These side plate profile drawings are from a later model Spiers dovetailed infill panel plane and are offered more as a template for cutting out the side plates for dovetailing, rather than a full and comprehensive set of plans or diagrams. Typically the side plates of these planes were made from 3/16″ thick pieces of mild steel and this particular plane was no exception. Likewise the sole plate was the usual 1/4″ thick. Unfortunately the dovetails are not marked here, though I may draw up a proper set of plans at a later stage. In regards to the actual plane itself, the lever cap was an embossed and dimpled “Spiers Ayr” type in bronze and the infill was Brazilian rosewood. though there was a fillet piece of pine (not beech) behind the mouth in the rear infill. The plane was not disassembled so I’m not aware how far back the pine extended, though I would assume that it wouldn’t have been too large. The front bun, too my knowledge, was solid rosewood as there were no signs of veneering present. The lever cap screw was also a later type. The plane had its original cutter and backing iron, stamped with [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Spiers No. 1 Dovetailed Panel Plane (13-1/2″)

Here are some side plate profile drawings for a later model Norris number A-1 dovetailed infill jointer plane. These diagrams are a little more detailed but are still intended more for use as a template for cutting out the side plates and sole plate prior to dovetailing, rather than a full and comprehensive set of plans or diagrams. The scale should be 1-1, if I’ve done things properly. The side plates for this plane were made from 3/16″ thick pieces of mild steel and the sole plate was 1/4″ thick. The later years were full of much upheaval at the Norris factory, and some models varied quite markedly. The First World War interrupted production significantly, and just happened to coincide with the introduction of a new patented adjuster which Norris had developed in 1913. It’s possible that American planes started to gain more popularity in Britain, as newer and cheaper planes were introduced to the Norris range, including cast and malleable iron versions of some of the models, as well as a rather nice bronze-bodied smoother which had a thin steel section soldered on to the base, adding to the durability of the sole. Some cheaper planes also featured infills [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Norris No. A-1 Dovetailed Panel Plane (13-1/2″)

These side plate profile drawings are from a between-the-wars model Norris number 1 dovetailed infill jointer plane and are offered more as a template for cutting out the side plates for dovetailing, rather than a full and comprehensive set of plans or diagrams. The scale should be 1-1, if I’ve done things properly. I should add that the “base line” on this drawing was a little wobbly so I’ve straightened it up with a paint program. The side plates for this plane were made from 3/16″ thick pieces of mild steel and the sole plate was around 1/4″ thick. The dovetails are not marked here, though I may draw up a proper set of plans at a later stage. Like many infill jointer planes, this particular plane is in excellent condition. Typically these types of planes did not see a lot of work and are, therefore, well looked after and carefully stored away when not in use. If you take into account that these planes cost, on average, about three weeks wages to a skilled cabinet maker its understandable that the craftsman would protect such an investment. The bronze lever cap was marked “Norris London” and the screw was the [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Norris No. 1 Dovetailed Jointing Plane (25-1/2″)

It could be argued that the main feature which places Norris infill planes above all the other makers, as far as collectors go, is due to the ingenious, though somewhat flawed, Norris adjuster. While the adjuster feature is a “latecomer” to British infill planes it is, nonetheless, interesting that it should help Norris to usurp Stewart Spiers as the undisputed king of the infill even though it took some 70 years to make an entrance. How has it done so? Well, lets face it – woodworkers and collectors alike are much more used to seeing the Bailey pattern plane with its quick and easy adjuster system than they are to seeing non-adjustable infill planes – especially over the past 100 years or so. The Norris plane with adjuster is just like a souped up Stanley type plane, right? Erm….well no, not exactly. Now it has to be said that the average Norris plane – or any infill plane by a known maker for that matter – can far exceed the demands of an average Stanley Bailey plane – regardless of whether or not the Norris has an adjuster. Just the sheer weight, thicker blade, higher bedding angle and superior quality [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at The Norris Adjuster

Although in some ways it might be seen as taking a step backwards by using a beech wood body, the Marples “Prefabricated” Smoothing plane is quite a nice little hand plane to have around the workshop. Created in the late 1950′s and possibly to serve a more “budget-conscious” market, the plane soon found favor at many of the schools in England who adopted these planes as an alternative to the more traditional wooden hand planes. Because it came equipped with an adjustable Stanley type frog it made it relatively easy to get good results at a cheaper price than buying a cast iron hand plane made by Stanley or Record. Unfortunately not long after this plane was released on to the market, William Marples was bought out and absorbed into the Record Ridgeway company and the planes were soon withdrawn from production. It’s a shame as these planes feel comfortable and are quite nice to use. Having an all wooden stock or body meant that the plane did wear out quicker, but no quicker than a normal wooden bench plane. Because the frog was fixed, being screwed to the back piece by two wood screws, there was no provision to [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Marples Prefabricated Smoothing Plane

I’ve always found the gentle sweep of a Miller shoulder plane wedge to be one of the most attractive wedges I’ve ever seen. While many of them become “injured” and “deformed” over the years a good quality Miller wedge is always nice to find. George Miller was almost a relative “latecomer” to the infill plane scene and really only concentrated on one type of infill plane – the shoulder plane. Mind you, what he did he did very well. He is listed as working from 1890 to 1914 at 24 Ampton St, Gray’s Inn Rd in London – quite a considerable period really for a maker of only one style of plane. In most cases that I know of his shoulder planes have been cast from gunmetal, with a thin 1/16″ steel sole “sweated” on with silver solder. The planes I’ve examined from this maker have all been of very high quality and not all of them feature the famous “rhino horn” that Miller is known for. That’s not to say that the shoulder planes without horns started off life this way. Indeed it could be argued that these horns may have become damaged at some stage and were perhaps [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Miller “Rhino Horn” Gunmetal Infill Shoulder Plane

Charles Badger was a London-based tool maker and dealer who is noted in W. L. Goodman’s “British Planemakers From 1700″ as being in business from 1852 (as Badger & Galpin) to 1867. Not much else is really known about him, other than the planes bearing his mark are quite rare. This is a shame because, in the case of this particular bullnose plane, his work is of quite high quality and is aesthetically pleasing to boot. The flowing shape of the curves coupled with the attractive chamfering along most of the top profile is an indication of the fine work done by this maker and makes it one of the nicer bullnose planes I’ve seen. It’s also interesting to note the use of two separate timbers used on this plane – mahogany for the infill and ebony for the wedge. Once again the shape of this plane is in the Scottish style. As this particular plane is marked “Badger” rather than “Badger & Gilpin” it’s reasonable to assume that it was probably made some time between 1856 and 1867, when the business was located at 1 Stangate, Lambeth. Before this time the business was located at 27 Stangate in Lambeth [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Badger Cast Bronze Bullnose Plane

This is an early model Spiers dovetailed infill hand plane, possibly even a custom order. It has the trademark early features – low two-piece front bun and two-piece rear infill, screwed side plates (to fix the infills), tongue and groove joint for the sole plate and early “domed style” thumb screw. It also has the elegant “lighter style” lever cap which was sometimes prone to bending and breaking as well as the upside down “Spiers Ayr” stamp. Both of the infills, as mentioned, are in two parts and made from nicely figured Brazilian rosewood. The join for the rear infill can be seen on the bed as well as the heel, though it would be reasonable to assume that this join would be much harder to locate when the plane was first sold. Time often has a habit of showing these things over the years. The earlier models were much less consistent than the later ones. They were generally squarer in finish, with little or no chamfering at all. The overstuffing of the infills literally “sat” on the top edges of the sides, making them a little quicker to manufacture (though not that much quicker if jigged up correctly). It [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Spiers Dovetailed Smoothing Plane (Early)

This is a dovetailed version of a Spiers bullnose plane and, therefore, is a bit more scarce than the cast versions. It’s difficult to put an exact date on this plane but it is generally believed that the dovetailed versions came a little after the cast ones – though the two coexisted for a while. It is made in the typical “Scottish style” rather than the “London Pattern” made famous by Norris and other makers. It has been suggested that the Scottish style bullnose plane is the earlier model shape and it could be argued that this makes at least some sense, as so many hand plane designs seem to come from the northern country. It’s difficult to know exactly why this would be the case, but it seems that there was some kind of “handplane renaissance” which took place in Scotland in the mid 1800′s, strongly headed by Stewart Spiers. Likewise, no-one is quite sure when Spiers first produced these planes. They’re certainly not present in the Garden Street leaflet from the 1850′s but were well entrenched in the range by the late 1800′s as there are at least one or two “dated” planes from this period. In general [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Spiers No. 11 Dovetailed Bullnose Plane

I’ve been busy scanning, cleaning up and uploading a whole bunch of stuff in order to kick off a new section on the site which, in particular, may be of interest to makers and would-be makers of infill planes – dovetailed or otherwise. I thought it would be good to include some of the hand plane diagrams, plans and details that I’ve observed and measured over the past 20 years. I should add that these plans are more like “working diagrams” rather than full technical drawings and were initially done for my own interest rather than for publication. I apologize for my lack of drawing skills and the lack of full information on the planes. These diagrams are, however, suitable for most people to get an idea of the measurements, infill designs and the side profiles of real woodworking planes, and will undoubtedly assist in the making of these planes based on the “old masters”. The previews and “picture files” are normal jpegs but the main file for each of the planes is a pdf which you can read with Adobe Acrobat. If I’ve done things correctly then the pdf’s will be at a higher resolution and suitable for printing. [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Norris No. 13 Smoothing Plane