Anyone know the make of this plane?

[skelph]

I'm currently helping our local Mens Shed with tool identification and sharpening etc with tools that are being donated and came across a plane I've never seen before - does anyone on here know anything about it?

It's the strangest blade setup that I've ever seen, it's more like a spokeshave blade than a bench plane or block plane. The base has the number 3 on it which you can see in the first picture just below the adjuster. Other than Made in England there are no marks to help identify it.

Thanks for any help on this.
skelph

 

[D_W]

Iron markings and lettering on castings suggest record origin. Nothing like it in the states. Looks like a variation (but not exactly) of a gage type setup.

 

[skelph]

Thanks for the suggestion D_W, I can't believe that no-one else has seen one of these either "in the flesh" or in a picture. They must have been mass produced at some time so this one can't be unique (if it is, it will be worth a fortune to a collector!!). I guess I'll just have to keep looking on the internet for the answer.

The plane actually works quite well as it stands but looks like it would be a pig to sharpen without some sort of jig to hold the very small spokeshave like blade.

D_W - when you get a chance can you explain what you meant by "Looks like a variation (but not exactly) of a gage type setup." please.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I can't believe that no-one else has seen one of these either "in the flesh" or in a picture. They must have been mass produced at some time so this one can't be unique (if it is, it will be worth a fortune to a collector!!). I guess I'll just have to keep looking on the internet for the answer.

Oh, I've definitely seen them before. They come up on Ebay from time to time. I don't think they are particularly sought after. But I can't help on who made them, or where.

 

[AndyT]

I'll stick my neck out and date it to the 20th century, between the end of WW2 and the arrival of affordable electric tools. Made for the diy market, hence the small, cheap spokeshave style iron and adjuster. Similar arrangements were used on other consumer grade planes by Stanley and Paramo.
There were quite a few companies in that period who seem to have made a few tools then disappeared. Now they emerge from their late owners' sheds to puzzle collectors.

 

[D_W]

D_W - when you get a chance can you explain what you meant by "Looks like a variation (but not exactly) of a gage type setup." please.

A compact iron and cap iron setup and the stubby norris type adjuster.

I guess my statement may have been a little misleading. It's in proportion to a gage plane more or less when the gage plane iron is short, but the gage planes were specifically ....well, gage planes. No cap iron, no lateral adjuster and a sort of abbreviated frog. I've never used one, but they're common on the ground around here and further east (easy to find in antique stores, especially as you get closer to new jersey).

This one looks more like a low cost effort at making a double iron plane, presumably with a blade that wasn't intended to last long. A tool box plane for carpenters or something.

Gage and sargent auto sets sold well here in the states, but not well compared to bailey, or probably even bedrock (which I understand to be 10% as common as bailey), so I've never owned any - just ogled them in antique shops.

 

[AndyT]

If you search eBay for a no 3 plane, you'll see that although not as common as the Stanley pattern, they're not very rare either.
For example, this one sold for £8 +p&p

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/253784312996

 

[skelph]

Thanks everyone for explanations and pointers - it's obviously neither rare nor valuable !

At the moment it works quite well and it's actually quite comfortable to hold with medium sized hands like mine but I can imagine that someone with big hands wouldn't get on with it. I don't fancy sharpening it when it needs it as it is currently cambered and I'm not to good at cambered blades especially ones this small.

 

[JimB]

I know it isn't but I can see similarities to the Kunz 'brillant' plane. I have one of those and use it fairly often for roughing stock to size that might damage a more delicate plane.

 

[D_W]

That's a good comparison. Stanley made a similar looking plane (still does), the SB-4. I have no idea if it was ever a serious plane, or if it was created for tradesmen (plenty of union carpenters in the US who have one plane and one set of chisels, and when you talk to them , it answers the question of "who really buys the new #9 1/2s". they get a list of tools that they must buy as an apprentice and that's what they do.


The SB 4 is listed on amazon as 12-404. The most surprising part is that there are.....wait for it....

...340 actual reviews, which suggests that some large multiple of that have actually sold.

Reviews are mixed.

Record's plane there has a cap, and is far superior to the SB-4 because it's sort of a cheat that makes a sloppily made plane work finely.

HF here in the states also has their "windsor" (likely made in some rural area in china) plane of the same design. It had a cult following on the forums about a decade ago - you could buy it for $9 with a coupon, spend $30 on an aftermarket blade and then have a plane that was almost 1/2 as nice as a stock vintage stanley 4 for the same price.