Is this Wooden Plane Real

[Baxter Smith]

My wife likes to frequent the perrenial outdoor junk sale that a local lady has on weekends. Because some friends of ours were picking her up on the way, she asked if I wanted to go. I was willing to take a break from some sanding in the shop so went along. I have seen a variety of wooden moulding planes but none quite like this one.(I am assuming thats what it is) Thought you might be interested and perhaps have some info to share. It was about 30" long with a tote that was uncomfortable even to just pick it up. All that came home with me were the pictures.:)
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[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've seen odd planes with two stocks for sashmaking and such, but this looks like something that was cobbled together to make a decorative item or something - the mouths are cut the wrong way for the "handle" - but really, I'm lost as to what could be going on.

[Bill Houghton]

Not sure what the previous owner of that/those plane(s) was thinking. Given its general state, it's probably ready for painting pastoral scenes on.

[Joel Moskowitz]

If the bodies were at some point real planes there would be marks from where the handles were removed. So the planes are either totally fabricated or coopers planes which have had a handle added. the problem with the former therory is that the cutouts for the iron and wedge look right. so I am going for the latter theory. THe handle of course I think was added later when someone decided to make a prop out of two bodies.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Looking again, the thing that confuses me is that if they were two planes cobbled together for something or other, wouldn't there be some evidence of a mortise for a proper handles on there somewhere?

[Trevor Walsh]

This is obviously a very rare western-come-japanese tandem edge jointing plane. Commonly used to joint two boards at the same time! This is actually the first one I've ever seen, and it looks to be in great shape. (There's a reason for that)


We all need a good laugh now and again, man what could that have actually been for?

[Christian Castillo]

If it was cheep enough, and beech, I would have bought it just to have beech on hand for handles, or if I could get a solid enough chunk out for a smoother plane.

[Mark Baldwin III]

At first glance I thought about a cooper's set up, and the handle was just an add on (or maybe just to lug it around). The fact that each side is cut for different style irons confused me, though.

[Ted Martens]

Like Mark, I'm leaning towards something in the cooperage trades - those narrow wear bands at the tops of the toe and heel suggest it was intended to be used upside down, probably held in some kind of a rack or saddle.
I was at a living history exhibit years ago, where an amateur cooper was making oak water buckets on what appeared to be vintage tools, and he was using a single plane about that size to match the angles. Maybe this one has been setup to do roughing and finishing in one tool, hence the one side with an single iron and the other with a chipbreaker?
Ted
Who really enjoys the whatzits!

[john brenton]

Wow, there's a lot going on there. The mortises are very cleanly cut...I mean, it doesn't look like some country novice invention. Have no idea what the holes are for, and weird that only one has a mortise for the cap iron screw.

Yeah, this is a weird one. I'd check for a makers mark...I'm thinking it may be an early Merv Warner.

[David Weaver]

Wow, there's a lot going on there. The mortises are very cleanly cut...I mean, it doesn't look like some country novice invention. Have no idea what the holes are for, and weird that only one has a mortise for the cap iron screw.

Yeah, this is a weird one. I'd check for a makers mark...I'm thinking it may be an early Merv Warner.

I don't know, the planes are both facing the same direction, and there's still crisp detail on it :)

[Jim Koepke]

Maybe it is for pulling off a large tongue to fit in a large groove.

jtk

[john brenton]

That's the first thing I thought until I saw the bottom. The only way that could work is if you advanced the irons out every time you made a pass until you had the irons out an inch out of the mouth.


Maybe it is for pulling off a large tongue to fit in a large groove.

jtk

[john brenton]

Haha, yeah, I thought of Merv when I first looked and thought they were facing opposite directions.


I don't know, the planes are both facing the same direction, and there's still crisp detail on it :)

[Jim Koepke]

That's the first thing I thought until I saw the bottom. The only way that could work is if you advanced the irons out every time you made a pass until you had the irons out an inch out of the mouth.


Then it must be a fore plane...

Fore nothing conceivable by anyone who has ever worked wood.

jtk

[george wilson]

Actually,it's a jack plane. Made by someone who doesn't know jack about tools.:)

[Ryan Baker]

It's definitely unusual. Probably something built for a very specific job.

My first thought was that someone may have just been trying to build a wider plane ... maybe trying to get big jobs done faster. Something that size would certainly have to be pulled with a rope or something more than just someone pushing on a tote. Perhaps that explains the lack of normal totes. Perhaps the backwards tote that is there was just used to pull the setup back to the start. Probably not.

It does look like something that was intended to be used inverted, such as by a white cooper or something. The two irons may have been set differently. The problem with that idea is that I have never heard of a cooper that used, or needed, two settings on his jointer.

The holes through the bed near the mouth is the thing that I find most curious. I have no idea what that could have been for, unless maybe there was some sort of fence mounted to the bottom at one point. The cutout for the cap iron screw on one side is very strange too -- first that there would be a cap iron at all, and second that it was only on one side. Again, that might suggest a finer cut setup on one side. It doesn't look slapped together from a couple existing planes, because it doesn't look like regular totes ever existed there.

[John Coloccia]

My whacky theory...it is a coopers plane, or used similarly to a coopers plane. There was a fence that went in the middle of the two planes. Having the fence in the middle means that you're always able to choose which side to use based on the orientation of the grain.

[Jim Belair]

whacky? John, that's the best explanation of this odd ball plane I've heard yet! I'm going with it.

Jim B

[Mike Davis NC]

Looks like something for planing rough laid floors like in an old log cabin. If worked in same direction each time it could rough plane with the first iron, then when moved over to next pull the second iron would smooth where the previous iron had roughed. The big hole in the tote suggests that a rope was used to pull the plane and probably someone stood or rode the plane to keep it in the cut.

[Bill White]

Baxter wins! As they say on that NPR radio program, "stump the chumps".
Bill

[Baxter Smith]

Since there seems to be some interest in figuring this out, or at least guessing.... I enlarged a couple of my cell phone pictures.

........Yeah, this is a weird one. I'd check for a makers mark...I'm thinking it may be an early Merv Warner.
This is the closest I could find to a makers mark. Looks more like a C than an M or a W.;):)
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Baxter wins! As they say on that NPR radio program, "stump the chumps".
Bill
I'm not sure the chumps have been totally stumped. Some interesting theories about being either clamped upside down or pulled. I didn't take specific pictures of the ends but they must hold some clue. I just enlarged the same pictures.
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[Larry McGarrah]

In my humble opinion it looks like it could have been used to finish hardwood floors. The length, width, and bulkiness would have worked well to level and smooth over a large area. It is possible a different handle set-up may also have been attached front to rear to allow for more control of the plane's action and the handle which is still on the plane to have been used for smoother work later in the process. After the plane was used the whole floor would have been hand scraped and linseed oil applied as a finish.

[James Taglienti]

Its a real coopers plane. The plane was mounted on the floor or a notch in a special bench. Barrel staves were dragged across it. One side was for roughing and shaping and the other side was set very light and reserved for finishing passes, probably the side with the cap iron cutout. The handle was either used to secure it somehow, just an attempt at humor, or maybe both