The CADILLAC of Hand Planes? Clifton Vs Lie Nielsen No 4's Review and Comparison

[@mrstandfast2212]

Both planes are absolutely fabulous and having tried them, I can confirm that they're great to use. They are however, very expensive. I've found that if you're prepared to do the necessary prep work and fine tuning on older Stanley and Record planes, you will have a plane that will work just as well. The difference will be in the quality of the components, but the end result - which is what really matters - can be every bit as good. I recently bought a lovely Millers Falls No 14 plane (these are much less common in the UK) and an hours work later it was cutting as well as any plane I've ever used. All that being said, I fully understand why people might want to own a new version of these lovely tools. My post isn't a criticism of the new, but the old planes can still cut it.

[@BatCaveCreations]

I could not agree with you more!!!!!! 90% of planes can be made to take butter shavings! All depends on how much work you wanna do on them. Spend more = less work. Spend less = more work. We can't have the best of both worlds hahah

[@rolandharrison5651]

Well Jamie, you did it again. You nailed it. Good work has always amazed me, I could just sit and watch it all day. It looked like you were having way too much fun demonstrating those planes. Seriously, I loved how they softly whispered. Keep it up man.

[@BatCaveCreations]

Thank you!!! And 100% I don't always get to use tools in videos but am very excited to get back to that and start adding those clips in :D

[@tonygomez-jk9to]

Thank you for your review, very well done. FYI I have three #4's the two reviewed here and a really old Stanley. All three of them work extremely well after a few modifications: -LN: No modifications since i acquired it over 10 years ago. -Clifton: Replaced the two piece chip breaker with a one piece Hock, I found the two piece breaker allowed wood chips between the chip breaker and iron. Once i replaced the chip breaker I found the Clifton to work as good as the LN. -Stanley: Replaced the iron and chip breaker with a Hock, and several hours to flatten the sole. Currently performs every bit as good as the other two. Regarding ductle iron and cast iron, two years ago i was cleaning my plane cabinet. I moved all of my planes to my MFT table but did not secure the knobs to prevent the table from collapsing. As luck would have it, our family dog stopped by to say hi, bumped the table and down came all of my planes. I am happy to report the 2 Cliftons (#4, #7) i owned at the time did not shatter when they hit the concrete. Besides a few scratches on a few of my planes including the Clifton #4, the only real casualties were the totes on my old #4 Stanley and the knob on my 4 1/2 LN. I was very relieved. Regarding the #4's i own, i found the Clifton to have less backlash than the other two. When i need a #4 I will tend to reach for the one closes to me, after the modifications i really dont have much of preference between the three. I must say, i do like the look of the British racing green on my Clifton #4. I also own a #6, and #7 Clifton, both of these are the newer gray, i found the #7 to be ok, it arrived with bubinga tote and knob beautifully polished just like my #4. However, the my newest Clifton (#6) arrived with walnut tote and knob and the construction and finishing on the tote and knob on the the #6 was terrible, i had them replaced them with a cocobollo. I am hardly plane expert, but besides the tote on the Clifton #6 i really cant tell the difference between any of my Cliftons, all three are perfectly square and flat. I found the two piece chip breaker on my #4 Clifton to be more of novelty and than anything else and far from perfect for my use. I'd be interested to hear from your experience after you have used it a while. I hope my feedback persuades you to buy a couple more Cliftons. Cheers!!

[@BatCaveCreations]

Thank you for this! This was awesome to read! I have since tried a modern clifton no 4 and am IN LOVE with it. Prior to that the Green Clifton was my go to at 45* (also have a Veritas custom at 55*); however, I was gifted the modern clifton 4 and now it is my all time go to Plane. I did like the 2 piece chip breaker on the green clifton. My only complaint is I didn't notice rust build uo between the iron and the chip breaker cus I never took the whole thing off lol I did replace the og iron with a Veritas pmv 11 iron. In the modern clifton I have a LN A2 iron. I don't know how to explain it but those 2 paired up are a dream to use. I will be customizing the tote and knob on the clifton to fit my hand better. I hope to aquire more modern cliftons in the future but I still love the Norris on the veritas custom line lol

[@robertgarvey5744]

Literally just searched for video comparing these two days ago. Cheers!

[@BatCaveCreations]

That is awesome! Great timing!!!

[@cliftondown4340]

Clifton is pretty gosh darn amazing

[@BatCaveCreations]

Haha love ur YT name too!!!

[@kevinchamberlain7928]

Britain used to be great. Clifton have captured the essence of what we originally were and rightly have "Made in England" on their planes. I'm not even English but I'm proud of my English brothers making these planes. When I can justify it, I'll get a Clifton.

[@BatCaveCreations]

I 100% support this!!

[@mattcttrll]

Love it! Great show.

[@moradmoses3779]

I can see, the Clifton has little drag on the wood, But the Nielsen is very smooth on wood, and I believe that has to do with the width of the blade, very nice video, thank you

[@stephenclingerman4865]

WoodCraft sells Clifton planes. My WoodCraft store doesn’t have it, but I can have it shipped to them. I’m looking at a No. 4-1/2.

[@BatCaveCreations]

I haven't tried any of the newer ones, I would like to compare vintage to new some day! Let us know how you like it!

[@lounackman6104]

That Clifton looks great, never seen one. I have an old Stanly #4 Sweetheart as well as th LN in Bronze, both work well, adjustments and tolerances on the LN just a bit better.

[@BatCaveCreations]

100% agree, LN did some great upgrades to the Stanley!

[@gregsnewyt]

The two piece chip breaker is front the Record Stay Set (SS) plane design.

[@russellseaton2014]

As your plane shaving test showed, they are as comparable in performance as you can get. Its really a matter of whether you like green and silver or gold, silver, and black. I have a full set of the old Cliftons. Good to know they are worth more now than when I bought them 25 years ago.

[@BatCaveCreations]

Wow that is amazing!!! Imo thays a one of a kind collection. I've never heard of someone having a full set!

[@russellseaton2014]

@@BatCaveCreations By full set, I mean #3, 4, 5, 6, 7 older style green Clifton planes. All of the useful, regular Stanley type planes. And by old, I mean whatever Clifton was producing new about 25 years ago.

[@BatCaveCreations]

Still!!! Thats tough to obtain! Good work!!!!

[@PeanutsDadForever]

Another reason to follow this channel. Great video!👴🏻🇦🇺

[@BatCaveCreations]

Thank you!!!

[@TheRaven0811]

Well I guess I missed this one... and yet again you make me want to buy a Clifton. 😂

[@BatCaveCreations]

Hahaa sorry not sorry! :D

[@gregsnewyt]

Funny how we refer to the green Clifton as “Vintage” as it was produced as late as 2014. Perhaps a better name is Clico Clifton vs the newer Flynn-Garlick Clifton. And yes the quality has declined. The two piece chip breaker was dropped from the line, there have been out of flat iron issues (maybe corrected by now) and, visually, the iron trademark stamp, hot stamped on the Clico Clifton is not just laser etched on the Flynn-Garlick Clifton.

[@BatCaveCreations]

Oooh the Clico Green ones were produced till 2014!? Good to know about the decrease in quality with the Flynn-Garlick ones! Thank you!

[@gregsnewyt]

@@BatCaveCreations Flinn-Garlick May have corrected the issue with the irons so quality may be acceptable now but the loss of the 2 piece chip breaker is a shame.

[@BatCaveCreations]

That is a shame. I also miss the old iron stamp, I actually replaced the iron with pmv11 and have the original iron displayed in my hutch hahaha

[@joekindon3935]

Well done Jamie!!!

[@blayne2029]

Would love to know about whether the new ones are still rockin. Somebody loan Jamie a new one! :)

[@BatCaveCreations]

Lol YES!!!

[@dennisspiehs4593]

Chinesium screwdriver to take down a 400.00 plane?

[@BatCaveCreations]

Priorities hahaha

[@jessemedlen9546]

How do they compare to the (Record) Calvert Stevens CS88?

[@BatCaveCreations]

I wish I had an answer but I've never placed hands on a CS88. Never even seen one in person :( the only person I know that has one, has one that's unused and I deff don't want to be the one to make it used haha

[@andrewbrimmer1797]

But what do Alfred and Commisioner Gordon say?😊 The lines on the clifton leans more but the bulge on the lie neilsen looks like its curved differntly so it looks like the same sloop

[@BatCaveCreations]

Shhh Alfred and Gordon went with the modern clifton! 😳

[@grumpyoldsodinacellar3518]

Can I afford a Clifton ? No Do I need a Clifton ? No Do I have the skills to warrant a Clifton ? No Do I want a Clifton ? Most definitely.

[@BatCaveCreations]

Love this! When I got the notification I only saw part of it and though the rest was going to be a slam on the video and plane this is 100x better hahahah thank you!

[@xiaohuang9053]

Veritas custom vs lie nielson vs modern clifton !!!!!

[@BatCaveCreations]

That would be awesome but I sold the LN and don't have a modern clifton hahahha maybe one day!

[@luisr9651]

What kind of wax do you use?

[@BatCaveCreations]

I use the Cotrill Tool Works Wax. His email is in the description if you wanna order. He is also in thw CIHI group :D

[@dragomirdichev1196]

Clifton is beautiful plane but I don't like the design of the chip-breaker. The new models changed this.

[@BatCaveCreations]

Why don't you like it? I want ppl to hear other opinions too :)

[@whoisathome]

Good content, but you might wanna consider skipping the Chip n' Dale act. If you have something to say, maybe your audience would like to actually hear the words. Just sayin'...

[@BatCaveCreations]

Didn't have anything to say I was talking nonsense so I sped it up ahha

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Cadillac? Not hardly. How happy would you be if you drove your brand new Cadillac home from the dealer only to discover you need to do a tune-up on the engine to make it run the best it can? The fact that these so-called "premium" planes come with a blade that needs to be sharpened and honed is a scam. These planes should be perfect out of the box for what they cost. I don't buy it. Literally.

[@BatCaveCreations]

If you are talking about the Clico Green Clifton it's vintage, this model isnt made anymore. And all vintage planes needed tuned. It's only with modern machining and modern metals we can avoid that...