Origins of an unmarked wooden smoother?

[Clayton Lambert]

Hey guys,

Picked this smoother plane up off of Ebay a year or so back for basically cost of shipping. Seems to have been user made?

It has a W. Butcher cast steel blade. I believe the primary wood is either maple or birch. Sole is Rosewood (not sure if that was added on later or not) and the wedge appears to be a mahogany. Can anyone venture a guess at where this plane may be from and how old it may be?

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[Steve Voigt]

No clue about the origins. But I'll venture a guess that it's a user-made plane. The iron sits a little further back than normal, and the shape of the rear is unusual.
Also, the sole was most likely applied long after the plane was made. The tiny prongs on the wedge indicate that as the plane wore, and the bottom was resurfaced, the wedge prongs were pared back until almost nothing was left.
How does it work? If nothing else, it has a nice looking iron. Old Butcher single irons like that are not easy to find.

[george wilson]

It looks like a light wood,maybe stained maple. Rosewood is a poor wearing wood. Not the best for the sole.

The edges of the plane are rounded like very late wooden planes,perhaps even early 20th. C.. I'd also guess user made. That rounded edge with a scratched line could also show continental influence. Someone went to a considerable extra amount of trouble to decorate the whole plane like that.

[Clayton Lambert]

Thanks guys-- I would have guessed older, but it makes sense. How long were those W Butcher blades in production? As for the Plane: it does work pretty well. Over the past couple years Ive amassed a wooden smoother, jack, and 2 Jointers that are in good useable shape to compliment my Stanley bench planes. I like the wooden ones but I don't use them as much because that would mean spending even more time sharpening :P