Re: Thanks Ben
Cameron
>Just a few things...
Tod Hughs wrote:
"I think the reason they could turn out so many planes back then was that they had a much bigger operation then the Shepard one today with more workers putting them together...as well as the machines needed in thier production."
Most infill makers were small scale operations as far as workers were concerned. Many of them were just 1 or two craftsmen (Slater, Holland, Miller, Galloway etc.). Norris and Spiers a few more people (if you look at the size of the factories these planes were made in you can see that there's not a lot of room to move around in). One of the exceptions was Mathieson. Now this was a large company with a large workforce, but it's unsure how many worked in the iron plane section of the factory.
Dave Anderson wrote:
"Yes, LN, LV, Bill Carter, and Carl Holtey might have these things, but they are either former machinists, or they are significantly larger than most craft shops."
Karl Holtey comes from a machinist background and has all the necessary equipment needed to make his excellent planes. He does (or at least did) about 20 planes a year.
Bill Carter on the other hand is strictly a "low tech" one man operation and has quite a small workshop. He didn't even have a drill press last time I talked to him and he'd made over 900 planes to that point. He's well over the 1000 mark by now.
Incidently Karl is baffled by the fact that Bill can file all his plane mouths without the aid of a machine, and Bill is equally impressed by the quality of Karl's work and says that they're the best planes he's ever seen, bar none.
Moses Yoder wrote:
"I'm not sure exactly what field you work in, but I'll bet that Union #5A plane I just got that if you send me a piece of your work I can write a bad review about it."
That's exactly it though - anyone can find fault with any plane if they really want to. That's why I never really take hand tool reviews seriously because everything is subjective. I once read a long time ago that one side of a coffin smoother was out of square by a couple of thou! So what? Who cares? What difference does it make to the usability of the plane? The answer is "none whatsoever!"
And finally I have to agree with Ben about the "gappy" toe/heel plates. These are commonplace amongst infills - old and new - and don't have any bearing to the workability of the planes. They usually occur when the forming jigs get a little sloppy from use.
