aha! upon taking photos in better lighting, the name 'atkins and sons' is on the end of the wood body, but both parts of the blade are clearly marked 'w m marples and sons'.
thank you everyone for your knowledge and feedback!
interesting thing about the owner's initials, i hadn't considered that.
i'm assuming my brother-in-law bought this for me at a thrift shop, so
knowing who that was will be impossible.
there is indeed another marking on the end, and i will try...
hi all, new to this forum, so I'm sorry if I'm not posting in the appropriate forum for this question. I
just got this plane as a gift, and would like to know more about it. there's sites on dating Marples planes, but
few with photos if you don't have a lot to go on. on the ends of the wood...