Todd Ferrante
06-02-2009, 8:03 PM
Back in mid-May my wife and I visited Columbus, OH for a family event. We had a free morning before catching our airplane back to VA, and she wanted to hit a couple antique shops along the way. Whenever we visit antique shops in Virginia where we live, I'm always amazed at the prices people attempt to charge for the blown out pieces of crap handplanes they dig from the dirt. Well, I finally stumbled on one I was willing to buy.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2471/3590035691_a33ef6c645_b.jpg
This plane is in the best shape of any wooden plane I've seen except brand new ones. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be a modern reproduction of some kind. The wood is in that good of shape. Also, the screw holding on the tote has a philips head, which wasn't even invented until the 1930's. I'm usually pretty good with google, but I've found very little by searching on the makers marks.
Mark on the iron:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3590035899_9a85f413b5_o.jpg
Mark on the chip breaker:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3587/3590035869_7b212b14a6_o.jpg
The body is 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches x 19 inches long. Total weight is 6 lb 3 oz. The wood of the body is dark, heavy and dense, but doesn't look to be as fine grained as the rosewood totes on my Stanleys, though it does have a reddish hue. The handle looks mapley, and I could swear the wedge is pine.
The iron had a nice hollow ground bevel and while not razor sharp, the edge had no nicks. I put a scary sharp polish on the blade back and secondary bevel, and the plane cuts like a dream. I had wondered for a while now what the difference was between a thick, old style plane iron, and the thinner blade of a Stanley. Now I know. Not a bad souvenir for 25 bucks.
One interesting detail is that the chip breaker is bare metal, while the iron seems to have been blued to resist corrosion. On the back side of the iron, there was a sharp line where it looked like the bluing had been masked from the lower half inch, where the blade back would be polished.
If anyone has any ideas where this plane comes from, I'd sure like to hear them. If I had to invent a back story I would say it was well used, but never abused. Maybe by a hobbiest woodworker who built the plane himself in the 1960's around an older plane iron / chip breaker. It was kept in a garage shop and ended up in the antique store after an estate auction, where it sold for far too little.
Here is a closer look at the throat. It looks to have some sort of repair on the inside of the right cheek. Maybe from a mistaken cut when the plane was made? It certainly doesn't adversely effect the cutting performance of the plane.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3590036089_8bc77673a2_b.jpg
Thoughts?
Todd F.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2471/3590035691_a33ef6c645_b.jpg
This plane is in the best shape of any wooden plane I've seen except brand new ones. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be a modern reproduction of some kind. The wood is in that good of shape. Also, the screw holding on the tote has a philips head, which wasn't even invented until the 1930's. I'm usually pretty good with google, but I've found very little by searching on the makers marks.
Mark on the iron:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3590035899_9a85f413b5_o.jpg
Mark on the chip breaker:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3587/3590035869_7b212b14a6_o.jpg
The body is 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches x 19 inches long. Total weight is 6 lb 3 oz. The wood of the body is dark, heavy and dense, but doesn't look to be as fine grained as the rosewood totes on my Stanleys, though it does have a reddish hue. The handle looks mapley, and I could swear the wedge is pine.
The iron had a nice hollow ground bevel and while not razor sharp, the edge had no nicks. I put a scary sharp polish on the blade back and secondary bevel, and the plane cuts like a dream. I had wondered for a while now what the difference was between a thick, old style plane iron, and the thinner blade of a Stanley. Now I know. Not a bad souvenir for 25 bucks.
One interesting detail is that the chip breaker is bare metal, while the iron seems to have been blued to resist corrosion. On the back side of the iron, there was a sharp line where it looked like the bluing had been masked from the lower half inch, where the blade back would be polished.
If anyone has any ideas where this plane comes from, I'd sure like to hear them. If I had to invent a back story I would say it was well used, but never abused. Maybe by a hobbiest woodworker who built the plane himself in the 1960's around an older plane iron / chip breaker. It was kept in a garage shop and ended up in the antique store after an estate auction, where it sold for far too little.
Here is a closer look at the throat. It looks to have some sort of repair on the inside of the right cheek. Maybe from a mistaken cut when the plane was made? It certainly doesn't adversely effect the cutting performance of the plane.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3590036089_8bc77673a2_b.jpg
Thoughts?
Todd F.