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This small chamfer plane is made of padauk and brass, with an iron of O1 steel. One fence is fixed and the other is adjustable. An Allen key for making the adjustment is stored inside the plane, held in place by a rare earth magnet within. Most of the work was done with hand tools.

After countersinking about 50 holes in mild steel this bit no longer cuts. Please can anyone tell me how I can re-sharpen it?

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...

In the 4th edition of Goodman’s British Plane Makers there are some drawings of planes recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose, the warship that sank in the Solent in 1545 in the reign of King Henry VIII. This is my reproduction of one of them, No. MR 82 A980, which is described as a jack...

Yesterday I made this adaptor for connecting a drill chuck to a brace to allow bits with round and hex shafts to be driven. The chuck came from a burnt out electric drill and is threaded 3/8” x 24 TPI UNF. I have tried it out as follows; - ¾” “wood “ twist drill in iroko, - 15/32” “metal”...

Jim Kingshott has a chapter on making a chariot plane from a casting in his book “Making and Modifying Woodworking Tools” and he mentions Bristol Design as a source of castings. I was in Bristol in January and I paid a visit to Bristol Design and asked if they still had any bronze castings for...

I recently completed this small infill rebate plane (3/4" wide). This is the second I have made in this size but I have given this one a fence, depth stop and a pair of nickers. Body length 5 3/4", body height 1 1/2", overall length 6 1/8", overall height 2 3/8", angle of iron 45 degrees. Sides...

This is a reproduction of a tool found at Coppergate, York (No.2984), believed to date from the 9th to 11th centuries AD. I have based it on a photo and information in a book: Anglo-Saxon Tools by Dennis Riley. It is effectively a small draw knife that could be carried in a pocket (in a...

At the London International Woodworking Festival in October I met a gentleman called Bob Williams who is a retired archaeologist and also a woodworker and tool collector. Bob told me about a plane found at Ebbsfleet, Kent, England during the building of the HS1 railway line. It is believed to...

This vice appears to be shop-made rather than a commercial item. I can find no markings on it. It is evidently made of stock steel sizes. The jaws are 6” x 4” x ½”. The screw is 1” OD x 3 TPI. The guide rods and handle are ½” OD. Has anyone seen one like it?

This is my latest ancient plane reproduction project. I have made replicas of several other ancient planes and I find it interesting to build them and find out how they perform. I think we can learn more about ancient woodworking practices by using these copies than by looking at the originals...

I recently posted in the Hand Tools section about a Broken Norris Plane Adjuster. In order to repair this adjuster I needed to cut a 7/32” x 40TPI left handed thread and was unable to find any suitable taps in this weird size to buy so I set out to make my own of silver steel rod. I cut...

This is a project to make a small plane designed with lutherie in mind but it should be useful for other small woodwork. It is of “sandwich” construction, rather like plane designs by Robert Wearing and James Krenov but it is all metal. The materials are brass and bright mild steel plate and...

I am looking at the possibility of repairing an adjuster belonging to a Norris A1 plane. The shaft has sheared off inside the swivel. To do the repair it looks a new threaded end would need to be grafted onto the shaft (as well as extracting the broken bit from the swivel). This will only be...

One of the planes I bought last Saturday. I’m intrigued by the method of construction. Presumably the “C&G” stamp means City & Guilds of London Institute. I wonder if the plane was for the use of the students or else made by one of them?

Another of my recent rusty purchases. I have never heard of this make before. When I Googled "Kay-Bee vice" it came up with links concerning other types of vice altogether. The jaws are 2" wide and are not removable. The screw is a "V" type rather than square or ACME.

Does anyone know? All replies will be gratefully received, including humorous ones concerning the shoe repairing trade :)

We have all heard of Frankenplanes but this appears to be a Frankensaw, made of parts from at least three saws. I found it in a second hand tool shop as a bundle of bits. Both the uprights are stamped “W. Marples & Sons Sheffield Eng.” but their distances from mortice to blade are different...

I bought this Record 071 router plane for £1.67 but it was only the base plate with knobs. As I thought that the chances of finding the missing parts were very slim I obtained a Veritas cutter and set about making the rest of the items needed to my own design. I made the collar from a block of...

Bought today for £1.67 - I liked the shape. I am intrigued that the only marking is "600" - does that mean anything to anyone? The metal cleaned up nicely and I think I'll make a new handle for it.