German Planes

**Cklett** · 28th January 2023, 01:12 PM

First a disclaimer. This is not a post to show how great German (or continental planes) are. Just a show and tell as in the title. Although they might be discarded a bit too fast. In the end also the continental and German cabinet makers produced some fine work. It is just interesting that they stuck with their wooden planes and still make them today. Cast iron planes are not very common in Germany. I think they are becoming more popular now due to YouTube and spreading of the internet. But this is a different story.

Since I have been given my great great grandfather's planes (My great great grandfather's planes) I am intrigued with the traditional German planes. Diving back into my heritage if you like.

As I am descending into this new rabbit hole, I have picked up a few more planes.

The two on the left are my great great grandfather's scrub and smoothing plane. Then next to it from left a single iron jack plane, Ulmia double iron and a toothing plane. And on the right still in boxes are two unique planes from former eastern German Democratic Republic.

If you search for these shape planes in Australia it is interesting that 90% of them are single iron. Although the Germans have a suite of different featured planes to do all the jobs needed. As far as I understand

1. the fairly skinny scrub plane
2. Then single iron plane with about 250mm length they use as jack plane. I don't think the mid length one like a #5 is a traditional length. All planes are about 200 to 300mm long and then it goes straight to 600mm for jointer
3. after that double iron with 45 degrees bed angle to use as jack or smoother
4. after that a double iron with 49 degrees as actual smoother
5. and finally for some mor difficult wood the so-called "Reformhobel" which also features and adjustable mouth opening

Anyway, coming back to the boxed plane. This post let's look at the double iron plane with the German blade adjustment mechanism.

This mechanism was first patented by Carl Emmerich in 1952 (Kleines Werkzeugmuseum (Patentinformationen PRIMUS-Putzhobel). It is quite different to any other I have seen and I think quite clever in it's own way. Today you can find it in Ulmia and ECE planes. And in this Howal plane from 1982.

Here is a short abstract of the origins and history of Howal (Deutsche Werkzeughersteller und -handler: C. S. Reich/Howal):

"The company C. S. Reich in Schweina started as a pipe making firm in 1887. Until World War I it became the biggest pipe producer in Germany. Shortage of exotic woods and cheap imports led to the production of woodworking tools like planes, levels, rulers etc. from around 1930.

In 1953 the company was nationalized and renamed to "VEB Pfeifen und Holzerzeugnisse Bad Liebenstein", better known as "Howal".

Although pipes were still produced, the name changed to "VEB Werkzeuge und Meßgeräte Schweina" in 1979. When the Berlin wall came down, the plant was closed for good."

Here is a schematic of the plane and adjustment mechanism and a cut-open picture I found on the net.

And here an overview of all the parts.

The mechanism is as said quite clever in my view. for the working it fully relies on all parts constantly being in tension.

The blade is not held by a wedge or lever cap, but pulled against the bed with what I would call a tension rod. The tension rod is spring loaded on the back end and has a cross pin at the front which lodges into the cap iron. As you tension the rod and it pulls the iron against the bed the iron wants to travel up the bed. And that is how you set it also up. you tension the rod until the blade moves upwards.

Then to advance the blade you use the adjustment screw which sticks out at the top. It is a simple threaded rod which is threaded through a barrel nut in the plane body. Advancing it pushes then into the cropped section of the tension rod and hence moving the blade downwards.

Now the whole assembly is in tension, which then means that advancing and retracting the blade work with hardly any backlash. The only backlash I noticed is where the tensioning rod connects to the cap iron. And that would most likely be zero for the higher quality ECE planes with that feature.

The buttons (which were also discussed briefly here A #3 sized infill that fell short of expectations.....) were introduced with patent later in 1958 and shall assist in the blade gliding easier up and down.

In my view it works quite well, but changing the blade is not as easy as on a bailey type plane. So far, the easiest for me was to unscrew the nut on the back of the tensioning rod completely and pull the rod out through the front and then take the blade out. It is a tad mor screwing then just flipping a lever and take the blade out. And now you have the rod, spring, washer and nut flying around separately with risk of loosing them in your shavings. Apparently, you are meant to just loosen the nut so you can pull the rod a little to the front, give it a quarter turn and then remove the blade. Not for me yet. That is more fiddley then just taking everything out.

The lateral adjustment follows the same principle. It relies on being constantly in tension as well. The cross pin in the tensioning rod is not square to the rod on purpose.

This means that when tensioning the rod the blade will not only be pulled upwards, but also constantly to one side. This will then move the blade out of square. Then the blade position is corrected with the lateral adjuster screwed to the cap iron. Now also the lateral adjustment is in tension as the blade assembly is now wedged between the cheeks of the plane.

I do not believe my plane has ever been used much. Maybe a few times. However, I do not believe the blade has ever been sharpened. it still had a layer of protective coating on it.

The blade is 3mm thick and needed a little flattening as well as a sharpen.

The cap iron has definitely never been matched to the blade. Teh mating surface still had same surface as rest of it. it is also nice and thick and was mated to the blade quite easy.

Finally, I trued the sole. It was quite hollow, but as it is wood very easy to flatten with my #5.

Now to the test run and that is when everything came undone....

I do not know if they just used a crap steel or forgot to harden it, but just after a few strokes it was dull as and very rugged edge.

Keep in mind this plane was made in 1982. At that time GDR economy was basically in collapse and getting good raw material not easy. I would not expect to have same experience if you buy an Ulmia or ECE.

However, first I thought I might have not sharpened right or so. I sharpened again and then used it on some pine. After 5 strokes again same result.

I was already contemplating to order a new ECE blade, which should fit or even make a new one myself from some 1085 I have. Anything would be better than this.

But before I go there, I decided to first try to give the blade a heat treatment myself and see if I can harden and temper it. Maybe something went wrong during manufacture and it never was hardened properly before.

I will try this over the weekend and then report back. I certainly cannot make it worse.....

That's it for now. Stay tuned. After that I will then reveal the weird plane in the white Styrofoam box [emoji6]

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**auscab** · 28th January 2023, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by Cklett

If you search for these shape planes in Australia it is interesting that 90% of them are single iron. Although the Germans have a suite of different featured planes to do all the jobs needed. As far as I understand

Nice set of planes . And an interesting thread. I have a few different German planes . One smoother with a cap iron and a Toothing plane in that body style as well, among some others . The steel surface on the rest of the blade and cap iron of the blade that's giving you problems looks different from what you normally see . It looks like the surface of something that's been cast . I'm not suggesting it is or could be cast. Its just different looking . Maybe they are acid etched ?

**Chief Tiff** · 28th January 2023, 02:20 PM

Cool; thanks for this!

I will confess I've never got on with wooden bench planes of any type; coffin smoothers feel like a brick; wooden jacks are just bulky and top heavy (even the razee handled ones) and the horned Teutonic offerings of your ancestors just don't feel so good in my hand. However I do own one horned plane; it was an Aldi Workzone I picked up for $10 on clearance and wanted to see if at the blade was any good; which it was (and it's a double iron). It felt horrid with way too many sharp edges but with judicious application of rasps and sandpaper I made it comfortable to use and I decided to make it into a scrub plane. It rarely comes out on my bench but it does get used for demos as people just like making big shavings and seeing wood being carved away. Plus the buttons on the toe and heel really help to show how wooden planes are adjusted by hammer taps as they can easily see the blade moving in and out depending on which button you apply the technical taps.

Can you at least give us a hint of what's in the box???

**Cklett** · 28th January 2023, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by auscab

. It looks like the surface of something that's been cast . I'm not suggesting it is or could be cast. Its just different looking . Maybe they are acid etched ?

I also believe it had some surface treatment. If you look at the cap iron it has the same surface, but pretty sure it has been stamped. So I believe both parts received some treatment.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Cool; thanks for this!

I will confess I've never got on with wooden bench planes of any type; coffin smoothers feel like a brick; wooden jacks are just bulky and top heavy (even the razee handled ones) and the horned Teutonic offerings of your ancestors just don't feel so good in my hand.

They do feel quite different. I am starting to like them. On some I had to add the little round wedge behind the blade so it is more comfy to wrap my hand around it. I like the horn and liken it that I can just flip them around and pull as well.

But I also came very late to using planes. Therefore my feel and muscle memory has not yet fully established on one kind.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Can you at least give us a hint of what's in the box???

Does this give you an idea? [emoji6]

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**Chief Tiff** · 28th January 2023, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by Cklett

Does this give you an idea?

UNFAIR!!!

Anyhoo; forgot to talk about your chipped blade… I have a Luban spokeshave with a blade that used to chip it’s edge on hardwoods, softwoods, cheddar and harsh sunlight. I “cured” it by regrinding the edge to 30 degrees and honing at 35.

**Simplicity** · 28th January 2023, 08:36 PM

Cklett?

What a fantastic write, up thread we need more off you giving us lectures on tools, I’m looking forward too the next chapter.

Cheers Matt.

**IanW** · 29th January 2023, 08:51 AM

Thanks for the expose on the Emmerich adjuster, Ck. I had a (very!) vague idea from an article I read years ago, which was illustrated with some blurred pictures or daigrams, but your pics tell the whole story on their own, very clearly.

It's an interesting example of lateral thinking - there were several attempts at making screw adjusters before Bailey patented his idea, but not many after it became the accepted standard (& promptly adopted by many makers as soon as the patents expired). But the Bailey mechanism isn't suitable for infill planes so Tom Norris came up with another idea. The Norris adjuster was fitted to a small range of wooden-bodied planes besides his infills and could have been fitted to the German style planes too. But maybe there were still patent issues in 1952, so E.C.E. needed to come up with something entirely different?

As you say, it incorporates some sound engineering principles, and it's simple enough that a home builder could make something similar. About the only thing I don't like is the large knob for the blade-retaining shaft sticking out the back. They could have used a large screw head that tightened flush with the wood, methinks. It would mean you needed to reach for a screwdriver to take the blade out for sharpening instead of just backing off a knob, but you need a driver anyway, to undo the cap-iron screw, so there would be no great loss of convenience.

It's a good thing I'm not making any more planes (after I finish the one I'm working on atm

), or I'd be tempted to see if I could "improve" that adjuster a bit....

Cheers,

**orraloon** · 29th January 2023, 01:08 PM

OK I have a few. I picked up the Emir first in a junk shop as it looked unusual. I knew it was a German style plane and thought why not give it a go. Then I got a solid ebony Mujingfang. Their version of a European plane. While later I saw some in Aldi and I thought at $10 if its a dog then I have a blade and chipbreaker for a future project. Actually works not bad and perhaps the closest German link of them all.
One looks to be home made with an old Ward blade in it. No marks or branding and its not beech. Oak perhaps. I use it as a rough scrub plane. Another one I was given is a Tigre and its eastern European with what I think is a hornbeam sole. Only the Aldi and Muji are double iron. All the blades are pretty good.
Regards
John

**Cklett** · 29th January 2023, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by orraloon

OK I have a few. I picked up the Emir first in a junk shop as it looked unusual. I knew it was a German style plane and thought why not give it a go. Then I got a solid ebony Mujingfang. Their version of a European plane. While later I saw some in Aldi and I thought at $10 if its a dog then I have a blade and chipbreaker for a future project. Actually works not bad and perhaps the closest German link of them all.
One looks to be home made with an old Ward blade in it. No marks or branding and its not beech. Oak perhaps. I use it as a rough scrub plane. Another one I was given is a Tigre and its eastern European with what I think is a hornbeam sole. Only the Aldi and Muji are double iron. All the blades are pretty good.
Regards
John

Yes, it does look more like home made. The rear tote is not typical for traditional German planes. However, the Ward blade is not necessarily a sign that it is not German. In my research I found that a lot of traditional German plane makers imported irons from the UK.

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**auscab** · 29th January 2023, 03:02 PM

Out of interest
These single iron German planes can be seen listed as Roughing Planes in the older books on cabinet making and the planes you need .
They are listed as German Roughing planes as well . And in the UK as a Bismark or the Roughing Plane .

It has had me wonder if they were an import from Germany or if the English made them for the tool chests of 19th Century
woodworkers as well?
I see the Preston Catalogue from 1909 has them listed as German Jack or Roughing and they would have been stamped Preston and made in the UK.
They came with the horn or Peg handle option in the same body style and single iron.
Think I have seen plenty of UK made stamped ones but most are not stamped. Some of the German ones are not beech . I remember a friend telling me they are Hornbeam . I have one or two German Planes that are a hard wood that I don't recognize and my guess is that they are probably Hornbeam .

Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) - British Trees - Woodland Trust

IMG_1144.jpg

IMG_1145.jpg IMG_1146.jpg

**Cklett** · 29th January 2023, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by auscab

Out of interest
These single iron German planes can be seen listed as Roughing Planes in the older books on cabinet making and the planes you need .
They are listed as German Roughing planes as well . And in the UK as a Bismark or the Roughing Plane .

It has had me wonder if they were an import from Germany or if the English made them for the tool chests of 19th Century
woodworkers as well?
I see the Preston Catalogue from 1909 has them listed as German Jack or Roughing and they would have been stamped Preston and made in the UK.
They came with the horn or Peg handle option in the same body style and single iron.
Think I have seen plenty of UK made stamped ones but most are not stamped. Some of the German ones are not beech . I remember a friend telling me they are Hornbeam . I have one or two German Planes that are a hard wood that I don't recognize and my guess is that they are probably Hornbeam .

Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) - British Trees - Woodland Trust

IMG_1144.jpg

IMG_1145.jpg IMG_1146.jpg

Hi Auscab,

Thanks for that. I find it is not easy to find good information on traditional German planes. Even German sites are not as many as in English. And of course they deal more with American and English traditions.

Anyway, from what I had gathered through German sites and videos typically we use

"Schrubhobel" = Scrub Plane. Where I think the translation makes sense. However the picture of the roughing plane in your catalogue looks very much like the scrub plane I have.

After that they would use a single iron "Schlichthobel". Which I would have translated as flattening plane. They use it to get rid of all the bumps and gouges from the scrub plane to get a more or less flat surface. I interpret that this use is more like a jack plane.

There might also not be exact equivalents and some sit in between or so.

However, note that I am no expert. Still learning and researching myself....

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**orraloon** · 29th January 2023, 05:29 PM

To add more confusion to the German/English planes debate the Emir plane is made in London. Well the decal on the front says London. From what I read some years back they were of German origin and set up in England. I think they were still making things like work benches and a few other beech items up to quite recently.
Regards
John

**Cklett** · 29th January 2023, 05:36 PM

I gave the blade now heat treatment in a selfmade olive oil can forge.

It made a huge difference. Not sure how well I treated it, but much much better than before.

Got some nice shavings in pine and some hard wood. Not sure how long this edge will hold, but again huge difference. Here is a picture after I finished playing today.

The adjuster responds very well and I could dial in very thin cuts. On the baileys I had to often retract to zero and then advance again very careful. With this I can go back and forth as I like.

The lateral adjustment is a little more finicky. Probably a question of getting used to it. I managed and worked well.

What I noticed was that the cap iron front edge was not square and so it wasn't possible to bring it parallel to the blade cutting edge. It is harder to rotate the cap iron a little due to the 2 retaining screws. They restrain the movement a little. Anyway, no biggy. A little filing and honing and all fits now very well.

Originally Posted by IanW

As you say, it incorporates some sound engineering principles, and it's simple enough that a home builder could make something similar. About the only thing I don't like is the large knob for the blade-retaining shaft sticking out the back. They could have used a large screw head that tightened flush with the wood, methinks. It would mean you needed to reach for a screwdriver to take the blade out for sharpening instead of just backing off a knob, but you need a driver anyway, to undo the cap-iron screw, so there would be no great loss of convenience.

I agree with you Ian. The knob sticks out a bit too far. It would be a tad more comfortable if it would be flush. Also the German's certainly do not care about looks so much. It is all functional and fit for purpose. Even the high end planes only have plastic knobs and pressed metal, etc.

Originally Posted by IanW

It's a good thing I'm not making any more planes (after I finish the one I'm working on atm

), or I'd be tempted to see if I could "improve" that adjuster a bit....

Cheers,

Maybe I can tempt you to a collaboration? [emoji6]

One reason I also bought this plane was to be able to closely examine the mechanism. I also had the problem of finding good information about the details.

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**Simplicity** · 29th January 2023, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by IanW

Thanks for the expose on the Emmerich adjuster, Ck. I had a (very!) vague idea from an article I read years ago, which was illustrated with some blurred pictures or daigrams, but your pics tell the whole story on their own, very clearly.

It's an interesting example of lateral thinking - there were several attempts at making screw adjusters before Bailey patented his idea, but not many after it became the accepted standard (& promptly adopted by many makers as soon as the patents expired). But the Bailey mechanism isn't suitable for infill planes so Tom Norris came up with another idea. The Norris adjuster was fitted to a small range of wooden-bodied planes besides his infills and could have been fitted to the German style planes too. But maybe there were still patent issues in 1952, so E.C.E. needed to come up with something entirely different?

As you say, it incorporates some sound engineering principles, and it's simple enough that a home builder could make something similar. About the only thing I don't like is the large knob for the blade-retaining shaft sticking out the back. They could have used a large screw head that tightened flush with the wood, methinks. It would mean you needed to reach for a screwdriver to take the blade out for sharpening instead of just backing off a knob, but you need a driver anyway, to undo the cap-iron screw, so there would be no great loss of convenience.

It's a good thing I'm not making any more planes (after I finish the one I'm working on atm

), or I'd be tempted to see if I could "improve" that adjuster a bit....

Cheers,

Bets In please bets In please[emoji6].

Cheers Matt.

**old workshop** · 30th January 2023, 03:41 AM

Hi
Have your got any stamp marks and
date marks on your Great Grand fathers
planes. I have one with name and date.

Martin

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