Which are the best woodworking hand planes brands? Nowadays, there is a wide variety of hand planes, materials and prices. In addition, some brands are only sold in the country where they are manufactured, being unknown in many others. Therefore, in this post we want to help you to find the best product for your needs.
What hand plane to buy?
De entrada, deberemos tener presente el tipo de trabajo que queremos realizar. Normalmente, se suele diferenciar entre 3 tipos de cepillos de carpintero según sea para:
- Delete layers of material
- Flatten or work the wood
- Soften the finish wood
Following this order, we see that there is a kind of hand plane for each step of the work: one to clean or devastate the surface, another to give shape and finally one to give the finest finish. In this article we will focus mainly on the carpenter’s hand planes with t a straight cutting blade. We leave for later the best models of leaves dedicated to make drawings.
Best hand planes brands:
The classic brand is Stanley. The Sweetheart line stands out for the original quality that characterized this North American brand. For this reason, they offer hand planes capable of the most demanding works. The Sweetheart nº 4 bench plane is an example of this know-how. Its 3.18mm blade is one of the thickest that exists and is designed to offer excellent edge conservation. It is used for smoothing the wood … even the hardest. The counter blade holds the blade for optimum stability and prevents possible chipping.
Lie-Nielsen is a very American famous brand thanks to its constant effort to improve the quality of the tools. Thanks to their events organized for professionals, they have been able to achieve the necessary feed-back of carpenters’ needs. Today, Lie-Nielsen is a worldwide reference.
Among its wide range of products, today we want to point out the bench planes. Inspired by Stanley Bedrock designs, there are a wide range of sizes (from nº 1 to nº8). The largest are dedicated to thinning the wood. This bench plane is a must have thanks to their ergonomic combination of the handles and its quick system to change the blade.
Another of the best hand planes brands is Clifton, which offers rebate planes, hand jointers and spokeshaves. It is based in Sheffield (England) and is characterized by their elaborate designs and excellent quality: its blades have a hardness of more than 61 HRC. If you are looking for a tool with character and quality, this is your brand. Like Lie-Nielsen, Clifton offers a wide range of hand planes, such as nº 4 for smoothing or the spectacular rebate plane 420. This received 5 stars in Good Woodworking Magazine in 2012.
If we speak of beautiful tools, the Scottish Holtey is a referent. These are hand planes made by hand, piece by piece. Maybe you will fall in love with it, but we warn you that prices start at 3,000€. Holtey carpenter brushes are designed for jobs that require high precision. If you need to smooth your projects, models like 11-SA or nº11 Miter are of your interest.
Finally, the Canadian Veritas. This brand distributed by LeeValley is a benchmark in North American. Synonymous with high quality, it mainly emphasizes the material of its leaves, made in carbon steel. But if we want the best, they recommend the PM-V11®, a patented steel of extreme hardness that seems capable of cutting the air. Among its models, stand out the # 5-1 bench planes. It has a leaf wider and longer than other brands, subject to a counterblade almost completely. This offers a perfect controlled cut, precise and without tension.
We hope you like this article. Which are your best hand planes brands? See you in the next post 😉
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