Norris Question

[Vince Shriver]

I have a Norris panel plane (17 inches). I'd kind of like to use this beast, but I'm not quite sure what it was designed for. The iron has a steep angle (over 35 degrees). It's quite heavy and has square sides. Maybe for a shooting boad. Anyone? Thanks, Vince

[Roger Bell]

Norris of London was a premier maker of fine planes from 1860 into the 1950's I think. They are worth quite a bit of dough if in good shape. (Try not to get an ideas about "flattening the sole" on a plane like this). To get an idea of what we are talking go here:

http://www.thebestthings.com/infill.htm

This particular dealer sells for pretty much top dollar, but it will show kind of the going rate. He usually has several infills for sale at any given time. Tony Murland in England is another. You can google him. Don't be surprised if people become interested in buying it from you.

A panel plane of your length would be used the same as perhaps the Bailey #6...or as a short jointer. The Norris irons are a bit wider and quite a bit thicker than the ones put out by Stanley aka "the thin iron boys".

I don't know if the sides were milled square to the sole or not. If they are, you could shoot with it too, I suppose. I would imagine that craftsmen in those days had dedicated miter planes for those purposes and did not use their panels for that purpose, but that was all before I was born.

If you want to see a real old school craftsman using this kind of plane, get Jim Kingshott's Bench Planes video, now out on DVD. Hartville Tool has the DVD on sale until Jan 10. It is an excellent instructional video and one everyone should own.

[Jim Nardi]

Some Norris are worth alot more than others. Make sure to include a good pic of the blade stamp and chip breaker. It's a really big job to a panel size plane into shape to use as a smoother.

[Joel Moskowitz]

The 17 1/2" Norris panel plane is just about as wonderful a plane you can get for dressing timber. THe weight will let it coast through tough wood and it's just the length to give you the accuracy you need for leveling a board that has just been scrubbed. (it's not a jointer for accurate butt joints) it's like a wonderful jack plane.

Enjoy!!!!