As anyone who has collected or used hand planes for a few years knows, the hand plane world is full of many oddities. Planes that probably should never have seen the light of day due to poor design, poor marketing or a combination of both sit alongside other planes so ingeniously designed and innovative for their time that it’s hard to understand why their sales didn’t shoot through the roof. In the case of metal planes the manufacturers would try to convince the woodworking public that grooves and squiggly lines milled into the soles would make the plane perform better, just as strips of rosewood, circular discs and even open holes similarly milled into the bases would also help to improve performance. Oilers, weird adjusters, two-part bodies, swivelling frogs and zero-bedded blades all came and quickly went in the pursuit to sell more hand planes to the public. Although it makes for an interesting and colorful history its pretty safe to say that many of these makers were doomed to fail long before they even started. A lot of these hand planes were invented and developed in America from the mid to late 1800′s and into the early 1900′s. Even [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at The Howkins Plane

While there have been a few dedicated makers of infill planes over the past 60 years there has been somewhat of a resurgence in the “lost art” of infill planemaking within the last decade or so. One of the best makers carving a niche for themselves in recent years is a company from Canada, Sauer + Steiner Toolworks. In 2001 Konrad Sauer and Joe Steiner met each other at a wood show and immediately became friends. Both had been furniture makers for a number of years and both found that they shared a common love of using infill planes daily for fine finishing of their work. The two men were sold on the feel, performance, aesthetics and the heritage that the planes represented and, during one conversation, they wondered whether they might want to try and see if they could make infill planes themselves? The two decided that it was well worth a try and found themselves learning the skills needed for making infill planes in the same manner as the classics they so admired had been done 150 years prior – by dovetailing plates together and infilling with rosewood, rather than casting up the bodies as cheaper infills were [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Sauer + Steiner Toolworks

One of the curious oddities in Australian plane making over the last 80 years has been the designs and patents of Herbert Edward Watkinson in the 1930′s. At the time H.E. Watkinson was a cabinetmaker residing in Launceston, Tasmania who had developed a plane in which the pitch, or cutting angle, of the blade could be adjusted from a normal bench plane angle of about 45 degrees, to a scraper plane with the blade set at almost 90 degrees to the work. Why this would be so useful to the average woodworker in a cabinetmaking workshop or factory is anyone’s guess, as it would have probably been easier to just use a couple or so “fixed bed” planes of varying pitches, rather than a jack-of-all-trades specialized plane to do the work required. It is possible, however, that Watkinson felt that a variable pitch plane would be of a great advantage to the journeyman woodworker or an “on site” carpenter, who would only need to pack the one plane in his toolbox to take to a job, rather than several. This would be a valid proposition as the most successful maker of metal woodworking planes, Stanley, often applied this way of [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at The Watkinson Patent Plane

Anderson Planes is a one-man operation run by Wayne Anderson from a modest basement workshop in Elk River, MN. Each and every plane that has come out of the workshop over the years has been crafted by hand at almost every step of the way. Thankfully for hand plane aficionados it shows that you don’t actually need to have a lot of workshop space to produce beautiful, world class, custom made hand planes of the highest caliber, which are desired by both tool collectors and woodworkers alike. Each plane is skillfully designed and built using old world methods. Bodies of bronze, brass, or steel, are carefully hand dovetailed to a steel sole, and then the shell fitted with exotic woods. The free-flowing curves and sweeps of the sculpted metal sides and exotic wooden infills almost belie the fact that there are some very solid and sound hand plane mechanics at play here. The designs come from a range of sources, from the infill plane standards set by Norris, Spiers and Mathieson right down to nature-inspired replicas of 16th and 17th century “user built” planes found in museums and collections from around the world. Chariot planes who’s designs are derived from [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Anderson Planes – Traditional Style Infill Planes

After several years of development H.N.T Gordon and Co sold their first classic hand planes in 1995. Since then the business has concentrated on making a range of high quality hand crafted woodworking planes at an affordable price which have now sold to woodworkers and craftspeople all over the world. Located in Alstonville in northern NSW, Australia, HNT Gordon and Co. continues to add to its list of woodworking planes and, in 2002, released a new Shoulder plane to its then current stable of smoothers, block planes, trying planes and rebates, bringing their impressive range of different planes to 10 in total. Terry Gordon is the Planemaker and owner of the business and the following statements outline his business principles. — Any plane made will be able to plane or scrape any wood without tearout. — Only high quality materials will be used, with a simple appropriate design to offer customers affordable quality in tools. — An unconditional guarantee on all workmanship and materials. Terry believes that making high quality products that last a lifetime contributes to the health of the environment, as too often today we are seeing cheap poor quality imported products ending up as landfill after only [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at HNT Gordon Planes – Good Wood Down Under

Thoroughbred: A Best English Mitre Plane from the Henley Optical Co. By Antony Talbot In a quiet Oxfordshire town comes exciting news of a venture that will delight all woodworkers. Once again planes, English planes made to the highest standards of quality workmanship and finish, are available to the craftsman. Made in the best traditions of the great Planemasters – Stewart Spiers in 1840 and continued with Thomas Norris until 1940 – The Henley Optical Company are to market a range of fine planes which will include a Best English Mitre Plane (illustrated here), a Heavy Smoothing Plane, a Thumb Plane, a Slide Rebate Plane and, scheduled next for production, a Shoulder Rebate Plane. The whole thinking behind this exciting venture suggests that the time is arriving when, despite all the obstacles placed in the way of the small business, men of determination and vision will achieve what government dictate has so obviously failed to do. For too long now general policy has been aimed at the ‘big’ business. Economy of scale has been a much loved phrase. The economies of mass production, however, derive from an association with such things as automation, use of standardised parts, the institution of [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Henley Optical Company – Best English Mitre Plane

It’s been about 10 years or so since Rali Planes burst on to the general woodworking scene. When they first appeared they were praised by home handymen and weekend do-it-yourselfers as the greatest thing since sliced bread due to their modern looks and innovative blade changing mechanisms but, at the same time, were quickly slammed by the more traditional woodworkers and plane aficionados of the day. So who’s right? What’s the inside edge on these strange looking, brightly colored plastic and pressed metal planes? It’s often said that the truth between two points lies somewhere in the middle, but are these planes actually any good to use, and can they find a worthwhile use amongst the quality tools typically found on the shelves and tool chests of high-end furniture makers and restorers? The answer might surprise you. Rali planes are manufactured in Chatel St. Denis, Switzerland. It is claimed that they can eliminate all of the hassles notoriously associated with hand planes, and are ready to use right out of the box. It’s also said that the soles are dead flat and require no machining, tweaking or hand work prior to use. The interchangeable, double edged, razor sharp, chrome steel [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Rali Planes – A New Generation Of Hand Plane?

I have been greatly interested to read over past months and years items referring to Norris tools, together with one of that firm’s logos reproduced. It is possible that a few reminiscences from one who knew Tom Norris well may be of interest to some of your older readers. Our first meeting takes me back sixty years to the end of my school days. Tom’s wife, “Aunt Nell”, was god-mother to the girl I had already planned to marry some day (and did in 1932). The Norrises lived in an unpretentious house in New Malden, Surrey, with a sizeable workshop on the adjacent plot, and it was there that we visited over the ensuing years. They never changed their abode, nor the simple and dedicated lifestyle which so admirably fitted this closely knit couple. They comprised the firm, the work being shared with a naturalness which made it appear to be unplanned. They were totally complimentary, and I never heard a complaint or sharp word pass between them. I must have spent many a long hours in Uncle Tom’s company in his workshop, but the hours seemed to pass like minutes. Work continued steadily and everything he did fascinated me. [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Remembering Thomas Norris & His Planes

Bridge City Tools have been around for quite a while now. The first Bridge City tool – a rosewood and brass try square – was produced in 1983 by John Economaki. Since then they’ve gone on to carve out a nice little niche market for themselves by producing a range of functional and attractive woodworking tools. Their aim is to produce woodworking hand tools that are the benchmark of quality by combining a mixture of accuracy and high craftsmanship in their manufacture. The Company’s concept has been to dominate the upper-end of the hand tool market by designing and manufacturing its own range of tools and by marketing direct to the end user. This combination of manufacturing and direct marketing distinguishes the Company from many other tool manufacturers and marketers. Bridge City’s tools are manufactured in Portland, Oregon, with the raw materials originating from within the United States. It is Bridge City Tools belief that by combining solid brass with beautiful rosewood and using predominately hand labor, it has recaptured the spirit and soul of craftsmanship in tools. A fairly recent and exciting addition to the range of tools that Bridge City produces is a variable pitch bench plane, known [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Bridge City Tools – Innovation In High-End Hand Planes

Clark & Williams approach to plane making is simple – make the best planes possible, using the best materials available, and adopting designs that have stood the test of time for a couple of centuries or so. After all the basic design for hand planes has been around for about two thousand years or more – ever since the Romans first started knocking them out of ancient workshops – but around 200 years ago the planemakers of the day must have got their collective heads together and started to standardize sizes, shapes, materials and designs. That’s not to say that the handplanes that Clark & Williams make are stuck in the past. Quite the contrary in fact. For one thing the plane makers of 200 years ago didn’t have access to the excellent tool steels we now have today. It’s hard to argue it, but there’s something special about using wooden planes. They have a feel and a tactile quality that’s almost unmatched by other tools. They instantly telegraph all the nuances and properties of the wood being worked in a way that metal planes have never been able to equal. Their whispering sound often conjures up a feeling of [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Clark & Williams – New 18th Century Hand Planes

Steve Knight of Knight Toolworks has been making, modifying and perfecting his woodworking planes for almost five years. Like many contemporary makers he started out by improving on the planes he was already using before launching into building his own from scratch, This is a tried and true method which has served a lot of people well. Knight Toolworks uses laminations as their main construction method when making the plane bodies. The laminated way of planemaking allows for quicker construction, a good deal of stability and some very stunning results when several different woods are combined. All of their woods are picked for their working properties, their attractiveness, their weight and balance in the hand and, in the case of the plane’s sole, their hardness and resistance to wearing. With this in mind it is not unusual to find soles of ebony, cocobolo, rosewood or Ipe being used, along with bodies of white oak, mahogany, purpleheart or cherry. Steve Knight will combine any of these woods, and others, to create a wonderful, silky smooth, well contoured and rounded functional tool which would be a delight in any woodworkers hands. As far as the design is concerned, Knight Toolworks borrow ideas [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Knight Toolworks – Good Solid Hand Planes!