Antique Plane Question

[James Ayars]

Hello all
My in-laws gave me an old wooden plane today and I'm trying to find any information I can about it.

On the iron is the name "Moulson". That is followed by another word I cannot make out.

On the wooden block, one end has the name "A. Earle" stamped on it. On the other end is "N. CH_MN_D". The underlines are letters I cannot make out.

The plane is 22" long.

Any ideas or information out there? Many thanks.
James

[Rick Whitehead]

Can you post a picture of it? That would help a lot in trying to identify it.
Names on planes can be either the owner's or the maker's. Maker's marks generally have a border around the lettering, while owner's marks generally don't.
I couldn't find a match for either of the names you describe. Among American plane makers, the closest I could come to the "A.Earle" mark was an A.R Earl(without the "E"), a St. Louis hardware dealer who manufactured planes 1850-69.
On the British side, there was a planemaker named Richard Earle in London from 1840-44, but that's not him either.
I can't make anything out of your other mark. That's where a photo would help.
The word after "Moulson" is probably "Brothers" who made plane irons and edge tools in Sheffield, England from 1824 to 1912.However, American makers sometimes used British plane irons.
A 22" long plane would be classified as a jointer plane, mostly used to plane the edge of a long board to make the edge straight.
That's all the information I can give you right now. Hope it helps.
Rick

[James Ayars]

Rick, thanks for the information. That's more than I knew before. I would post a pic, but I don't know how to do so. When I find my magnifying glass, I'll take another look at the names. Thanks again.
James