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James Mittlefehldt
01-15-2007, 10:05 AM
Went rust hunting yesterday, and had some good luck. I bought a 26 inch Shurley & Dietrich crosscut saw, which is identical to a rip saw I have from the same maker except the blade on the crosscut is narrower, maybe from more sharpening.

However as stated above the real reason for this thread was to inqire if anyone here has knowledge of a plane maker called WmThomson, I am assuming the m as it is hard to make out on the plane, but there is something there. It is a really nice fillester that I swear had a wedge in it when I bought it but seems to have gone awol. I will make a new one if needs be.

Anyway I spent two hours this morning googling and found a lot of interesting stuff, I am easily distracted, but nothing about this planemaker. Problem is here in Canada we tend to get both American and British tool makers so I am not even sure if this one is British or American.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Rick Whitehead
01-15-2007, 11:07 AM
There is a Wm. Thomson listed in "A Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planes". The listing states:"William A.Thomson,who was born in Scotland, operated a hardware store in Buffalo, NY 1839-46." An example of his mark is shown, which reads"Wm.A.THOMPSON/BUFFALO/N.Y." Note the "P" in the mark, burt not in the name as listed. I have no explanation for this.
That's all the info I have. Maybe someone else withh a later edition of the book can provide more info.
Rick

James Mittlefehldt
01-16-2007, 12:23 AM
Thanks Rick for that, it does seem a bit odd that his name is spelled two ways, and the name on this one is definitly Thomson no p.

There is a neat but much lighter mark on the plane that says Manners, which I assume is someone who may have owned it along the way. Perhaps I will try Uk workshop, maybe it is British.