Home Made Tools. Fig. 1. — Iron Trying Plane: Longitudinal Section. Fig. 2. — Ditto: Transverse Section. Fig. 3. — Ditto: Enlarged Section Of Mouth.NOTE: Click on image to enlarge. The following article is taken from the 1889 trade publication “Work” (Saturday, April 13, 1889 – Vol. 1, No. 4). It should be noted that it is unsure at this stage just who exactly “J. H.” may be, but they do seem to posses some interesting knowledge and insight into the casting process and planemaking in general. Articles like this, from the “Golden Age” of infill plane making — and indeed metal planemaking as a whole (after all this was the era in which Stanley Tools were kings amongst a plethora of other makers in the U.S.) are invaluable in helping to understand the artistry and craftsmanship of these makers and companies. Home-Made Tools. By J. H. I. – An Iron Trying Plane Introduction – Pattern For Stock – How To Make Pattern – Casting – Trueing Up Sole And Side – Filing – Fitting Wood Blocking – Plane Iron – Filing Mouth – Wedge – Polishing – Lever. In this series of papers I propose to describe the construction [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Planemaking – Casting And Making An Iron Trying Plane

When it comes to cutting and making the main body stock of a wooden hand plane its important to realize the fundamentals of planemaking. It goes without saying that wood is a very accommodating and expressive material, and its always on the move in one way or another. The maker, or restorer, needs to be aware of the working properties of a particular piece of wood to better understand its strengths and weaknesses. Choosing the right piece of wood for its stability and wearing abilities is paramount, for it can mean the difference between a tool that works well and one that never seems to be quite right in the hands of the user. While many woods have been used in making planes over the centuries there is one timber that is a standout — beechwood. The best stock typically comes from the English forests, such as High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire for instance. The following article on selecting and using beech for plane making was first printed in “The Woodworker” magazine in 1912. Cutting Beech Plane-Stocks Plane-makers are usually glad to get good white, straight-grained beech, for plane stocks. One concern, the Gage Tool Co., Vineland, N.J., has repeatedly advertised [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Wooden Plane Making: Cutting Beech Plane-Stocks

While in business, the Shepherd Tool Company sold some 1000 kits and 450 finished infill planes of various descriptions, including smoothers, jointers, chariot planes and shoulder planes. The kits proved to be an affordable way for many woodworkers and beginner plane makers to embark on making their first hand plane. Woodworker Steve B. explains how he went about building his own plane from a Shepherd kit. For some time I had gazed at images of various infill planes with lust, but could not afford a new Holtey or an old Norris or Spiers. However my desire for such a plane seemed a few steps closer when I came across the web site of Shepherd Tool Company. After browsing the web looking for further references to Shepherd and their wares, I decided to buy their Spiers #7 Smoother kit with brass sidewalls. The photographs that I’d seen of completed planes, and the reports of some people who had actually built the kit were very compelling. I started to get quite excited! I placed my order in September 2005, and the charge was debited to my credit card. After more than two months had passed, and after many unanswered or misleading e-mails [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Building A Shepherd Smoother

John Economaki is widely known amongst fine tool aficionados for his wonderfully crafted woodworking tools, made from brass, steel and exotic rosewoods, which he first started to produce as a one-man enterprise way back in 1983. Since then the business has grown from strength to strength and both collectors and users have coveted the squares, bevels, scratch awls, gauges and other tools that Bridge City Tool Works have produced. A number of years ago now Bridge City decided to move into the, somewhat obvious (we think), field of hand plane manufacturing — and woodworkers the world over have been the better for it. These innovative and distinctly different looking planes are some of the most beautiful and finely crafted tools you’re ever likely to encounter. While they’re not cheap – no tools of this sort of calibre could be produced cheaply – the planes compare favorably, money wise, to the great British infill hand planes of generations past. Likewise they are equal or better than anything Messrs Spiers, Norris or Slater could have produced in their era. How do Bridge City Tool Works know what to make and when? How do some of those complicated and intricate looking planes go [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Interview With Plane Maker John Economaki

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″)

The scans below are from the Joh. Weiss & Sohn 1909 Catalog of 1909. The company is one of the oldest planemakers still in existence, and was founded 1820 by a Bavarian carpenter, Johann Baptist Weiss, who emigrated to Vienna, Austria, in 1809. Weiss was succeeded by his son J. B. Weiss, Jr. who, according to history, was on the cutting edge of modern business practices – using market analysis and time studies before 1850. To promote exports he competed in the great 19th Century Expositions, most notably in London in 1851, Paris in 1855, St. Petersburg, and Sydney in 1879. Due to a devastating fire in 1945, where all records were lost, it is unsure when the company first started exporting to the United States, but it is estimated they started around about 1850 or so. In 1911 Weiss aquired the firm of D. Flir Vorm. Franz Wertheim, a manufacturer of plane irons and steel tools. Until this time Weiss had bought its plane irons from the firm of Herman, whose name appears on many Weiss irons above the Weiss logo and below the double eagle which signifies Weiss’s appointment as an official supplier to the old Austrian Royal [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Joh. Weiss & Sohn 1909 Catalog – Part I

Manufactured: Two manufacturing periods — 1936 to 1942 & 1952 to 1953 Length: 14 inches Blade Width: 2 inches Construction: Cast iron, hardwood handle & knob Finish: Japanned or grey enamel Uses: General purpose bench plane Average Dealer Price: $15 to $75 Average eBay Price: $12 to $55 Other Notes: An “intermediate version” plane. These late model Victors (not to be confused with Leonard Bailey’s “Victor” planes) were priced mid-way between the handyman “Defiance” line and the Stanley “Bailey type” planes. Updated: 15th August, 2006 Stanley Victor No. 1105 Jack Planes on eBay right now… Antique / Vintage Stanley Wood Plane "Victor No.1105 " US $27.99 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Sunday May-20-2012 15:12:32 PDT   | Watch this Item Victor by Stanley Plane - "No.1105" blade (10816) US $55.93 Auction Ends: Tuesday May-29-2012 18:14:49 PDT   | Watch this Item VICTOR by Stanley No.1105 Wood Plane US $85.00 Auction Ends: Friday Jun-01-2012 5:04:14 PDT   | Watch this Item Plane, Victor No. 1105 (by Stanley) Woodworking Plane,14" Long Made in the USA US $76.30 Auction Ends: Saturday Jun-16-2012 5:55:17 PDT   | Watch this Item Sources: While many of the dealers prices for Stanley planes are largely set by John [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Stanley Victor No. 1105 Jack Plane

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

The Stanley Plane – A benchmark in metal hand planes for the past 140 years. For the beginner, choosing which type of hand plane to buy first up can be a daunting task. Furnituremaker Wesley Johanson looks at what’s available and offers some helpful advice along the way. Arguably no other tool symbolizes the fine art of woodworking quite like the hand plane. Machines and power tools are great for dimensioning large pieces of timber quickly and efficiently, but a sound knowledge of planes and other hand tools can mean the difference between a casual woodworker and a true craftsperson. Properly cared for and maintained, a good quality, well-made, hand plane will last a lifetime and beyond of whatever woodworking chores you happen to throw at it. Whether it’s on the job framing of houses and other buildings, trim carpentry or the most delicate of woodworking needs. It should be noted that, properly tuned, a hand plane will also leave a much better finish on the wood that you’re working on than any machine or power tool could ever hope to accomplish. Some woodworkers don’t even bother to use sandpaper on their work, instead leaving a glassy, smooth finish done [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Hand Planes – Where To Begin?

Manufactured: 1888 to 1941 Length: 10 inches Blade Width: 8 blades provided Construction: Cast iron Finish: Nickel plated Features: 2 fences (1 straight & 1 round) and 8 interchangeable cutters Uses: Used for beading, reeding, fluting, stinging and very light routing Average Dealer Price (with full cutter set): $100 to $240 Average Dealer Price (with no cutters): $40 to $80 Average eBay Price: $90 to $210 Type 1 (with full cutter set): $100 to $250 Type 1 (with no cutters): $50 to $100 Replacement set of 8 cutters: $50 to $100 Individual cutters: $5 to $10 Other Notes: Earlier types are japanned (prior to 1898) Updated: 13th August, 2006 Stanley No. 66 Hand Beaders on eBay right now… Stanley plane 66 hand beader, carpenter-woodworker tool, no reserve US $20.50 (11 Bids) Auction Ends: Thursday May-17-2012 15:40:19 PDT   | Watch this Item STANLEY 71 ROUTER & STANLEY 66 HAND BEADER, NO CUTTERS US $24.99 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Friday May-18-2012 13:20:12 PDT   | Watch this Item STANLEY No. 66 Scratch Beader With Full Set of Cutters US $130.00 Auction Ends: Friday May-18-2012 13:20:56 PDT   | Watch this Item Vintage Sweetheart Stanley Universal Hand Beader No 66 w/ box, [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Stanley No. 66 Hand Beader

Manufactured: 1871 to 1897 Length: 10-1/2 inches Blade Width: 9 provided: 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 5/8 inch, 1/4 inch tongue cutter and slitter Construction: Cast iron, rosewood handle Finish: Japanned Features: Adjustable fence and depth stop, removable filletster bottom and 9 cutters Uses: Plow, rabbet and match plane Average Dealer Price: $350 to $700 Average eBay Price: $400 to $800 Type 1: $3500 to $7000 Type 2: $650 to $1200 Types 3 to 5: $450 to $900 Types 6 to 9: $350 to $700 Updated: 13th August, 2006 Stanley No. 43 Miller’s Pat. Adjustable Plow Planes on eBay right now… Ornate Antique Stanley #43 Type 4 Millers Patent Adjusting Plow Plane 1876 Great US $199.00 Auction Ends: Saturday May-19-2012 16:58:18 PDT   | Watch this Item Awesome STANLEY MILLERS PATENT NO. 43 Ornate Plow Plane US $474.00 Auction Ends: Sunday May-27-2012 18:39:07 PDT   | Watch this Item Ornate STANLEY MILLER'S PATENT Number 43 Plow Plane US $456.00 Auction Ends: Tuesday May-29-2012 17:47:44 PDT   | Watch this Item Sources: While many of the dealers prices for Stanley planes are largely set by John Walters’ book “Antique & Collectible Stanley Tools” it appears that eBay, while acknowledging [...]

You can find this original article on Handplane Central at Stanley No. 43 Miller’s Pat. Adjustable Plow Plane