Wooden Plane

[Keith 66]

I just restored this wooden plane, probably German? it once belonged to Reg Patten who was a well known Shipwright & builder of Sea King yachts at Leigh on Sea.
I acquired it last year from a scrap dealer who had cleared Sea Kings yard when it finally closed down. Unfortunately it had got damp & the lignum vitae sole had become detached from the fruitwood body. They were joined using a toothing plane but the base never fitted again as it had swelled differently.
After a year of trying to get the parts to acclimatise so i could reglue it i had no option but to plane the toothing off & glue the base back on.
Probably sacriledge in some eyes but i want the plane as a working tool.
The iron has plenty of life left in it & takes a splendid edge, i just reset the mouth & have given it a test. It cuts beautifully & is a real pleasure to use.
Any ideas on who made it?

 

[MIGNAL]

Don't know. It does look very similar to the Ulmia Planes but I don't recognise that lever cap, which looks quite fancy compared to theirs.
The whole Plane looks to be well made, the horn nicely carved. I wouldn't worry about the sole, it's very unlikely to come off.

 

[AndyT]

First stop for a question like this is always Wolfgang Jordan's wonderful site, which has a matching example here
http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/bankhobel/putzhobel5.phtml

revealing the makers to be Esslinger & Abt, of Laupheim, Germany. Full company history here: http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hersteller/esslinger.phtml

 

[Keith 66]

Thanks for the info, great site! nice to know who made it. From that site it would appear to have likely been made before 1914, so Reg would have not have been the first owner by a long story. The base on mine had lterally come right off, i think it was glued on with hide glue or similar & getting wet had done the damage as the body & sole swelled differently. Back to work it goes!

 

[MIGNAL]

Almost certainly Hide/Bone glue. They didn't have much choice in 1914, maybe Casein but that is hard to reverse.