Originally Posted by
Jim R Edwards
I agree with the original recommendation concerning the quality of Clifton. I own Clifton, LN, and LV planes and my favorite bevel down plane is the Clifton. The handles feel and look much better than the cheap cherry LN uses however, the LV tote and handle are the most comfortable to me. The green paint looks very nice and i like the round sides of the Clifton. The blade adjuster has a little more play than LN and LV but it still works well. The blade, cap iron, and weight are my favorite things about the plane. It is heavy! I never worry about setting the chip breaker and the blade gets extremely sharp. Planes highly figured curly maple, sapelle, and bubinga just fine w/ the chip breaker about a 1/16 away from the blade!!!
The Clifton blade gets sharper than my LN and LV using a 8000 norton water stone but doesn't last as long. For durability purposes I have the best results with LN A2. It performs better than my LV O1, A2, and PM steel. I have terrible problems with LV blade edges chipping. Tried numerous angles and grinding the blade back with no results. The fit and finish of LV blades is the best though. If I could only prevent them from chipping I would be very happy!
I have never understood why Clifton's have a mediocre reputation but I'm glad the man who assembles his furniture with nails gave a poor review of them. I can get them cheaper than LV and LN!