Is this Wooden Plane Real

[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.
Makers Mark.jpg

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.
Rabbit.jpgBroken Hole.jpg

[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