Old Plane?

Fire away

Jim Reed @ tallahassee

>The plane was made to be used on wood and I think the Smithsonian is full anyway. Use away. I am curious about the York+ pitch as it seems to move the plane into scraper territory. Probably made to order for some Phila cabinetmaker who was loosing his temper over those dang 18" wide figured mahogany boards.

Re: Old Plane?

Larry Williams

>Paul,

If your smooth plane is 18th Century the heel will probably be only rounded from the top. You'll see what I'm talking about if that's what you have. I can't tell much about the chamfers from the photo. Steeper bed angles are relatively common wooden planes. Single iron planes were offered until very near the end of wooden plane production.Was the bed cut for the cap iron screw of a double iron? Can we see this plane from the side? Preferably with some side light that shows the details better.

Don't give up on reading the maker's mark. It took me a couple years to see an I KING mark on a plane we have. Tom Elliot and Mike Humphrey once spent about a half hour trying to read that mark, under magnification, without success. You'd have a hard time finding two more knowledgeable people to try to read a mark on an American plane. One day I had the light just right and the mark became clear.

Re: Fire away

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native, Presently Away

>Yes-sir-ree Paul, I'd use that plane without a moments hesitation. Looks like a real beauty too. I wonder how it would do with a toothing blade in it? Go make some shavings, NOW! ;~)

Todd O.

Re: Old Plane?

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I have several of these old coffins, with double, single, and toothed blades. I haven't done anything with the mouths yet because on some bocote I couldn't get any plane to work; so I applied high angle coffin with double blade and wide mouth, worked a charm.

Pam

Heel View

Paul in NJ

>The bed is for a single iron, no slot for the cap iron screw. It appears that the heel is only rounded from the top like you said.

Paul Dzioba

Side View

Paul in NJ

>Larry,

The chamfers that run along the top are about 5/16" wide. Thanks for responding to my post.

Paul Dzioba

Re: Side View

Warren in Lancaster, PA

>Paul, thanks for showing this picture. I hope I can see it in person. I think that the high angle planes were becoming less common toward the end of the eighteenth century as the double irons became more common.

About using the plane, I have two wooden planes that I have used in production work for quite a few years. If you are easy on the sole, using it only on broad surfaces that have been already planed, you will not see any significant wear in your lifetime. Things like chamfering or rough planing (or abuse) are more likely to wear the sole. Also I have noticed that old planes don't seem as responsive to seasonal changes, so truing the sole doesn't seem to be as much an issue.

Re: Heel View

Larry Williams

>Paul,

I would guess your plane is at least mid 19th Century. It does look like a good one and well worth the effort to put to use.

The heel feature I was talking about is different. Here's an early 19th Century plane that has what has come to be thought of as an 18th Century heel:

and from the toe:

I really like that iron. It shows the transition from the tombstone iron of the 18th Century to the steeply angled corners of the 19th Century. The fact it's labeled "shear steel" is interesting too.

Early bench planes, especially smooth planes, are rare. It'd be hard to put together a big enough group to get any kind of representative sampling, so I'm depending on what I've been told by knowledgeable people.

I'll resist the urge to comment on single iron planes--hard as that is.

Except for what we make for Williamsburg, the only 18th Century detail or feature we have avoided is the 18th Century heel on smooth planes. It's just not all that comfortable and one needs a healthy callus in the palm of their hand to use such a plane for long.

Re: Heel View

Paul in NJ

>I am not too fond of cap irons, especially on smoothers. They are another thing to play with and obscure what is happening inside the mouth. Their best feature for me is that they prevent the iron from dropping on my toe!

Paul Dzioba

Re: Side View

Paul in NJ

>Hi Warren,

I will use it sparingly for final smoothing of troublesome grain. You can take a look and spin at Pennsbury this spring. Did you make it to the Williamsburg Conference this year?

Paul Dzioba

Re: Heel View

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>On Japanese smoothers/polishers I seldom use the subblade. Actually I can't remember the last time I did, maybe 4 years ago. However, the iron doesn't fall out the bottom, the blade itself is such a wedge that it doesn't move.

Pam