This is my latest adventure in making reproductions of ancient planes.
In 1991, two planes and a billhook were found during archaeological excavation of the remains of a Roman villa near Oberüttfeld, Germany. I found three academic papers in German containing information about these tools and, with the aid of Google Translate, I extracted enough information to allow me to make reproductions of the planes. It seems that the tools date from the 4th century AD or earlier and they were found carefully hidden in a hypocaust (under floor heating duct) at the villa. The tools are kept in the Rhenish State Museum in Trier, Germany.
The dimensions of the small plane are: total length of sole 211 mm; total breadth of sole 44 mm; total thickness of sole 9 mm; breadth of mouth 29 mm; length of mouth 8 mm; centre of mouth is 60 mm from the front of the plane and 151 mm from the back end; body width of plane is 44 mm; top of plane is 50mm over the bottom of the sole; iron length 170 mm, iron width 29 mm; iron thickness 4.5 mm, cutting angle 54 degrees, wedge angle 28 degrees; free angle 26 degrees. The cutting edge of the iron is slightly curved.
The dimensions of the large plane are: total length of sole 373 mm; total breadth of sole 43 mm; total thickness of sole 6.5 mm; breadth of mouth 29 mm; length of mouth 6.5 mm; centre of mouth is 181 mm from the front of the plane and 192 mm from the back end; body width of plane is 43 mm; top of plane is 45 mm over the bottom of the sole; iron length 226 mm, iron width 28 mm; iron thickness 4.5mm, cutting angle 53 degrees, wedge angle 32 degrees; free angle 21 degrees. The iron is toothed.
The German authors describe the small plane as a Putzhobel ( = smoothing plane) and the large one as a Zahnhobel ( = tooth plane) and they point out that by swapping the irons between the planes it would be possible to have effectively four planes. They are of the opinion that the toothing is for providing a good surface for glueing and they do not appear to recognise a possible use for planing wood with difficult grain, which I think is more likely. I feel that that the small plane, with its cambered iron and comparatively wide mouth, may be more like a scrub plane than a smoothing plane.
I have started by making a replica of the large plane. The original is made of wrought iron and an unknown wood. I chose to use bright mild steel and holly. We know that the Romans could make tool steel in small quantities and I have used O1 steel to make the iron. Before heat treating the iron I formed the toothing by cutting grooves freehand with a junior hacksaw, hence the rather irregular spacing. The reinforcing plates let into the sides of the plane are unusual features. They are held in place by three rivets running through the body of the plane, one of which serves as the cross pin for the wedge to react against.
I tried the plane on some difficult apple and iroko and it worked well, producing a finely grooved surface that could be smoothed easily with a cabinet scraper. The shavings look rather like tobacco. It is quite comfortable to hold and I like the rather streamlined appearance. I have no idea why the iron is so long but an interesting detail of the original is the maker’s stamp: GESATVS.
In 1991, two planes and a billhook were found during archaeological excavation of the remains of a Roman villa near Oberüttfeld, Germany. I found three academic papers in German containing information about these tools and, with the aid of Google Translate, I extracted enough information to allow me to make reproductions of the planes. It seems that the tools date from the 4th century AD or earlier and they were found carefully hidden in a hypocaust (under floor heating duct) at the villa. The tools are kept in the Rhenish State Museum in Trier, Germany.
The dimensions of the small plane are: total length of sole 211 mm; total breadth of sole 44 mm; total thickness of sole 9 mm; breadth of mouth 29 mm; length of mouth 8 mm; centre of mouth is 60 mm from the front of the plane and 151 mm from the back end; body width of plane is 44 mm; top of plane is 50mm over the bottom of the sole; iron length 170 mm, iron width 29 mm; iron thickness 4.5 mm, cutting angle 54 degrees, wedge angle 28 degrees; free angle 26 degrees. The cutting edge of the iron is slightly curved.
The dimensions of the large plane are: total length of sole 373 mm; total breadth of sole 43 mm; total thickness of sole 6.5 mm; breadth of mouth 29 mm; length of mouth 6.5 mm; centre of mouth is 181 mm from the front of the plane and 192 mm from the back end; body width of plane is 43 mm; top of plane is 45 mm over the bottom of the sole; iron length 226 mm, iron width 28 mm; iron thickness 4.5mm, cutting angle 53 degrees, wedge angle 32 degrees; free angle 21 degrees. The iron is toothed.
The German authors describe the small plane as a Putzhobel ( = smoothing plane) and the large one as a Zahnhobel ( = tooth plane) and they point out that by swapping the irons between the planes it would be possible to have effectively four planes. They are of the opinion that the toothing is for providing a good surface for glueing and they do not appear to recognise a possible use for planing wood with difficult grain, which I think is more likely. I feel that that the small plane, with its cambered iron and comparatively wide mouth, may be more like a scrub plane than a smoothing plane.
I have started by making a replica of the large plane. The original is made of wrought iron and an unknown wood. I chose to use bright mild steel and holly. We know that the Romans could make tool steel in small quantities and I have used O1 steel to make the iron. Before heat treating the iron I formed the toothing by cutting grooves freehand with a junior hacksaw, hence the rather irregular spacing. The reinforcing plates let into the sides of the plane are unusual features. They are held in place by three rivets running through the body of the plane, one of which serves as the cross pin for the wedge to react against.
I tried the plane on some difficult apple and iroko and it worked well, producing a finely grooved surface that could be smoothed easily with a cabinet scraper. The shavings look rather like tobacco. It is quite comfortable to hold and I like the rather streamlined appearance. I have no idea why the iron is so long but an interesting detail of the original is the maker’s stamp: GESATVS.
), but when I look at the originals, it seems to me that on the larger plane, the residual bits of iron at each end, and the blobs before & after the "frog" are much too thick for rivets & curve up in a way that suggests they once formed solid iron handles and there may not have been any "infill" on this plane? On the smaller of the two, it does look like the remains of a thick rivet on the toe end, but again, what's left of the rear end suggests to me it might've had a solid iron handle too, that was contiguous with the frog, in this case??
