Mystery plane

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matthewwh":309507m1 said:
Sorry guys, can't chat now -

I'm busy hiding in the bushes at the bottom of DM's garden. Flask of bovril in one hand, trowel in the other.....

shhhh, someone's coming.
LOL you had me going there for while =D> :mrgreen:
 
jimi43":39kjfnea said:
If you can't find one DM...I may have a tapered one 2 3/8 if it's any use. I might not have a spare cap iron though....

Jimi
Thanks for the offer Jimi, If i cant get one local i'll give you a pm. When i purchased it in Warwick, ( we were on our holiday after just having our Civil Partnership ceremony ) It did have a blade of sorts in it, but it looks to me like a small wood splitting wedge, that was put in by the seller. No cutting edge and hammered at the top rather badly and about 3/8th inch thick at the top tapering down to the bottom.
 
In my experience 2 - 1/2" is quite rare; like I've not yet seen one kind of rare. I'll keep my eyes open at boot sales for you DM as I can't see me using one myself.

Warwick must be the place for getting strange things. The only thing I've ever bought in Warwick is a 1920s book on Ventriloquism. I kid you not.
 
Tony wrote: "Have you heard Rob Brydon do his "voice from inside a box" trick? "

..... I have - that's exactly what the book attempts to teach; the true 'vent', the voice from the stomach .... many years later and I would have been much better off buying an odd plane instead.
 
Just thought I'd put up a couple of more photo's of this plane now I have an iron for it. The only way it will cut because of the angle of the "frog" is bevel up, which is quite interesting I think. If I take off the cap iron then the screw on the lever cap will not tighten up, so have left it on but on the "wrong" side so to speak. Must have been one thick iron originally, anyone any ideas ??
To get a better idea of size the other plane is my Stanley no7.

100_2912.jpg


100_2913.jpg
 
I'm really intrigued by this plane.
The rear handle looks early, and I've never seen another with that sliding dovetail to hold it.
Now you show it next to the Stanley, the bedding angle looks low. That would support the idea of it being designed to work bevel up, so as you say, it would not have needed a cap iron. So I agree - the blade must have been very massive. (I'm assuming that the good fit of the lever cap argues against that belonging to a different plane.) It looks more like a heavy 62-alike.

I'd love to see some documentary evidence of it being offered for sale or patented by someone.
 
Any casting marks to the underside of the lever cap? Any small line of dots behind the rear tote like a centre punch mark?
This took a very thick parallel iron if it is what I think it is........ :idea: :wink:
Cheers,
Martin
 
Well giving it a bit of thought I pulled out the " thing " that came with the plane, I originally thought was a small log splitting wedge. Put it back in the plane and it fits very well, and I noticed that the sides and top have been hit lots of times with a hammer too, I presume to adjust it. It's pretty rusty , but it has a bevel and as I said fits very well. the cap screw tightens up on it perfectly. I had dismissed it as a bit of a bodge blade some one had put in over the years. but am now thinking it might be the original. What do you guys think ?

100_2914.jpg


100_2915.jpg
 
What's the sharp end like? Is it sharp, or is it capable of being sharpened? Is it hard? Will a file skate across it?
That's quite a lot of questions isn't it?
 
Curiouser and curiouser! Can you show us a photo of the front of the loose wedge? Is it neatly shaped to sit on top of a blade and work as a cap iron?

There are examples around of cap irons that weren't bolted to the blade - the practice lasted longer in Europe - no special advantage in it that I can see - except that it would mean you could use any old blade, regardless of whether it had any sort of hole or slot in it.

But I'm waiting for Martin to stop dropping hints about casting marks and lines of dots and tell us what he thinks...come on, spill the beans!
 
Sorry just read that again, DM. Are you saying that the great lump of iron you found is actually the blade? Does it work?
 
AndyT":38oii3s1 said:
Sorry just read that again, DM. Are you saying that the great lump of iron you found is actually the blade? Does it work?


Well it is shaped like a very thick tapered blade and it has a main and secondary bevel at the thin end. The bottom is flat and the top is the side that tapers. It fits in with the bevel up. I'll get some photo's up tonight. I will try to sharpen it this evening and see what happens.
 
mahking51":1kmeokp5 said:
Any casting marks to the underside of the lever cap? Any small line of dots behind the rear tote like a centre punch mark?
This took a very thick parallel iron if it is what I think it is........ :idea: :wink:
Cheers,
Martin

I cant see any marks on it at all and no punch marks either.
 
Jeez Andy, you must have a memory like something with a really good memory! I was halfway down the second page before I even remembered reading about it last year, let alone spotting it out of the blue on ebay! #-o
 
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