Veritas No. 5 ¼     

Body:

Veritas use ductile cast iron for the body, which they claim is immune to stress movement after grinding. The underside of the sole and sides are surface ground to an excellent finish. The low-sided front makes a pinch grip for jointing very comfortable. The sole thickness is 5.1mm (3/16"). The upper side and edges are roughcast and enamelled black. The mouth is set further back to give a greater effective cut length than normal for the size - good for jointing edges. This also helps plant the sole level at the start of a stroke. Veritas claim their planes have a flatness of zero to -3 thou, with no concavity. The plane I measured was well within specification, having some light hollows behind the mouth. Both side faces were not quite square to the sole and showed a small gap against an engineering square. The same sized gap would be evident on timber planed against a shooting board. The set-screws in each side centralise the blade and ensure it pivots about the base while you make lateral adjustments. The grinding of the mouth is excellent with very smooth edges.

Blade Assembly:

The Veritas 51mm (2") wide blade, with its rounded top, is 3.25 mm (0.13") thick with fine ground surfaces and rough cut grey sides. The main bevel is 30º micro-bevelled to 35º at the cutting edge to improve wear. There are fine diagonal grinding marks and the edge is sharp enough for use, but needs honing. I would have preferred to grind my own secondary bevel from scratch as it is awkward to match the manufacturer's one. Veritas tell us the blade is A-2 steel heat-treated to RC 60-62.

The cap-iron or chipbreaker is of a standard design but poorly finished. It is stamped out from 1.8mm steel sheet, bent to spring its coarse-ground front edge against the blade back. This is the least impressive component of the otherwise innovative Veritas plane.

The lever cap is cast in zinc-aluminium alloy with finely ground edges and a bevel front. It is rather lightweight, but thick enough to clamp firmly on the chipbreaker.  I like the Norris style brass clamping screw at the top.

Frog:

Veritas have developed their own variation on the Bailey pattern cast iron frog. A pair of bolts tapped into the body secures it, but they are fore and aft rather than side by side. They can both be slacked off for adjustment then re-tightened with the blade still in place, addressing a shortcoming of the Bailey design. The Veritas frog has a stepped front that protrudes through the widened mouth, extending support for the blade right down to its bevel.

The combined adjustor is roughly speaking of the 'Norris' pattern, modified to simplify manufacture. It has one full turn of backlash and 3 mm of sideplay. Backlash does not compare well to the 1/6 of a turn on my old Norris.

Handles:

The Veritas handles are rosewood with a moderate surface finish but signs of rough sanding beneath.  The rear tote has plenty of height for the largest of hands and is extremely rigid, being fixed to the frog above and below. The tall front handle has a good grip but is further back than I am used to.

Performance:

Being a smaller model than the other two planes, the Veritas 5 ¼ was obviously lighter with less momentum, which I allowed for. I coarse-planed a mild piece of oak with the cutting edge straight from the box. It coped adequately with the BS 3623 depth setting of 0.13 mm but stuttered to a halt at 0.18 mm. Before attempting fine planing, I polished the blade back and honed the edge. The Veritas took 0.04 mm shavings from a birds-eye maple surface without tearing but chattered slightly before I crowned the edge profile, after which the finish was good. The feel and performance of the Veritas in general use was good.

Conclusions

In the conservative world of hand planes where Victorian values often rule, Veritas have dared to be different. They have reinvented many parts of their bench planes by examining first principles. I liked the setscrews centralising the blade, the toat securely attached to the frog as well as the additional blade support provided by the stepped frog. I disliked the thin, poorly finished chipbreaker and the amount of slack in the adjustor. My impression is that the build quality is good, but some parts are less well constructed or finished. The Veritas 5 ¼, priced around £158 including vat will particularly appeal to students, as will the innovations in its design.

Clifton No. 5 ½

Body:

Clifton use grey cast iron for the body, which they surface-grind to a very good finish on the underside of the sole and sides. The sole thickness is 6.2mm ( ¼ ") with thicker webs cast in the upper side, presumably to eliminate movement. The upper edges, front and rear are beautifully polished, this is a showpiece feature of this plane. The corners of the sole are relieved with a micro chamfer all around which makes the body excellent to handle and will help avoid damage to fine wooden surfaces. The upper side is finished in dark green. Clifton claim their planes have a flatness of plus or minus 0.04 mm (1.5 thou) in line with the British Standard. The plane I measured was well within specification but had a light hollow in front of the mouth, which I would lap out if the plane were mine. The rounded sides were practically square to the sole and showed negligible gap against an engineering square, fine for shooting. The grinding of the mouth is good with quite smooth edges.

Blade

:Clifton's 60mm (2 3/8") wide blade with its rounded top is hand forged high carbon steel. 3.1mm (0.12") thick with fine ground surfaces. it has rough cut black sides. The 25 º bevel on the cutting edge has fine diagonal grinding marks and is sharp - ready to use straight from the box for coarse work or to sharpen and hone for finer work. The 'Clifton, Hand Forged, Sheffield' logo is in the customary black style of traditional high quality planes. Clico tell us the blade is 60-62 Rockwell C hardness.

The two piece cap-iron is designed to make better clamping contact with the blade than conventional sprung cap irons. As a side benefit, it may allow you to hone without unscrewing the iron and losing adjustment. Having used this system for years on the Calvert Stevens, I stretch out a forefinger to stop the front falling off as I remove the blade. However, I sympathise with first time users for whom the loose cap iron drops off. Sometime they curse it. The contact edge is finely ground and there is no gap to the back of the blade. The upper side is beautifully polished for friction-free chip-breaking.

The lever cap is cast iron with polished upper and a ground contact edge beneath. The cap is thick and heavy and uses an over-centre lever to lock it in place.

Frog:

Clifton use the Stanley Bedrock pattern of frog made from cast iron, finely machined on the front and underside and enamelled green on the rear. The depth adjustor is of the standard Bailey pattern with a domed adjusting nut in polished brass, engaging with a cast Y lever. The overall backlash is half a turn. The lateral lever is stainless steel with 3mm of sideplay.

Handles:

The Clifton handles are bubinga with showy figuring and an excellent finish. The rear tote has plenty of height and clearance while the squat front knob is like a giant polished conker with an excellent grip. The dome headed bolt fixing it can dig into your hand and would be better with a flat top or deeper recess. The handles are well positioned for a balanced feel.

Performance:

I coarse planed a mild piece of oak with the Clifton cutting edge straight from the box. It coped adequately with the BS 3623 depth setting of 0.13 mm but stuttered to a halt at 0.18 mm. Before attempting fine planing, I polished the blade back and honed the edge. The Clifton took full width 0.04 mm shavings from birds-eye maple without tearing and the finish was superb. The feel and performance of the Clifton in general use was excellent.

Conclusion:

Clifton's design looks thoroughly traditional and works well. It is a beautiful tool, which I believe is important when you are trying to make beautiful furniture. I liked the polished chipbreaker, the relieved edges around the sole, the immaculate finish and the price. I disliked the protruding screw head in the knob. My impression is that the build quality is very good although I would lap the sole lightly to improve its flatness. If I wanted to buy a new plane that would give excellent performance with a little tuning, and one that looks as though it will last a lifetime, the Clifton is the plane I would go for. At around £ 187 including vat, I found the Clifton 5 ½ Bench Plane to be best value for money.

Lie Nielsen No. 5 ½

Body:

Lie Nielsen use ductile cast iron for their iron bodies and guarantees they will not break if dropped. They surface grind it to a very good finish on the underside of the sole and sides. The sole thickness is 6.2 mm ( ¼ "). The upper side and edges are roughcast enamelled black. Lie Nielsen claim their planes have a flatness of plus or minus 0.02 mm (0.75 thou) which is twice as good as the British Standard. The plane I measured was well within both specifications with an excellent degree of flatness. There would be little point in lapping a sole of this quality; indeed to do so might risk degrading it.  The sides were square to the sole - I could not see any gap against an engineering square making it excellent for shooting. The tops of the sides are squared off like the later Stanley Bedrocks. The grinding of the mouth is good with quite a smooth edge.

Blade assembly:

Lie Nielsen's 60mm (2 3/8") wide blade with its tapered top is 3.75mm (0.14") thick with very fine ground surfaces and ground sides. The 25 º bevel to the cutting edge has very fine lateral grinding marks and is very sharp - almost razor sharp - ready to use straight from the box or to hone for fine work.  Lie Nielsen tell us it is A-2 steel, heat-treated then cryogenic treated (which means soaked in liquid nitrogen). Finally it is tempered to Rockwell 60-62. 'The Lie Nielsen USA' logo stamped at the top has a clean laser etched look about it.

The cap-iron or chipbreaker is Lie Nielsen's improved version. It is a beautifully machined 3.3mm steel block, shaped with a step under the lower edge to make local contact with the blade, and quite similar to an old Norris design. The contact edge is finely ground and there is no gap to the back of the blade.

The lever cap is cast in manganese-bronze (which will not rust) with a fine brushed upper and a roughcast underside. The cap is moderately heavy and uses a stiff over-centre lever to lock it in place.

Frog:

Lie Nielsen use the Stanley Bedrock pattern of frog made from cast manganese bronze, which is denser than iron. It is finely machined on the front and underside and roughcast on the rear.

The depth adjustor is of the standard Bailey pattern with an adjusting nut in turned brass, engaging with a bronze Y lever. The overall backlash is one third of a turn. The lateral lever is steel with a bronze top and has a rotating bearing to run inside the blade. It has only1.5 mm of sideplay.

Handles:

The Lie Nielsen handles are very well finished pale American cherry, which will darken with sunlight over the years but still look good.  The rear tote has a pleasing S shape but only just left room for my grip. People with large hands may find it tight. The handles are well positioned for a balanced feel.

Performance:

I coarse planed a mild piece of oak with the Lie Nielsen cutting edge straight from the box. It coped well with the BS 3623 depth setting of 0.13 mm and went on to remove shavings of 0.2 mm - more like veneer! Before fine planing, I polished the blade back and honed the edge. The Lie Nielsen took full width 0.04 mm shavings from birds-eye maple without tearing and the finish was outstanding.

Conclusion:

The feel and performance of the Lie Nielsen in general use was excellent. Lie Nielsen have married traditional design principles, developed in long past decades, to modern manufacturing techniques with accuracy un-dreamt at that time. I liked the thick blade, heavy chipbreaker, immaculate finish and general precision. I disliked the short toat and the price. My impression is that the build quality is excellent.  If money was no object and I had to use the plane straight from the box without any fettling, I would choose this plane. The 5 ½ Bench Plane is priced around £244 including vat, which is high, but fair considering the near-perfection to which it is built and finished.

Flatness of Plane Soles

To test the flatness of the bench planes, I started by applying blue stain to the underside of each sole. Once this had dried, I place a thick sheet of float-glass on the sawbench and used the glazed top as a reference surface to lap the underside of the planes. The stain rubbed off the high spots, leaving blue patches as witness marks in any hollows on the sole.  With the low spots mapped out in blue, I clamped each plane upside down and laid a thick sheet of float glass with a hole in the middle, onto the sole. A Moore & Wright depth micrometer poked through the hole measured the thickness of the glass plus any gap between it and the sole. Moving the glass and micrometer around while subtracting the glass thickness from each reading enabled me to measure the depth of dips on the soles to an accuracy of better than half a thou.

One time when you would particularly notice a dip in the sole is if you were jointing a pair of long boards -  Say, for example, you had a plane with a 0.08mm (3 thou) dip in the middle (at the specification limit), and used it to joint a pair of boards ten times the length of the plane.

Testing for right angled sides is straightforward with an engineering square to BS 939. Any error in this angle will produce an equal error when shooting with the plane.