[OP]
Member
Picked this up at a yard sale. Is it a sash plane of some type? There is a place for a fence(?) on the right side, where there's a rabbet with brad holes. The plane has letters and numbers stamped on it, but no maker's name that I can discern.
Thanks for any insights!
Member
That's a bit of a puzzler. My first instinct would be to call this a panel raiser, albiet of a much older type than the more commonly seen one that looks like a wooden bench plane. What is clear is that you have a very old plane, or at least one made in a style that is 18th century, British or American. It clearly had an auxillary depth stop (that has now been removed), and possibly an auxillary fence.
Member
I'm stumped (and I love wooden planes). I can't recall seeing another plane with that profile. It doesn't look like a panel raiser -- at least any I've seen. Plus, the profile would create an odd panel. Instead of sloping up from the edge to the raised panel, it slopes down from the edge and transitions abruptly to a flat. That wouldn't work in the frame/panel context unless your frame/panel were unusually thick to begin with. (Of course, just because I haven't seen it, doesn't mean that it does not exist.)
I suspect that your guess about the plane being connected to the sash-making trade is getting close. There were specialized planes used to create window sils, window frames, etc. This plane, which is a large, apparently professionally made, and very specialized tool would not look out of place in the sash makers tool kit. It wouldn't be used on the sash, but there might be some use for it on the window case or window sil.
I hope someone here has the answer!
Guest
Couldn't say for sure but the profile is really close to what a lot of old window sills look like. Nice find either way!
Member
I thought the plane looked European. And,what is it made of? Elm?
Member
Don't know but I have a similar plane that I've used for male part of the sliding dovetail fairly effectively. I clamp a wooden jaw jorgenson on the board as a batten and keep the side of the plane tight to that. My plane is some kind of oak and I believe its French. It not only has a french look, but has a goldenberg iron and knicker.
That being said, I don't think it was meant for that.
Last edited by john brenton; 10-12-2011 at 9:40 PM.
It's sufficiently stout..
Member
Could be oak,but it shoo looks like elm. Not a usual wood for planes,but if shop made,no telling. It has the grain going vertical to the sole. But,ought to be very durable.
Member
This plane looks like a 'Zahnleistenhobel', as we call it in Germany. Here's a German and a French model side by side:
http://hobelaxt.wordpress.com/2010/0...dunkle-holz-f/
A scan from a German catalog:
http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/falz...linger_abt.jpg
The plane is used to make wooden slats used as shelf supports. This site shows some examples:
http://www.die-zahnleiste.de/bilder.html
A number of slats is clamped together and a first notch is planed. The fence then rides in one notch while planing the next one. This way the notches are equidistant.
What puzzles me is the absence of a nicker, which would be helpful when planing across the grain.
The wood may be hornbeam, usually used in German planes. But then it does not really look German.
Wolfgang
Member
Oh! Awesome, thanks Wolfgang. Even though it had a perfect ratio for dovetials, and worked well, I knew it couldn't be a dovetail plane. Great, now ill have to give that slatted shelf support thing a go and see how it works.
It's sufficiently stout..
Member
It doesn't look like hornbeam,does it?
Member
Fascinating!! Thanks Wolfgang.
Member
I have an old butler's secretary desk/cabinet that has shelf supports like Wolfgang showed. This piece dates to some time prior to the U.S. Civil War. It is solid walnut with glass upper doors, and burl raised fields in the drop-front and lower cabinet doors. It came to me thru my paternal grandmother's family from Kentucky to Texas. Unfortunately, some idiot "expert" refinished it using a pigmented sprayed finish. It took years of polishing to restore the burls.
[OP]
Member
I *think* it's elm, looking at Hoadley's "Identifying Wood". But it might not be. I'm not sure how to identify hornbeam. Here are a couple more images, showing the profile it seems to want to cut.
IMG_0627.jpgIMG_0626.jpg
Guest
Wow thanks Wolfgang! I really like the looks of those shelf supports and thats a way cool special purpose plane.
Member
I think Wolfgang's nailed it. I've not seen a wooden plane with this form for this purpose before, but I do have a more conventional version (at least conventional from the standpoint of British design) that cuts those shelf supports. I rather doubt your plane is hornbeam - I wouldn't expect to see such strong grain lines in that wood. Elm is certainly a possibility, as is chestnut. Chestnut is relatively rare as an American plane wood, but they do exist.
I also have my doubts that you've a Continental European plane. The wedges in cont. european planes are quite different than British and American planes, and in some ways match yours, but I suspect that the wedge in your plane was replaced with a relatively crude version many years ago. Even the angular-shaped wedges of European planes typically have a "hook" in the place of a British finial that allows a grip to pull out the wedge.
The shoulders, grip, escapement and other features strongly suggest 18th century British or American design.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote