphite Clifton 5 1/2 is being passed around for comment and feedback is being written in another thread. So as not to confuse things I thought I'd start another thread with thoughts on my Clifton 5 1/2 including a few pictures as there seems to have been much discussion and speculation about this brand as it has changed ownership (and colour). I'm not qualified to do a review - just a hobbyist so take what you will from these comments. I have used a few planes over the years and made a few too. I haven't got a LN or Veritas equivalent but I do have an older Clifton with which to compare it.
In Summary (for those who don't want to read the waffle)
I take my hat of to the guys who made this plane. It's both beautiful and very functional. Its a step up from my old Clifton #4 which I thought was very good. I'll be keeping this plane and passing it on to my son in years to come. Based on this, the Clifton brand has a rosy future and are well deserving of the support of woodworkers who care for excellent quality tools. BTW, I have no affiliation with TF or Clifton and live at the other end of the world so am fairly unbiased!
So, out of the box, wrapped in brown anti-rust paper (well packaged from Woodworkers Workshop).
First impression
*It s a heavy beast!
*As it turned up before work, I couldn't help but try it out without any sharpening. It took pretty fine shavings with no tuning whatsoever.
* It looks really good - the graphite does look a treat and the finish of the paint/japaning or whatever its called these days, is pretty flawless - better than my BRG #4.
* The body casting again is flawless (apart from the tiny ding I put in it :twisted: )
Closer look
After work, taking it apart, well, let pictures tell the story... it was rather a bright day so no disguising any flaws. I couldn't really find any though.
[*]The machining of the outside surfaces and sole is very nice and the polished areas add a touch of class
[*]The rosewood handle and front knob are very well finished and very comfortable
[*] The frog and the machining in the body of the plane is well done and flat - its not polished but why would it be? The finish, to my mind, is very good. The design seems to have changed since I bought my #4 plane and looks a lot better now.
[*] Everything fits together extremely well. There is no slop at all in the lateral adjuster and about half turn backlash on the yoke. This plane has the new brass yoke. Looks good although the edges of this tiny casting are a bit rough.
[*] The Iron is a work of art. So nicely ground it seemed a shame to put it to the stone. The iron felt quite hard when I lapped the back but fortunately its dead flat so lapping only took a few minutes on a very blunt diamond stone to achieve a fairly mirror finish (needs a little more work, but I'm keen to get on with trying it). A 30 degree micro bevel and we are away.
[*] The cap iron fits together well with no slop at all. The grinding (on the sides) is good if not quite as good as the rest of the plane IMHO, no sharp edges or burrs though. The marks are just some oil, the surface finish is actually pretty good.
[*] Adjustment is a piece of cake and we are making extremely fine shavings. It feels solid and the handle is comfortable. I tried to take this photo of a bit of Rimu to show the silky smooth finish. I don't know if it really comes out and I have yet to try the plane out on a Sapele board which will be much more of a test. Still, considering that is only 5 minutes flattening and honing...I'm impressed.
oops, got the rotation wrong.
I hope that is of some interest. As you can tell, I'm thrilled to bits with my new toy.
In Summary (for those who don't want to read the waffle)
I take my hat of to the guys who made this plane. It's both beautiful and very functional. Its a step up from my old Clifton #4 which I thought was very good. I'll be keeping this plane and passing it on to my son in years to come. Based on this, the Clifton brand has a rosy future and are well deserving of the support of woodworkers who care for excellent quality tools. BTW, I have no affiliation with TF or Clifton and live at the other end of the world so am fairly unbiased!
So, out of the box, wrapped in brown anti-rust paper (well packaged from Woodworkers Workshop).
First impression
*It s a heavy beast!
*As it turned up before work, I couldn't help but try it out without any sharpening. It took pretty fine shavings with no tuning whatsoever.
* It looks really good - the graphite does look a treat and the finish of the paint/japaning or whatever its called these days, is pretty flawless - better than my BRG #4.
* The body casting again is flawless (apart from the tiny ding I put in it :twisted: )
Closer look
After work, taking it apart, well, let pictures tell the story... it was rather a bright day so no disguising any flaws. I couldn't really find any though.
[*]The machining of the outside surfaces and sole is very nice and the polished areas add a touch of class
[*]The rosewood handle and front knob are very well finished and very comfortable
[*] The frog and the machining in the body of the plane is well done and flat - its not polished but why would it be? The finish, to my mind, is very good. The design seems to have changed since I bought my #4 plane and looks a lot better now.
[*] Everything fits together extremely well. There is no slop at all in the lateral adjuster and about half turn backlash on the yoke. This plane has the new brass yoke. Looks good although the edges of this tiny casting are a bit rough.
[*] The Iron is a work of art. So nicely ground it seemed a shame to put it to the stone. The iron felt quite hard when I lapped the back but fortunately its dead flat so lapping only took a few minutes on a very blunt diamond stone to achieve a fairly mirror finish (needs a little more work, but I'm keen to get on with trying it). A 30 degree micro bevel and we are away.
[*] The cap iron fits together well with no slop at all. The grinding (on the sides) is good if not quite as good as the rest of the plane IMHO, no sharp edges or burrs though. The marks are just some oil, the surface finish is actually pretty good.
[*] Adjustment is a piece of cake and we are making extremely fine shavings. It feels solid and the handle is comfortable. I tried to take this photo of a bit of Rimu to show the silky smooth finish. I don't know if it really comes out and I have yet to try the plane out on a Sapele board which will be much more of a test. Still, considering that is only 5 minutes flattening and honing...I'm impressed.
oops, got the rotation wrong.
I hope that is of some interest. As you can tell, I'm thrilled to bits with my new toy.
