Scottish Plane?

4/9/05, 12:07 PM #1

Skip in Falls Church
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Scottish Plane?

Skip in Falls Church

>Someone gave me a wooden plane last night. The 2 1/8" laminated blade is a Marples (I think, W. unreadable and sons) Hibernia with a shamrock mark. The cap iron is a Mathieson and Sons with some kind of a cresent mark with something inside the cresent. The toe of the plane is stamped Jo Mc Kay. Would it be logical to find all these together as one original plane? I recognize both Marples and Mathieson and I *think* I've seen a Mc Kay as a Scottish plane maker. Any idea how old it might be? The guy that gave it to me said it had been passed down a couple or three generations - who knows?

It needs a little work - the mouth opening is about 1/4" so I need to let in a patch. (Been there, done that, still have patch material.) It also has a crack that runs from the heel down the side to about the mouth opening half way up the side. However, the crack doesn't seem to penetrate too far - I can't see it in the throat. Of course it's really dirty. I'm going to take a shot at rehabbing it. :)

Skip

Re: Scottish Plane?

4/9/05, 12:36 PM #2

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi
Guest

Re: Scottish Plane?

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Hi Skip,

I looked in the 3rd edition of British Planemakers by Goodman. There is an entry for MacKay from Glasgow(although none with the first name of Jo) but no McKay.

I don't think it is unusual to find a Marples iron with Mathieson cap iron. Many planemakers made the bodies and bought the irons from a variety of suppliers or a previous user may have substituted the Marples iron for the original after it had been used up.

Show us a picture after you get it cleaned up and tuned. There is nothing better then free tools, is there?

Jim

Re: Scottish Plane?

4/9/05, 6:28 PM #3

Skip in Falls Church
Guest

Re: Scottish Plane?

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Jim,

Thanks for looking for me - I figured it would be a long shot to actually "get a hit".

The guy has been telling me about this plane for about a year. When I came in to work last night it was sitting on the desk. From the stories he'd been telling me, I expected something pretty crappy. But I think it'll look really nice all cleaned up. It's probably got an inch of blade below the slot - enough to last me with no problems.

I'll be sure to post pictures when I get it fixed up. And no, there's nothing like getting free tools! :)

Skip

Scottish Plane?

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