Terry Gordon's snipe bill planes

[Jack Curtis]

Anyone here had a chance to try Terry Gordon's snipe bill planes yet? They look as great as his other planes I've tried, but snipe bills are a special thing.

[Jim Neeley]

This spring I purchased a pair of bull oak (bulloke) snipe bills from Terry to go with the h/r and beading planes I'd gotten from Patrick Leach. I've only had the opportunity to make test cuts since I've moved and am trying to re-set-up shop but they work as wonderfully as they look.

With their brass wear plate, warping will never be an issue..

They're currently still packed from the move but I'll try to find them and take a picture when I return home on Tuesday.

[Jack Curtis]

Thanks, Jim, it's that brass boxing that has me most worried, looks like it would stumble on the wood, tear out a bit. I've use several HNT planes and like them a lot, but they all have wood soles. I look forward to your photos.

[David Keller NC]

I wouldn't worry too much about the brass boxing. I typically use a LH/RH pair of Lie-Nielsen skew rabbet block planes to cut micro-rabbets in molding sticks (I use a large moving fillister for bigger rabbets), and most of the time the rabbet I'm making is very small. So much so that there is a great deal of pressure at the sharp arris of the brass sole. I've never had problems with catches, though I'm religious about waxing the soles of my planes, whether they're wooden, steel or brass/bronze.

Besides that, Mr. Gordon has a strong reputation for prototyping. I would think he's put quite a bit of thought into the brass boxing idea.

The only observation about these planes that would give me slight (and I do mean slight) pause for thought is what looks like an unusual geometry for the soles. My antiques appear quite a bit narrower, and have steeper fade-outs to the body of the plane to provide clearance in close quarters.

[Jack Curtis]

Thanks, David, I have a lot of confidence in Terry, which I why I'm even considering his snipe bills. I have a lot less confidence in my ability to work them properly. :) I thought that if I were to have problems with catching, I could always round off a tiny bit of the leading edge, turn it into a skate.

And it's the soles that also give me pause. I don't know why he and C&W/Oldstreet don't show many more photos of their planes on their web sites. I can see more detail on ebay than their sites. I suppose they could be concerned about people making their own copies; but there are so many details in making planes that that would likely be less than successful.

It's interesting you use the LN planes in making moldings. And why not? That's one less plane I have to buy to try this stuff.