Clifton 5/8″ Rebate Plane

This tool is based on the Preston classic 5/8″ shoulder plane. In certain aspects Clifton, an English company based in Sheffield, does better than the original, in other areas it does worse. On the plus side the mouth on my sample is very fine, something that is very important. It’s about 1/32″ wide, which is very very good. Other samples vary plus or minus a bit but in general the mouth of my 5/8″ Preston (see our exhibit on shoulder planes in the museum for an exhaustive look at the subject) is a lot wider, about double. The blade of this modern reproduction is twice as thick as the original, also a very very good thing. And it came with the back lapped enough so that you won’t have a problem. A feature I really like. What I don’t like about the plane is purely cosmetic- it doesn’t have the spit and polish of the original. I don’t really mind that because I would much rather have the thicker blade, etc., but the other one is nice.
Good shoulder planes are not inexpensive. I think a larger size shoulder plane is more important to have for normal sized work but if you do smaller work this is an invaluable tool that has no substitute. The sample I have is a little wider than 5/8″ – actually 11/16″ wide.