The Two Handplanes Every Woodworker Should Have

Whether your woodworking journey starts with hand tools or not, eventually every woodworker should have two handplanes available to perfect their skills. Those are a block plane and a jack plane, and we've combined two premium planes to create a starter set, and shaved a few dollars off the set as well!

Block Plane

The Clifton Low Angle Adjustable Mouth Block Plane looks like a boutique tool. Don't be deceived by its elegant appearance, however, it is as functional as it is pleasing to the eye. Clifton Planes are made in Sheffield, England by the last remaining traditional hand tool manufacturer in the U.K. Their hand planes are superb modern examples of old-world craftsmanship and this block plane is our favorite piece of the Clifton line. Made from bronze, this block plane aims to offer the ultimate in comfort and style. Fitting your hand perfectly with its high-quality Walnut handle, this is a plane you will be proud to own and will serve you for a lifetime. The premium cast bronze body provides extra heft, and will not rust like a cast iron plane and the adjustable mouth allows you to control the size of your shavings and dial in the perfect paring action. The 1-5/8"-wide blade is beveled at 25° and bedded at 12°, for a total effective angle of attack of 37°

Jack Plane

The Kunz Plus Jack Plane (No. 5) can handle jobs where the smaller No. 4 might be a bit too small, and where the No. 6 might be overkill. So the jack plane becomes the "Jack of all Trades" for handplanes. The Kunz Plus Jack body is manufactured from stress-relief annealed grey-cast iron, and the soles are expertly machined to be flat and square to the cheeks. The short and stout, 1/8" thick plane iron is made from optimized tool steel, hardened to RC60-62, to prolong life and edge retention. The frog rests in a fully machined bed and can be adjusted to open or close the mouth without removing the blade, cap iron, or lever cap and the refined one-screw adjustment makes tuning easy. The Norris-style adjuster follows the same single-screw adjustment theme as the frog with one point of both lateral and depth of adjustment of the plane iron, with little slop and minimal backlash.