Brass Side Rabbet Plane?

[Jim Koepke]

Every once in a while, something like this will show up on ebay.

It is usually a copy made by someone in a pattern shop.

Note the roughness of the casting around the Record name on the top. There is also a little bit of roughness under the blades crossing on the underside and the screw from the knob comes through the back. If one is familiar with the original Record side rabbet, this one would have a few other tells of unauthenticity. The blades are not shaped correctly and the screw looks wrong. Of course, the original was always cast in iron.

134623

jim

[Jim Paulson]

Jim,

For me it begs the question as to whether the plane is usable? Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the details of this side rabbet plane, but I'd sure be disappointed if I bought a copy instead of the real thing. Just asking. Perhaps as you suggest the warning sign was that the plane was offered in brass instead of cast iron. Yet LN offers a choice of bronze or steel on some planes now, so our historical knowledge would be critical.

BTW I always enjoy your depth of knowledge on these kinds of posts. Thanks for this one too.

Jim Paulson

http://www.chairsbypaulson.com

[george wilson]

Do you think they used a Record plane as a casting pattern? All they had to do was add a layer of wax to places like the bottom,or other places that had to be made smooth and flat later,cast it,and machine or file the surfaces smooth.

[Stu Gillard]

I see it went for approx $130 US.
That's a bit high for a copy, which it definitely is. I don't think the seller was being sneaky, they just didn't know.
(maybe that's just my inherent belief in good human nature)

Here's a link to some details about the original and a price guide
http://www.record-planes.com/record-no-2506-side-rabbet-plane

It appears to be cast from an original. A pattern maker would have made this for his/her own use.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim,

For me it begs the question as to whether the plane is usable? Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the details of this side rabbet plane, but I'd sure be disappointed if I bought a copy instead of the real thing. Just asking. Perhaps as you suggest the warning sign was that the plane was offered in brass instead of cast iron. Yet LN offers a choice of bronze or steel on some planes now, so our historical knowledge would be critical.

BTW I always enjoy your depth of knowledge on these kinds of posts. Thanks for this one too.

Jim Paulson

http://www.chairsbypaulson.com

To my knowledge LN is the only current major supplier of planes in bronze. Bronze is a harder and stronger material than brass.

There are some original brass planes, but to my knowledge, not from makers like Stanley, Record or many of the other big makers.

One thing to notice about this is the roughness of the casting compared to an original. This is common to more than just hand tools. When I was young, I read about it in an article cautioning about counterfeit, cast coins.

When I first started buying a lot of tools, one of the items was a copy of a Stanley #71 router plane. I ended up sending it to another Creeker who had a collection of tool copies.

When a copy is made from an original, there is some loss of detail. There is usually a bit more roughness along with a few other telling features.

As far as the function of the copy is concerned, I imagine it is possible for one to perform the function of the tool from which it was copied. The router that I bought did not. Also, the materials that these are usually made of are softer than the cast iron of the originals and may suffer stripped threads when screws are tightened.