HNT Gordon Block and Shoulder Planes Review

HNT Gordon builds wooden-bodied planes in Australia — smoothing planes, block planes, shoulder planes and specialist tools — and sells them direct. They are not on Amazon.

What is actually different about them

Bed angle. Most metal bench planes bed the blade at 45 degrees, and low-angle block planes at 12 to 20 degrees with the bevel up. HNT Gordon planes are bedded high, commonly around 60 degrees.

That is not a styling choice. A high cutting angle scrapes more than it slices, and a scraping action does not lift interlocked grain. In Australian hardwoods, figured timber and reversing grain, a 45-degree plane tears out and a 60-degree plane does not.

The cost is effort. A high angle takes noticeably more force to push, and it dulls faster because more of the edge is in compression. On straight-grained pine it is the wrong tool and a standard plane is better.

So the honest summary: if you work difficult figured hardwood, the high angle is a real solution to a real problem, and buying direct from HNT Gordon is how you get it. If you work softwood and mild hardwood, it is not an upgrade.

The shoulder plane question

A shoulder plane is a different thing again, and it is worth being clear about what it does. It trims the cheek and shoulder of a tenon or a rebate, and its blade is the full width of the sole so it can cut right into a corner. Its sides must be square to the sole, because you use it on its side as often as on its base.

Most people who buy one do so after a run of tenons that were slightly fat. It is a fitting tool, not a shaping tool — you should be removing a shaving, not a millimetre.

What to buy

The Bench Dog 3-in-1 shoulder, bullnose and chisel plane, linked below, converts between three configurations by moving the nose section. The chisel configuration, with the blade at the very front, is the one that earns it: it reaches into a stopped rebate or a blind corner where nothing else will fit.

It will need honing before first use. Almost every plane in this price range does, and ten minutes on a stone is the difference between a tool that works and a tool you conclude is rubbish.