Clifton "B" Grade Planes

Anonymous · 27 Mar 2004

Hi there

I have been looking at the Clifton planes and I am attracted by the discount on the "B" grade planes where there is a small casting flaw.

They're still a lot of money but my question is am I storing up problems for later on or are the flaws purely cosmetic?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Alf · 27 Mar 2004

Hello anon,

Afterglow's really your man for answering this one, but as I understand it "it depends". Some are just cosmetic, while others might be a chip out of the back of the mouth of similar. You're best bet is probably to get nice and chatty with Mike wotsisname on the Clifton stand at one of the shows and throw yourself on his mercy. He knows of that which he speaks, and would be able to help you select a good'un. But AG'll be able to advise better than I can.

Cheers, Alf

P.S. Join up! You could be member #400 if you're quick! :wink:

Anonymous · 27 Mar 2004

I bought two Clifton "Blemished" planes at Ally Pally last year. The blemishes on both are very much cosmetic, caused by minor flaws in the castings. As Alf says, there are some sold as blemished that have chips out of the back of the mouth, where the blade really needs support. Run a mile from these!

The two flaws in my #3110 look like somebody has used a little marking punch to put a wee "dint" in either side of the main body casting. There is a single flaw in my #3 that looks like a tiny spot of rust (maybe 1mm dia in total). The flaws are so minor that I'm sure another year in my workshop will cause more damage!

As an aside to this, Clifton have recently switched their castings to another foundry, with more modern technologies and which is giving them far fewer flaws, so the number of blemished planes is likely to be reduced. I picked this little fact up from them at this year's Ally Pally show, when I couldn't buy a new 4 1/2 because they'd only just released the prototype

Signal · 27 Mar 2004

well there you go, was just going to suggest having a chat with Afterglow as he has bought some b grade, seconds whatever and the pipper beat me to it :lol:

signal

Alf · 28 Mar 2004

Afterglow":3qitixqv said:
As an aside to this, Clifton have recently switched their castings to another foundry, with more modern technologies and which is giving them far fewer flaws, so the number of blemished planes is likely to be reduced. I picked this little fact up from them at this year's Ally Pally show

Oh really? Hmm, what with that and their keeness to show DC how their stuff has improved, I get the impression they're starting to take their plane making just a tad more seriously. Gotta be good news.

Cheers, Alf

Anonymous · 28 Mar 2004

I was really impressed this year at the Clifton stand. The guys are really helpful and plane-ly love their product. I got chatting with them about other planes in the pipeline, and depending upon how the 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 go, they're looking to expand further. Next on the cards are one or two block planes, including a LA adjustable mouth one, I believe. They also mentioned that there's a desire from some quarters in the company for making a compass plane, but that due to limited market potential that may not materialise.

They weren't keen to commit to any timescales for the new planes because of fitting in the R&D, although 2005 is apparently possible.

They explained to me that the biggest factor that delays them in developing more planes is production time on the machinery. They use the same equipment for R&D as they do for manufacturing, and as a consequence they struggle to get time for new designs. I think the change in foundry will help with this, as they'll be wasting less production time on castings that turn out to be duff, and should therefore meet their production quotas with less machine time.

That's about all I know, except that I like these planes, and as they're clearly committed to improving it may actually become the smart move to buy British

Cheers,

AG