Revonoc

[Fred Herrington]

I have ended up with an old HSB&Co Revonoc wood jointing plane. Just trying to figure out how old it is. The wood body and the plane iron itself both have the an HSB&Co/REV-O-NOC trademark. The "hsb" above revonoc, with the R the height of both lines. If anybody knows anything about this type of plane I'd be interested, can't really pin anything down on a couple of google searches. The iron is tapered too, which I hadn't seen before.

Thanks

[harry strasil]

Most tapered irons are Laid On blades, Blister or refined blister steel forge welded to a soft wrought iron body.

[David Weaver]

I have ended up with an old HSB&Co Revonoc wood jointing plane. Just trying to figure out how old it is. The wood body and the plane iron itself both have the an HSB&Co/REV-O-NOC trademark. The "hsb" above revonoc, with the R the height of both lines. If anybody knows anything about this type of plane I'd be interested, can't really pin anything down on a couple of google searches. The iron is tapered too, which I hadn't seen before.

Thanks

It's an ohio tool made iron, thus the taper.

HS&b hardware sold or distributed them, and they are definitively an ohio tool made plane (i edited my original post because it was not correct).

Is it all wood or is it wood and metal?

[James Taglienti]

is it- all wood or transitional?
I didn't know that Hibbard Spencer & Bartlett offered an all wood jointer.
If the plane is a transitional, and indeed made by Ohio, there should be a hexagonal hole at the botton of the central slot, by the cutting edge. This was their effort to bypass a Stanley owned patent.
If it is all wood, the hole will be up higher by the logo, and not hexagonal. If that's the case, the maker is anybody's guess.
Stanley did make revonoc, siegley, and other planes that had a tapered cutter. These did not have a hexagonal hole. The cutter manufacturer on these planes is anybody's guess.
If it is a trasitional, the tote will be a good indicator of who made it also.

[Jonathan McCullough]

revonoC is an anadrome. IIRC, Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett didn't have enough partners and hired an enterprising fellow named Conover to contract out their tool lines. They had a line called "Our Very Best" or "OVB," not unlike E.C. Simmons's Keen Kutter or Shapleigh's Diamond Edge. I think Revonoc was a second line, like Sears's Dunlap or Companion series tools, but from what I can gather, the Revonoc tools are pretty good.

[Fred Herrington]

Sorry should have clarified, it is transitional. The slots and holes in the iron and chipbreaker seem pretty typical, don't see anything that's clearly a hexagon, but the iron and wooden sole definitely have HSB stamped on them. Does anyone have suggested angles to sharpen a tapered iron to? Otherwise I'll probably just maintain the same bevel. It seems to be in pretty good shape and the sole is still true, kind of cool old plane.

[David Weaver]

Same as you'd do any other iron.

Just remember on the transitional to keep the iron bedded to the wood.

One of the first smoothers I got was a transitional that someone had moved the frog forward on in an attempt to close the mouth. The iron wasn't bedded on any wood at all, and I tried to use it. Didn't work very well.

Learned a little more after having set it aside for a long time and pulled it out and adjusted the frog so the iron was flush with the wooden bed, and it was a very nice little plane to use.

[John Toigo]

I believe that Revonoc superceded OVB and dates to the teens & twenties. I have a fondness for Revonoc & have a few in my collection.