Question for Woodie Experts

[jimi43]

Hello guys.

I found this little woodie at the Detling Antiques and Collectibles Fair on Sunday when I was wandering around looking for a desk for my daughter....

It's the bog standard 9 1/2" and in fairly good nick with a few boxing chips..

....and a nice bit of flower on the side.

This is the profile...

No maker's mark unless someone tells me that the upside down "HT" is the maker and not the owner but not the standard place to put a mark.

The reason I bought it and the subject of my post here today is that I found it an unusual profile and I couldn't recall it being in BPM III....and this proved correct...it's not in there as a standard "type" of wooden moulding plane.

So my questions to you experts are:

1) What's it called?
2) What's would it have been used for?
3) How old is it likely to be...my guess is early 1800s?
4) And lastly...is H T the maker or the owner?

Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Jimi

 

[Ed Bray]

Not an expert or even a journeyman come to that but the profile looks to me to be for a table edge, maybe even half of a drop leaf set.

 

[bugbear]

4) And lastly...is H T the maker or the owner?

Both, I think.

BugBear

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Is it a butchered^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H(edit for Jimi :wink: ) tastefully modified side bead ? The shallow depth of the body and unusual profile suggest re-purposed to me.

 

[AndyT]

Is it a butchered side bead ? The shallow depth of the body and unusual profile suggest re-purposed to me.

You beat me to it Tony! That's just what I was thinking.

Further evidence: the 'extra' wood to the outside of the boxing would have been thick enough to make the depth stop for a bead. The overall height is small, even for an eighteenth century plane. The iron is a really bad fit - look at that long stem sticking out way beyond the wedge.

As for purpose, I think it is closest to a snipe's bill - so could work down, tight up against another part of a composite moulding. From the size, I would guess it was for joinery work rather than cabinet making.

Once you start looking at wooden planes, you will find yourself eyeing up architectural mouldings in any historic buildings and thinking about how they would have been worked!

 

[jimi43]

Guys...that all makes sense now...though I would tend to use the word "customised" rather than "butchered" Tony as this terminology would suggest a more useful reason for the modification rather that "mucked up by village idiot" description! :mrgreen:

Looking at the part that has been "butchered"....I think this customisation would have been done very close to the date of origin of the plane rather than latterly...the patination is very uniform...the profile being the only evidence of change.

I've no doubt our dear friend Richard A will have some input...

Richard?

Jimi

 

[richarnold]

Hi Jimi.
Sorry for the late reply, but we have been away on our holidays.
There is not much I can add to what has already been said. I agree that it is likely to be a modified side bead.
The wedge looks to have been replaced, but I feel the plane is perhaps somewhat older than the earlier 1800's. The offside shoulder is finished lower than the other side. I am also not so confident as I used to be with assuming all planes that are only 9 1/2" long are of a later date.
I have now seen numerous older planes that are this length that appear to be original. My guess would be that this plane was probably made sometime before 1760. Lots of early planes turn up with no makers mark, but bear all the hallmarks of being made by a professional maker rather than user made. I think your plane falls into this category, and the initials are probably an early owners mark.
Cheers, Richard

 

[jimi43]

Hi Jimi.
Sorry for the late reply, but we have been away on our holidays.
There is not much I can add to what has already been said. I agree that it is likely to be a modified side bead.
The wedge looks to have been replaced, but I feel the plane is perhaps somewhat older than the earlier 1800's. The offside shoulder is finished lower than the other side. I am also not so confident as I used to be with assuming all planes that are only 9 1/2" long are of a later date.
I have now seen numerous older planes that are this length that appear to be original. My guess would be that this plane was probably made sometime before 1760. Lots of early planes turn up with no makers mark, but bear all the hallmarks of being made by a professional maker rather than user made. I think your plane falls into this category, and the initials are probably an early owners mark.
Cheers, Richard

Thanks Richard and I hope you enjoyed your time away.

The wedge was jammed in and unhardened steel had rusted it in...boy was that fun getting it out. The iron was Corro-Dipped and that's stopped any further deterioration and I have sharpened it up but need to hone it a bit more when I can find my curved slip stone.

I will then have a play with it next week.

It looked and felt a lot older than 19C but it was the 9 1/2" rule that had me thinking it wasn't.

It just stood out in a chest of other old tools and I bought this one in favour of a GABRIEL which was also in the box...so I must have liked it a lot! :lol:

Cheers for the feedback...I'll bring it along next time I see you.

Jimi