HAMLET HCT100 12 mm Straight Plane for woodturning

The HAMLET HCT100 12 mm Straight Plane is a traditional woodturning tool primarily designed for spindle turning, profiling and precision finishing work.

Narrower than a 25 mm plane, this 12 mm version offers excellent manoeuvrability and precision. It is particularly useful for working on smaller pieces, creating decorative details or accessing areas where a wider tool would be less convenient.

Its compact width also makes it an excellent complement to a larger plane in a complete set of woodturning tools.

A precise and manoeuvrable 12 mm Straight Plane

The narrow width of the HAMLET HCT100 is particularly useful for operations requiring greater precision.

It can be used for:

• Small turned workpieces.

• Fine cylindrical components.

• Small spindles.

• Wooden handles.

• Decorative details.

• V-cuts and V-grooves.

• Shoulders.

• Diameter transitions.

• Fine profiles.

• Finishing work.

The 12 mm width provides excellent control when working in confined areas or on pieces featuring numerous small details.

Ideal for spindle turning

The HAMLET HCT100 Straight Plane is primarily intended for spindle turning, where the workpiece is mounted between the headstock and tailstock of the wood lathe.

It is particularly suitable for producing:

• Small furniture legs.

• Spindles.

• Small balusters.

• Tool handles.

• Knobs and handles.

• Decorative posts.

• Fine cylindrical components.

• Small decorative columns.

• Turned ornaments.

• Detailed spindle work.

Its 12 mm width offers excellent manoeuvrability when working on smaller or more intricate profiles.

Particularly suitable for fine details

Fine detail work is where the HAMLET HCT100 12 mm Straight Plane really comes into its own.

When a turned piece features several diameters, shoulders or small decorative elements, a narrower tool makes it easier to work precisely in confined areas.

The HCT100 can therefore be used to refine a profile or work on a small section without the width of the tool becoming restrictive.

For woodturners who already own a wider plane, the 12 mm version is an especially useful addition.

Ideal for V-cuts and decorative details

This type of woodturning tool is traditionally used for producing clean V-cuts and V-grooves on spindle-turned workpieces.

Thanks to its narrow 12 mm width, the HAMLET HCT100 provides excellent precision for this type of work.

V-cuts can be used to:

• Visually separate two profiles.

• Create decorative details.

• Mark a change in diameter.

• Define different sections of a turned component.

• Add definition to decorative work.

• Create crisp transitions between profiles.

With good tool control, particularly clean and well-defined edges can be achieved.

Precise control when working on shoulders

The HAMLET HCT100 12 mm Straight Plane can also be used for operations requiring precise shoulders and diameter transitions.

On a furniture leg, handle, spindle or other cylindrical workpiece, changes in diameter often require clean and accurately defined transitions.

The narrow 12 mm width makes it easier to work in these areas and gives the turner precise control over the section of the cutting edge engaged with the wood.

This makes the HCT100 particularly useful for projects featuring multiple profiles and detailed transitions.

Clean cutting of the wood fibres

A properly sharpened plane is first and foremost a cutting tool.

Unlike a scraper, it does not simply scrape the surface of the wood. When correctly presented to the rotating workpiece, its cutting edge slices cleanly through the wood fibres.

This cutting action can produce an exceptionally clean surface.

The HAMLET HCT100 can therefore be used for final passes to considerably improve the surface finish before sanding.

Excellent finish directly from the lathe

One of the main advantages of mastering this type of tool is the ability to produce a high-quality surface directly on the lathe.

A correctly executed cut slices the wood fibres cleanly rather than tearing them.

This can help to:

• Reduce marks left by previous tools.

• Produce a more consistent surface.

• Cut the wood fibres cleanly.

• Reduce the need for abrasives.

• Save time during sanding.

• Prepare the workpiece for its final finish.

The cleaner the surface produced directly with the cutting tool, the less corrective sanding will be required afterwards.

And once you start to master the technique, seeing a clean, smooth surface appear directly behind the cutting edge is particularly satisfying.

12 mm or 25 mm Straight Plane?

Different widths are not necessarily alternatives to one another; they are mainly complementary.

The 12 mm Straight Plane is particularly useful for:

• Small workpieces.

• Fine details.

• Small diameters.

• Intricate profiles.

• V-cuts.

• Shoulders.

• Precision work.

A 25 mm Straight Plane will generally be more comfortable for:

• Larger workpieces.

• Larger cylinders.

• Table legs.

• Large balusters.

• Long finishing cuts.

• Work requiring greater tool stability.

For regular woodturners, having several widths available makes it possible to choose the most appropriate tool according to the size and geometry of the project.

Flat rectangular section

The HAMLET HCT100 features a traditional flat rectangular section.

This geometry provides stable contact with the tool rest of the wood lathe.

It differs from an oval-section tool, where the rounded sides provide a different feel when the tool is rolled or tilted during a cut.

The flat section provides firm contact with the tool rest, a characteristic appreciated by many traditional woodturners.

Straight Plane or oval-section tool?

Both profiles can be used for many similar woodturning operations, but they behave differently on the tool rest.

The Straight Plane has a flat rectangular section that provides a broad and stable contact surface.

An oval-section tool has rounded sides, changing the feel of the tool as it is tilted or rolled during use.

The choice largely depends on the woodturner's technique, habits and personal preferences.

For a versatile woodturning setup, having different profiles and widths available allows the most suitable tool to be selected for each operation.

A traditional tool that rewards practice

This type of tool is often regarded as one of the more technical traditional woodturning tools.

It does require some practice to correctly master:

• Cutting-edge position.

• Bevel contact with the wood.

• Tool angle.

• Movement along the tool rest.

• Control of the active part of the cutting edge.

However, the learning process is rewarded by the precision and excellent quality of cut that a well-controlled tool can provide.

The 12 mm version is particularly useful for developing precise techniques on smaller and medium-sized workpieces.

High-speed steel HSS construction

The HAMLET HCT100 Straight Plane is manufactured from high-speed steel (HSS), a material particularly well suited to traditional woodturning tools.

HSS offers several important advantages:

• Good resistance to wear.

• Good cutting-edge retention.

• Ability to be resharpened.

• Long working life with proper maintenance.

Its resharpenable construction makes it particularly suitable for regular use in the woodturning workshop.

A resharpenable tool for long-term use

Like all traditional cutting tools, the plane needs a properly sharpened edge to perform at its best.

The HAMLET HCT100 can be resharpened whenever required during its working life.

Regular maintenance of the cutting edge helps preserve clean cutting performance and also makes the tool easier to control.

Frequent light sharpening is generally preferable to continuing to work with an excessively dull cutting edge.

With proper maintenance, a quality HSS tool can remain part of a woodturner's equipment for many years.

Supplied handled and sharpened

The HAMLET HCT100 12 mm Straight Plane is supplied with its handle and sharpened.

You therefore receive a complete tool without having to manufacture or fit a separate handle.

The handle provides the grip and leverage required to guide the tool accurately during turning.

Good control is particularly important with this type of tool, especially when performing detailed work and final finishing cuts.

A HAMLET tool to complete your woodturning set

HAMLET offers a wide range of traditional tools for different woodturning operations.

The 12 mm HCT100 is particularly useful as part of a collection that already includes wider turning tools.

A versatile woodturning set may include:

• Roughing gouge.

• Spindle gouge.

• Bowl gouge.

• 12 mm Straight Plane.

• Wider Straight Plane.

• Straight scraper.

• Round scraper.

• Parting tool.

Each tool then has its own purpose, allowing the woodturner to choose the right cutting geometry for each stage of the project.

The ideal complement to a roughing gouge

During spindle turning, a roughing gouge is generally used to quickly transform a square blank into a cylinder.

Once the initial roughing stage has been completed, other tools can be used to create profiles and improve the finish.

The HAMLET HCT100 Straight Plane can then be particularly useful for more precise operations such as:

• Creating profiles.

• Finishing small cylinders.

• Producing V-cuts.

• Working on shoulders.

• Creating decorative details.

• Performing final finishing cuts.

It therefore does not replace the roughing gouge but complements it during the profiling and finishing stages.

Suitable for developing skills and precision

The HAMLET HCT100 Straight Plane is suitable for experienced woodturners as well as beginners wishing to develop their traditional woodturning techniques.

For beginners, it provides an opportunity to progressively learn bevel and cutting-edge control.

For experienced woodturners, its narrow 12 mm width is particularly useful for fine and precise work.

This is exactly the type of tool that proves its value when a wider tool starts to feel cumbersome: a small detail to refine, a V-cut to define or a shoulder to sharpen, and having a narrower tool close at hand quickly becomes invaluable.

Features of the HAMLET HCT100 Straight Plane

• Brand: HAMLET

• Reference: HCT100

• Tool type: Straight Plane

• Application: woodturning

• Main application: spindle turning

• Width: 12 mm

• Section: flat and rectangular

• Material: high-speed steel HSS

• Suitable for small workpieces

• Ideal for fine details and profiles

• Suitable for V-cuts

• Suitable for shoulders

• Suitable for finishing work

• Supplied with handle

• Supplied sharpened

• Resharpenable

Why choose the HAMLET HCT100 12 mm Straight Plane?

The HAMLET HCT100 is particularly suitable for woodturners looking for a narrower and more manoeuvrable tool for precision work.

Its 12 mm width makes it useful for:

• Small turned workpieces.

• Small diameters.

• Wooden handles and knobs.

• Spindles.

• Decorative details.

• V-cuts and grooves.

• Shoulders.

• Diameter transitions.

• Fine profiles.

• Clean finishing cuts.

• Reducing subsequent sanding.

It perfectly complements a wider plane, giving the woodturner the option to select the most appropriate width according to the size and geometry of each project.

A precise and durable HAMLET woodturning tool

With its high-speed steel HSS construction, compact 12 mm width and flat rectangular section, the HAMLET HCT100 Straight Plane is particularly well suited to precision woodturning.

Resharpenable and supplied with its handle, it is designed to provide long-term service in the woodturning workshop.

For small spindle-turned pieces, fine profiles, V-cuts, shoulders, handles, spindles and decorative details, the HAMLET HCT100 offers the precision and manoeuvrability expected from a narrow traditional woodturning tool.