Thread: Mystery wooden plane

Hi Paul,
A closer look at the brand on your plane shows it to be Varvill not Yarvill. I found this: COSGB: Robert Varvill
Cheers,
Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

Well spotted. I must get my eyes tested! That's useful information about the company and its history but we are still trying to work out the purpose of the large notch to the front of the plane. We have discounted it being a moulding plane as the base is perfectly flat. And the notch, as well as the rest of the plane is beautifully made, so we doubt it's a later modification of a 'normal' plane.

If we get any more information, I will post the details. Thanks for your interest and help.

Paul

Definately a weird one; that notch appears to be the throat! If you look closely the way the blade has been set right now means that there is nowhere for the shaving to go. I reckon the blade is supposed to extend considerably further forward so that the back of the notch guides the shavings straight up.

Maybe... it’s a form of plough plane for freehand curved grooves? The notch would allow visibility of the blade edge so the plane could be pushed along a set of drawn lines? The notch appears to have an almost vertical back, this may be to give as much strength to the “ toe” as possible, and of which I would say has been slightly damaged as I cannot conceive of any reason why there would be that tiny rebate/gap forward of the blade.

I also reckon the blade is one of a set of diferent widths, my idea of a plough plane would support this and would also explain why there is a big number 2 stamped on the tang.

Paul, I should have mentioned that I know absolutely nothing about planes, but along with CT's comments I am wondering about the reason for the upper half of each side of the front of the plane being chamfered.
Geoff.

Hi Paul,

I had a look through my copy of Salman's Dictionary of Woodworking Tools and on pg.353 there is an entry for a Depthing Router,

This tool is used for routing out 'housing waste' a description of your example says " a narrow iron is bedded at about 45 degrees,
or at a steeper angle, in an ordinary plane stock with the front hollowed out as far as the mouth.

I think the iron should be a parallel one and not the tapered plow iron it currently has.

Regards

Graham.

Yes, its a router plane. The “forks” at the front are for maintaining registration (keeping the plane level), and the narrow blade is to fit a dado (to clear waste). I am sure that one can use a few different widths of blades ... possibly plough blades. In other words, a variation of an old hags tooth.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Along with Graham's comment, I have had a response from Bill Carter in the UK, who has a fascinating website http://www.billcarterwoodworkingplanemaker.co.uk on planes. Bill sent me images from the same book, showing very similar design of planes. See attachments These planes were used for cleaning out the bottom of slots and known as Router planes, Old Woman's tooth and Granny's tooth (Well done to Dragonfly on that).
We had noticed the number on the iron but the fact that its width did not match the width of the slot, even at its widest, suggested it was not the original cutter. In my plough planes the cutter tip is profiled to the form required but the upper body width is consistent and held firmly in the tool.

Thanks to everyone for their interest and suggestions. It's nice to solve a mystery, and improve our knowledge of tools.
.

Originally Posted by Boringgeoff

...... I am wondering about the reason for the upper half of each side of the front of the plane being chamfered....

No 'reason', just a common traditional decoration on old woodies, Geoff.....

I'm wondering about situations where this configuration would have an advantage over the sort of OWT wooden-bodied router I'm used to seeing, but can't think of any - any suggestions??

One thought I had is that it allows the use of a simple blade, so the same set of blades could be used for your plough plane, reducing the amount of ironmomgery to keep together.

And it probably is 'meant' to be a tapered blade in that plane, they are more suited to wedged planes because force at the cutting edge tends to tighten the wedge/blade combo rather than loosen the wedge. You can use parallel blades with wedges, tapered blades are not so easy to come by nowadays, so you don't have much option if you want to make yourself a traditional wedged woody. They are fine for easy-going work, but I can verify that they can loosen if you hit a hard knot, for e.g.
Cheers,

Originally Posted by Boringgeoff

...... I am wondering about the reason for the upper half of each side of the front of the plane being chamfered....

No 'reason', just a common traditional decoration on old woodies, Geoff.....

I'm wondering about situations where this configuration would have an advantage over the sort of OWT wooden-bodied router I'm used to seeing, but can't think of any - any suggestions??

One thought I had is that it allows the use of a simple blade, so the same set of blades could be used for your plough plane, reducing the amount of ironmongery to keep together.

And it probably is 'meant' to be a tapered blade in that plane, they are more suited to wedged planes because force at the cutting edge tends to tighten the wedge/blade combo rather than loosen the wedge. You can use parallel blades with wedges, tapered blades are not so easy to come by nowadays, so you don't have much option if you want to make yourself a traditional wedged woody. They are fine for easy-going work, but I can verify that they can loosen if you hit a hard knot, for e.g.
Cheers,

I would expect that the notch in the front of the plane is to enable the user to see where he is about to rout, especially if working on a curved trench.

I battle enough with a straight trench, using a fence. I’d not even bother trying to do a curved one, because it would just be a waste of timber.

Originally Posted by IanW

I'm wondering about situations where this configuration would have an advantage over the sort of OWT wooden-bodied router I'm used to seeing, but can't think of any - any suggestions??

One thought I had is that it allows the use of a simple blade, so the same set of blades could be used for your plough plane, reducing the amount of ironmomgery to keep together.

Looks to me like the shavings would quickly jam it up .

I cant think of a common use for furniture except the flat recessing for brass plates for names and decoration . Maybe the sort of recessing you see on brass bound sea chests / Campaign chests.

like this https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/st...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

There was a type of blind fret work used a lot but its 150 to 200 years before that plane was made . They did it by hand Id say back then .

What it has me guessing at is more a shop fitters use or stair builders . Don't you see hand rails for stair cases that sometimes have a shallow recess on the under side where instead of the more common turned posts sit you may see panels spaced ? Same on the stringer if that's the right part name ? Its something a plow may do but they sometimes curve and stop and start for each panel .

Rob

Originally Posted by auscab

.... Looks to me like the shavings would quickly jam it up .....

Rob, I wouldn't think that's much more likely than with the circular type body? It seems to me that by the time you have enough blade protrusion to start cutting a trench, the cutting edge will be forward of the back of the notch & the shavings will have plenty of room to go where they will...

I agree it dosn't look like a tool I'd reach for in any typical cabinetmaking process requiring level-bottomed trenches. The wider sole on the bent-blade style OWT that is popular now, plus the ease of using it in either push or pull mode seems more practical to me. Was this just an earlier style of router that lived on for a while before eventually being displaced by the current style (I can imagine the progression), or did it have some advantage for some trade or other, or was it an imported style that was popular in limited areas???

There are a few tools whose day came & went & either their true purpose, or how they were actually used (or both), have faded into the mist of time. Hopefully, someone will come across a reference somewhere that sheds more more light on this one....

Cheers,