What a week. The Mad King has fled, but the carnage he’s left behind isn’t going away anytime soon. Still, it has been SO refreshing to see a real leader in the White House these past few days. President Joe Biden has a huge job ahead of him, and Republicans are still going to be Republicans and obstruct at every turn. After all, they know they can’t win in ‘22 if the Biden Administration succeeds. Still, I feel better about our country’s future than I have in years. In celebration, here’s another tool diary.
This is what is known as an infill plane, so called because the metal body is ‘infilled’ with wood. Infills are regarded by many as some of the most beautiful hand tools ever made. Infill planes were mainly produced in the U.K. from the mid-1800s until shortly after WWII. A handful of these are still made today by YouTube artisans and the build processes are fascinating to watch.
Vintage infills come in a huge variety of sizes, shapes, and applications. Pricing ranges from a hundred bucks or so up to thousands for rare examples. This one didn’t go for anywhere near that much — I even got a discount because it’s a bit nicked up in places and the seller didn’t know when it was made or by whom.
Look at the detail work on this. Gorgeous stuff. The wood fits nearly seamlessly with the metal casting. These guys spent real money to make this.
Here’s a look from the back. High-end infill planes used exotic woods like ebony, rosewood, mahogany and such. I don’t think this is any of those. Walnut, maybe?
When it arrived, we looked to see if we could learn more about who might have made it. The only clue was the maker’s imprint on the iron, but half of it is worn off. We could make out that it was ‘Something’ and Sons Warranted Cast Steel Sheffield England, along with a few other partial letters. So, while I was still admiring my latest find, my wife got on her phone and a moment later she said “I think it might be William Marples & Sons.” Sure enough, she’d found a match:
So, the iron, at least, is made by Marples, likely around 1900-1920 based on the ‘Hibernia’ imprint. The rest of it? Probably, but perhaps not. I spent a fair amount of time doing image searches for a Marples plane that looks like this and found nothing. Some plane makers outsourced their irons to companies like Marples. There is no other manufacturer’s identification on the body, so it could have been made by anyone. Whoever it was, they went way above and beyond just making a functional tool.
While this is arguably the most beautiful tool I own, it does have a couple practical drawbacks. The photos don’t really do it justice, but this thing is BIG. It measures 16” long by 2 7/8” wide, and weighs 7.1 pounds. That’s heavy. Then there’s the tote location. It’s much closer to the heel than you’ll see on the typical plane this size, which makes it front-heavy. Finally, while the front palm rest looks great, the lack of a knob to grip makes it a bit awkward to hold. This combination makes it rather unwieldy to use. That said, it’s intended for flattening larger, longer pieces and I did my tune up work with some smaller scrap lumber that was on hand. It does make real nice shavings though, and I look forward to trying it out on something more suitable.
My verdict? Despite the weight/balance issue, this is truly a work of art.
Here’s one at the other end of the size spectrum. This is my grandfather’s Stanley No. 18 block plane, circa 1930-ish. I found it with my dad’s tools last winter and stripped the cast iron down to bare metal, polished the lever cap and brass bits, then set it aside. Now that I have the gear for proper Japanning, I decided I should finish it up.
This has its own functional esthetic, with every piece optimized for its purpose. But the designers took their work a little farther — Everything just comes together to produce a tool that makes you want to hold it in your hands and put to work.
Not only does this little plane look great, but with the iron sharpened and everything set up, it works like new.
More artwork disguised as tools:
At first glance, this compass plane looks a little awkward, but it’s perfectly suited for the task of smoothing curved surfaces. The gear and lever mechanism is indeed a thing of admirable mechanical craft (at least to my engineer’s eyes).
Finally, this is an International Cutawl belt-driven jigsaw from the 1930s. I deem this art because the Manhattan Project level of engineering that went into this insanely complex mechanism makes the resulting machine is a joy to behold. I posted a diary here about the restoration of this saw last spring for any interested in the gory details.
I see someone from Novi, MI (Detroit suburb) won that billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot. I wish them luck, they’re going to need it. Shit, a billion bucks dropped into our laps today would ruin our lives. We’re fortunate enough to have all we need, and a bit more, so what the hell would we do with it? Senators argue over less than that in the goddamn federal budget. I did win $20 on a scratch-off last week, though. Woo hoo! After reviewing my options, I wisely invested my winnings in beer futures.
Keep staying safe, everyone!
ER