What is this plane please??
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Hello. Please could you help. A kind friend from the USA sent me some tools (to the UK) Among them is this plane. It is really well made but I can’t work out what it’s for and how to use it. It seems counter intuitive. Any thoughts welcome. Thanks, Mark
It is a dado plane to cut cross grain dados or housings(?) I think you call them in the U.K. Very useful if the width between the scribe knives fits you panel.if your panel is thicker you can cut the first groove and then move your fence over the required amount to make a wider dado.
It is a rare find indeed! This is a plane for making crossbow bolts out of the, now extinct, Norse Four-leaf Rose Pine. It is only functional during the Hour of the Owl on the night of the fifth blue moon of the year. The unfortunate legend is that the user will grow a long beard in the middle of his forehead. I am willing to make the sacrifice and relieve you of this burden for the good of mankind…
Truly a remarkable piece of kit. It is a rebate plane. The blade is full width so it enables you to plane a rebate in both directions with one depth setting. If you encounter reversing grain, just plane in the opposite direction. Or you may plow a rebate all around the piece without resetting the plane even if the grain on the other edge of the board reverse direction The brass screw will set the depth via the foot you see inset in the bottom. If you plane a rebate in the other direction, just plane the rebate watching your gauge line rather than depending on the depth stop. A rebate cut in the opposite direction may be stepped if the blade is not wider than the sole, but that is easily remedied with some clean-up paring. The front blade is a double nicker that will allow cross-grain rebates by cutting the fibers ahead of the blade. You are quite fortunate to own this little gem, my friend! Enjoy!
As Brian has said, it’s a dado plane and an exceptionally nice one at that.
The tips of the nicker iron need to be reshaped and sharpened. They should end in a semicircular shape with a bevel filed around the inner faces.
Dave
Is there a maker’s mark / name stamped on it? If so, post it here and I’ll look it up in my book.
Cheers
Darren.
Gents, Many thanks for your help, and kind comments.
I hadn’t realised that the plane would be used by running alongside a temporary fence / guide. Now it makes sense! (Although it did at first seem like Rafi’s initial description might be right)
I attach a photo with the maker’s mark – Sandusky tools Ohio, as Darren requested. (Which book please Tenjin)
In fact my friend was kind enough to send me a box of tools, many of them are by Sandusky and they are all similarly excellent!
Thanks,
Mark
I based my original assessment on the apparent size of the thumbscrew. The plane can be used to cut housings, albeit for very thick boards. I estimate the blade is about an inch wide since the thumbscrew would fit a thumb, the quick way to estimate an inch from tip to first knuckle. Using the tool as a rebate plane is also possible with a guide in any case. It just seems a very practical use keeping in scale with making furniture.
The Sandusky Tool Co. of Sandusky Ohio, one of America’s most prolific makers, was in business between 1869 and 1925 when their factory was destroyed by a tornado. Here in SE Michigan, Sandusky planes found in the wild outnumber all other brands of wooden planes by far. They made good planes.
The width of the cut should be stamped at the rear of the plane.
Dave
Hi,
I see someone has answered already, but just a quick reply to say my book (Goodman’s British Planemakers) is UK planes only, so no help in this case.
Cheers
Darren.
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