a plane that surprised

[condeesteso]

Just got this a few days ago, about £11. It's a 9" (approx) smoother (a coffin?) with steel sole, Hearnshaw 'John Bull' blade which may be about 1870s, Sheffield. The cap iron has a bit of 'Glasgow' stamped on it but nothing else visible (Mathieson?). This could be a bitsa... don't know too much about these to be honest.
But the surprise:

Some of you may be used to this (I am not), but this is ribbons coming off reverse grain ash, no tearing at all. Gobsmacked frankly :shock:
before that I got fat shavings off some scrap softwood:

And the reason I wanted to try reverse grain was the stories of old infills with big mouths cutting nasty grain really well. This (not an infill of course) has a big mouth:

Quite amazed with the performance to be honest. I honed the blade which appears to be laminated (is that possible or likely?) and a little work on the back - blade is steep at about what it was, around 35 degrees. The plane is 45 pitch.
I can see this getting used on the awkward grain in future... could have done with it on the bench top recently.

 

[jimi43]

That's pretty impressive Douglas....

All I need to do now is convert you to the fully shod ones! :mrgreen: :wink:

Jimi

 

[condeesteso]

Jim - you know that I don't really need converting. Two things: it took me ages on this one to find the depth adjuster. Once I found that we got on quite well. Second, the infills are a bit pricey for me (I've seen them go for like eighteen quid, sometimes even more).

 

[bugbear]

...but this is ribbons coming off reverse grain ash, no tearing at all. Gobsmacked frankly :shock:

A heavy, sharp, well seated blade will always give excellent performance. The question is how you achieve this.

Edit; yes, the blade is laminated, or at least I'd put heavy money on that being the case. They all were, back then.

BugBear

 

[condeesteso]

Thanks BB, Jim also found a pic of a Mathieson cap iron and it is confirmed. I was fairly sure it was laminated as I thought I could see the grain difference when grinding the primary (and I used a jig Jacob, sorry... ). I may have been lucky with this one. We all deserve a bit of luck surely :lol:

(edit) - so the cap is Mathieson, but the blade is Hearnshaw. What actually is this?? Any ideas?

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Ooh - it's a prototype Philly plane

 

[condeesteso]

good grief Dunbar - I was a bit lucky with it, but not THAT lucky :lol:

 

[bugbear]

What actually is this??

If there's a manufacturer's name, it should be stamped onto the toe. Look carefully, under raking light if you need it.

BugBear

 

[condeesteso]

I have had a close look, so far can see 2 names but they both look like owners stamps. One is very straight and well-spaced though 'Anderson'. And certainly not an early relative of the current Anderson planes!. Will keep looking. I am fairly convinced it is a professionally made plane - the steel sole is very finely attached and is dead flat, etc.

 

[Corneel]

When I see these kind of planes I always wonder what happens when the wood moves. The steel plate doesn't look very thick and there is no support from sidewalls like in an infill. Will the plate bend too? I know my wooden planes move with the seasons, but they are easilly rectified. So I see a theoretical problem, but have no idea how bad it is in practice.

 

[bugbear]

When I see these kind of planes I always wonder what happens when the wood moves. The steel plate doesn't look very thick and there is no support from sidewalls like in an infill. Will the plate bend too? I know my wooden planes move with the seasons, but they are easilly rectified. So I see a theoretical problem, but have no idea how bad it is in practice.

I think these planes are using the metal sole purely as a wear resisting skin, not as a structural element.

BugBear

 

[Corneel]

Yes, so when you get into a wet period of the year and your plane moves a bit, creating a convexity behind the mouth for example, you are confronted not with an easilly flattened piece of beech, but with a hard piece of steel.