Fore & Jointer Planes

Fore and jointer planes are the longer members of the bench plane family, used after the jack plane to bring a surface into true. Their long soles ride over the furrows left by earlier jack planing, spanning the low spots and nipping off the crests until the surface is genuinely flat rather than merely smooth, which is where the older names 'try' and 'trying plane' come from.

We stock these planes from Clifton, whose castings are ring tested and ground to a tolerance well within British Standard for bench planes, and Quangsheng, whose bedrock pattern gives full contact between body and frog for a firmer, more adjustable setup than the traditional Bailey pattern.

Within the range you will find:

• No.6 fore planes, a manageable size between the jack and full jointer, equally at home shooting or jointing edges up to six feet long
• No.7 try planes, longer and heavier again, excellent for jointing the edges of boards for glue-ups
• No.8 jointer planes, the largest of the range, built for getting large surfaces and long edges truly flat rather than everyday stock removal

The longer the board, the more these planes earn their keep, since the wider the reference points at toe and heel, the shallower and faster to correct any hollow becomes. Every plane comes with our lifetime guarantee and the same honest advice we are known for. If you are weighing up a No.6 against a No.7 or 8, get in touch and we will help you choose the right length for your bench.