John Herring & Sons Plane Irons.

**planemaker** · 8th August 2014, 04:41 PM

I went searching in the workshop today for some tapered irons that a fellow forum member is looking for to make himself some wooden bodied block planes. I finally found what I was after. 1/2 a dozen 1 1/4 " irons made by J. Herring & Sons, and still in their original packaging. I had purchased these + extra about 8 years ago from the U.K. to make some block planes for myself. By the time you add the side wall thickness x 2, the plane body ends up very close to being 2" inline with the mouth opening. Very handy size to use.
I ended up making 3 block planes at the time fitted with brass sole's. To maximize comfort, I also shortened the full height of the irons. for Here is one of those block planes in action.

Not totally sure how old the irons were I did a search on the internet and found out that John Herring & Sons were making joinery tools from 1863 - 1900.

OldTools Archive -- thread with message 111253

So these are quite early, and all as good a condition today as they were when manufactured. Here are the plane irons.

regards; Stewie.

**derekcohen** · 8th August 2014, 05:20 PM

Hi Stewie

I've used a few of these irons as well, also from eBay. I found them variable in holding an edge. Some good, some too hard (and then chip - even after grinding back).

Regards from Perth

Derek

**planemaker** · 8th August 2014, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Hi Stewie

I've used a few of these irons as well, also from eBay. I found them variable in holding an edge. Some good, some too hard (and then chip - even after grinding back).

Regards from Perth

Derek

Interesting Derek. The ones I used were excellent. Very good quality steel with no issues at all in retaining their cutting edge. You must have been just a bit unfortunate with the ones you purchased.

No chance you would have overheated and burnt the cutting edge during grinding.

Actually I am a little bit surprised you needed to grind at all. The makers bevel on these irons are good enough to only require a later lapping and honing to achieve a very sharp cutting edge.

Stewie;

**derekcohen** · 9th August 2014, 01:20 AM

Hi Stewie

If the edge had been overheated it would have been too soft. the edges I had were too hard .. brittle. However, I also had others that were excellent blades. Here is one ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

**planemaker** · 9th August 2014, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Hi Stewie

If the edge had been overheated it would have been too soft. the edges I had were too hard .. brittle. However, I also had others that were excellent blades. Here is one ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

That is a sweet looking coffin plane Derek. I very much like the shaping you applied to the upper wedge. kudos

Stewie;

**pmcgee** · 11th August 2014, 03:13 AM

A while back I was reading quite a bit about steel-making in Sheffield ... but the dates are not in my head.

It followed the processes of industry from making steel by 'puddling' to stealing intellectual property from somewhere in Europe to blast furnaces. It said the control over carbon content could be quite variable ... basically "older isn't better" in a sense ...at least from the purely 'chemical'/industrial viewpoint.

Cheers,
Paul

**planemaker** · 11th August 2014, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by pmcgee

A while back I was reading quite a bit about steel-making in Sheffield ... but the dates are not in my head.

It followed the processes of industry from making steel by 'puddling' to stealing intellectual property from somewhere in Europe to blast furnaces. It said the control over carbon content could be quite variable ... basically "older isn't better" in a sense ...at least from the purely 'chemical'/industrial viewpoint.

Cheers,
Paul

Hi Paul. As you will observe after reading the attachment, dates are an important factor when discussing the quality of early English steel.

regards; Stewie.

A Brief History of Iron and Steel Manufacture

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