Tool chap’s placed in church with letter on plate? (6)
I believe the answer is:
chisel
'tool' is the definition.
(I know that chisel is a type of edge tool)
'chap's placed in church with letter on plate?' is the wordplay.
'chap's' becomes 'his' (belonging to a man).
'placed in' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'letter on plate?' becomes 'L' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'his' inserted into 'ce' is 'chise'.
'chise'+'l'='CHISEL'
(Other definitions for chisel that I've seen before include "Edge tool for the carpenter" , "Sharp tool" , "Hammered cutting tool" , "Hand tool to shape wood" , "Tool used to shape wood, stone or metal" .)