Thread: Monster plane

Michael, my guess is it's either a long jointer or a short cooper's plane. The step on the back suggests to me it may have been meant to be used upside down, with the step lodged in something to hold it steady, while the wood is passed over the plane, which is how coopers edge their staves. The cooper's planes I've seen in the flesh were quite a bit longer, but no doubt they came in many sizes, like any other plane.

Of course, it could've been made for some special purpose that had nothing to do with barrels, or the bloke what made it was a rather large chap who just wanted a plane to match. I take it the seller had no idea of where it came from? Always a useful clue!

Cheers,

Ian, my money is on a Cooper's Plane, although it is not a typically wide plane. The reason is that there is no handle for pushing - something this size is unlikely to have been managed like a Krenov plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Agreed, Derek, the lack of anything to hang onto and the size made me think "Cooper" immediately, but my first impressions have let me down on more than one occasion! The length seemed to me to be a bit restrictive. The way I've seen coopers planes depicted in use, with heel on the floor & leaning against a support of some sort, you'd need a bit more length behind the blade than the longest stave you intend to run over it. Given that the blade is positioned just forward of midships, something less than 600mm would be the longest piece it would handle if mounted in that way. However, the 'step' could be a clue that the maker used it differently, mounted in such a way that the sole was clear of obstructions and could handle any length??? Just speculating.

I have a vague memory of reading of other 'trades' that used stationary planes, but just couldn't come up with the what or where. I was sure someone else would come up with an alternative or two.......

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Michael, my guess is it's either a long jointer or a short cooper's plane. The step on the back suggests to me it may have been meant to be used upside down, with the step lodged in something to hold it steady, while the wood is passed over the plane, which is how coopers edge their staves.

I think a Cooper's plane too as that back recess could be used in conjunction with the hole at the front which was probably not for a handle but a locating dowel.

Just as an aside, were any Cooper's planes made by manufacturers or would they all have been individually made? I think the Cooper's may have had more speciality tools and modified tools than almost any other trade.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

....... were any Cooper's planes made by manufacturers or would they all have been individually made? I think the Cooper's may have had more speciality tools and modified tools than almost any other trade...

Can't answer your question, Paul. I've got a couple of books on old tools that mention coopers planes, but neither says anything about commercial makers. The blades would have come from recognised makers, no doubt, like the example the OP posted. Of the half-dozen I've seen in museums or museum-like places, no two were exactly alike & all looked to me like user-mades.

Surely there's a plane historian or two out there who can give us all a few clues....?

Cheers

Hi guysi thank you for the info, I knew someone on here would enlighten me with the answer. The seller did not know anything about it, he picked it up at a garage sale. I have added a couple more photos, one of the mouth and the end with the cutout that looks like it has a pattern of nail or screw holes where something has been attached to it.

Cheers

Not surprised to see a patch like that. I often turn one of my woodies upside down, put it in the vise and run narrow parts over it for trimming or just for jointing. A wooden plane wears fast if all of the material going through it goes across one narrow area. I almost thing it would be a better design for the plane to be made with a simple patch from the start, and screws provided so that the user could just easily replace the wood in front of the mouth.

IanW

I found this photo OUTILS ANCIENS - ART POPULAIRE :: colombe.

Dimensions given are: length 1300mm - width = 170mm and iron width = 130mm

Wood = walnut and sorb tree (?) (Sorbus demestica)


The French authors of a book on planes (Pierre Bouillot & Xavier Chatellard, Les Rabots - Histoire - Technique - Typologie - Collection) mention that similar planes were used by box makers - as in packing boxes, travelling chests etc. The box makers' planes would somewhat differ from the coopers' by having four legs and a horizontal planing sole, with lengths between 1400 and 2000mm.


Cheers Yvan

Well, I brought out my 36" Dreadnought today to re-surface my bench. I built this plane a few years ago with a 3" wide Berg blade. It is a monster plane which, although technically a cooper's plane, I added handles so that it may be pushed. It is big and heavy, and the momentum carries it through everything.



Here it is with a 24" long Veritas #7.



Regards from Perth

Derek

I've seen coopers planes that look to be professionally made, and many that aren't. Of all of the types of tools around that would be used hard, they are used hard and generally in bad shape when I see them.

I thought I'd look around a little bit and see if I could find them listed on a price list, and it appears a lot of the old sites that used to host old catalogs are gone. I did find this one. See page 5 if it doesn't come up.

https://picclick.com/H-Chapin’s-Sons-Planes-Price-List-Pages-From-323391198169.html#&gid=1&pid=5

I've got one monster big stick of beech left (good beech is hard to find) that's about five feet long, and I think I'm going to make a coopers plane so that I can stop flipping my own planes upside down in the vise. I know I have a 3" iron somewhere, but I don't think I have a double iron that large. This is one instance where using the plane productively requires a double iron, and the double iron serves a second function of limiting how much of your finger can be shaved off. I've never actually shaved any part of my finger off on a bench plane with the double iron set.

This is one instance where using the plane productively requires a double iron,and the double iron serves a second function of limiting how much of your finger can be shaved off.

the bs alarm should be ringing loudly. imo

Originally Posted by planemaker

the bs alarm should be ringing loudly. imo

Not interested in "IMO" when it comes along with no practical experience between the two.

I'm sure you can respond with some smoother shavings on a test board. Not interested until you start turning your planes over and actually build things with them.

Originally Posted by D.W.

...no practical experience between the two.

OK, I’ll bite.

How does the double iron limit the finger loss?