w s planes

[lurcher]

hi does anyone have any info on william swift planes i bought a no 4 for £5.00 and what a great tool it is very impressed with the build quality and it shaarpened up 1st class.
lurcher

 

[bugbear]

hi does anyone have any info on william swift planes i bought a no 4 for £5.00 and what a great tool it is very impressed with the build quality and it shaarpened up 1st class.
lurcher

They made a superior rebate plane too, the #A78, the first metal rebate I know of
to have a front knob, and twin rod support for the fence.

BugBear

 

[Sheffield Tony]

They made a superior rebate plane too, the #A78, the first metal rebate I know of
to have a front knob, and twin rod support for the fence.

I have one of those. The casting is an interesting one; it came to me with a sole that looked quite highly polished and completely free from rust. I assumed it had been polished up for sale, but no, it seems to resist rust very well, an is very hard wearing - it doesn't pick up scratches like most other planes. Don't know it their bench planes are the same ?

It works well and I tend to use it in preference to my Stanley 78. But I have to say that one thing Jacob has mentioned a few times it quite correct - the single fence arm covering the unused part of the cutter on the 78 does avoid cut fingers. Done that a few times with the A78.

 

[Carl P]

I also like these and Woden who took them over - partly because they're more local to me than Sheffield. Here's some links to a couple of sites I've come across:

Wodenhttp://wodentools.com/
WShttp://www.wstoolsbirmingham.com/

I have a rather battered No.4 (brazed repair on right side of mouth, which is rather wide) and a nice A78 - although I slightly prefer the Woden I no longer have, as the arms for the fence are a little more substantial.

Cheerio,

Carl

 

[AndyT]

Lurcher, it's interesting that you call these William Swift planes, not WS.

Reading the company history on the site that Carl linked to, the site creator says that there are various suggestions or theories about what WS stood for but he's not got any firm evidence. Is this something you remember from way back or is there any other light you could shed on the question?

 

[lurcher]

andy t in reply i was talking to a chap at the boot sale who had 1 for sale at £40.00
so i asked what w s stood for and he was adamant it was william swift so i went along with it i have no idea what it stands for but the 1 i bought from ebay was also discribed as william swift.
it is a very good plane up there with my stanley / record / marples / sorby .
i had a qs blade and cap iron so put that in no adjustment needed i will clean and sharpen the originals that have had no work at all.