Clifton 3110 ?!

[Benwer34]

Trying to decide between 2 2nd hand Clifton 3110 planes. One is quite old with some scruffy initials scratched in the side. The other looks barely used however the cap iron doesn’t match up with the diagram on the box. Wondering if anyone can recommend which would be better?

The first is up for £200

The second with the initials in the side is up for £145

 

[IWW]

Not a tool I'm familiar with myself, but it looks like the lever cap on the newish plane is a ring-in. The toe of its LC is tapered & much narrower than the one on the old plane (??). This may not matter in a lot of situations, but it could allow some chatter of the corners in some instances. If you want shiny-bright, why not just buy a new one? It's only 10 quid more...

I'd go for the well-used one, but then I rather like tools that are old & showing signs of long service. It looks like it's all there (I assume those are the shims tucked in the nose section), with plenty of blade life left. There is little to go wrong with these things, so unless it's been run over by a truck it should be fine.

Most people end up using these sorts of planes far less than they think they will, but they can be mighty handy on occasion, the chisel-plane configuration makes a dandy glue cleaner-upper, I'm told....

Cheers,

 

[Inspector]

I think the first was like the second until they took a buffer to it and made it all gleamy. Of the two I'd get the cheaper one and accept that the initials are a part of the history. Then you have the control over what if anything gets polished. Converting the currency they cost the same as a Veritas does here but we don't get dinged with as many taxes as you do. It would be my first choice if I were looking at all.

Welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy whatever plane you decide on.

Pete

 

[Vann]

Looking at the 3110 on Thos. Flinn's site, it's the one with initials on the side that has the odd lever-cap.

I wouldn't pay 200 quid for a second hand plane when a new one is only £17.70 more at Thos Flinn/Workshop Heaven (or £10 more at Classic Hand Tools). And I'd be worried about that odd lever-cap on the cheaper one.

Keep looking or buy new IMHO.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Woody Alan]

I have one of these and my cap iron is close or similar to image 1, I am guessing image 3 the other one is an earlier version hence matching the drawing, then in use they realised choking of the throat was an issue so came up with the stepped cap iron. Let's assume no one would make a more complicated casting than needed without reason. I certainly find mine chokes even with the cranked design, need to keep it clear frequently. As someone else said not frequently used by any means but handy on the odd occasion.

 

[Woody Alan]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=clifton+3110&t=newext&atb=v261-1&iax=images&ia=images

 

[mikej460]

I have a Record 3110 that I bought years ago for a good price on eBay. It's been occasionally useful for larger tenons and the like. It's nice and hefty to use but I don't regard it as a must have plane.

 

[Jarno]

Recently bought a Record 042, and I like it enormously. Initially, not ever having seen one in the flesh, I thought it a better replacement for my Stanley 92, but it is a totally different plane. I guess the 311 is sort of in between.
Quite helpful to have around, I think, cleaning up rebates, tenons, knocking edges of things.
I do occasionally clean up glue with my Preston bullnose (say, Record 077), but sometimes, I am not patient enough, and the plane becomes a big mess, so nowadays I grab a card scraper, easier to clean