holy handplanes!!!
james watriss
>So, the three woodies finally showed up this week.
The largest is a 29" razee beech jointer that looks like it was coated in some sort of pitch, particularly on the end grain, both at the ends, and in the throat. The chip breaker is also faceted, as you'd see on an infill plane. There's a huge maker's stamp in the top of the blade, but I can't make it out.
There's also a 26" razee out of mahogany, with a 2" wide blade. The whole thing is nice and light, and is clearly going to be nice to use, though I think I'm going to like the heft of the 29 a little more.
And finally the Sorby. 22" fore plane. If the amount of iron left on the cutter is any testimony to how much a plane was used, and hopefully how nice it was to use, this one was clearly used a LOT. There are light spots in the finish due to wear... one next to the handle, right where the side of the hand would go, a general light area in front of the throat, and a light stripe on the left side, about where the thumb would go if you were cradling the bottom. From initial impressions, I can say I'm not surprised it got so much use... old and worn as it is, it just feels nice. The chipbreaker is mildly faceted, too... though nowhere near as much as on the 29er. The only odd thing is a domed brass nut on the chip breaker to hold it to the blade, requiring a big chunk be taken out of the wedge. I'm guessing someone stripped the breaker at some point, and this was the easiest fix. Huge maker's stamp on this blade, too.
All 3 have HUGE tapered irons. I'm wetting down the stones as we speak.
Have a good weekend, all.
