Thread: A small (but heavy) gloat

Hello Jack,
That's a very interesting plane.
I'm looking at many of the planes marked Mathieson, and trying to work out who actually made them.
If it isn't to much trouble, I would love to see a close-up of the front of the bun, and also the back of the plane.
Is the back infill made in 2 parts? I can see a line across the back of the front infill...is that 2 pieces as well?
Have a look at this page to see some of the planes.
Infill Planes marked "STEEL"
I still have a page in preparation on the Mathieson planes made by Spiers, like the one below.
Regards,
Peter
In Main Ridge, VIC.
Australia.

edit: I just added a picture of another smaller infill, also made by Spiers, marked Mathieson.

Heel.jpgStamp.jpg Both the front and rear infill may be joined, however the grain matching is so good that it is hard to be certain. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures - as a photographer I would make a good bricklayer. I tried a bit of white chalk to highlight the stamp. I hope these help.

More information with respect to its origin would be welcome from a purely academic point of view. Since I am a user rather than a collector, my major concern is performance.

Cheers

Jack

Originally Posted by Jack in Nepean

Heel.jpgStamp.jpg Both the front and rear infill may be joined, however the grain matching is so good that it is hard to be certain. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures - as a photographer I would make a good bricklayer. I tried a bit of white chalk to highlight the stamp. I hope these help.

More information with respect to its origin would be welcome from a purely academic point of view. Since I am a user rather than a collector, my major concern is performance.

Cheers

Jack

Jack,
Thanks for taking those pictures!
Performance is something special with these planes.

The origin of these planes is of special interest to me. Especially those marked MATHIESON only on the front bun, and a little unusually, those marked the correct way up.
I have 6 of these, and only one is marked like yours, the correct way up. All the others are marked upside-down. Something Spiers did often.
Unfortunately the pictures do help me a little, but the mark on the front is a bit blurry.
What I'm looking for is identifying planes marked with the same punch.
So, I'm looking specifically at the position of the star in relation to the crescent moon.
The position of the star, both vertical and horizontal position, and in relation to the word above it MATHIESON.
The spacing of the letters in that word, particularly if the the A is closer to the M than the T, and spacing between E&S.
I can see some of these features but they are a little blurry. I would love to put it next to another picture I have (CSI style) and compare them.

There are few things that will help when taking pictures of planes.
Make certain the image is in focus, even if the object is small in the frame. (The image can be edited in some software to fit the frame later)
Look to where the light direction is, and let it hit directly on to the feature on the object, like your second picture. (usually over the shoulder from behind you)
Make certain the plane can't move, and steady the camera in some way, rest it on something.

Thanks again,
Peter

Peter, do these marks relate at all to the stamps on wooden planes .. and cap-irons?
Or is it a infill-factory thing?

Thanks,
Paul

Paul,
There were plenty of tools in the Mathieson catalogue that were subcontracted out to specialist makers who had punches to mark the goods.
I have a collection of about 20 name punches that were in the estate of a local goldsmith who worked in Melbourne early in the 1900s. It includes other jewellery makers from the same time, and retailer's marks as well.
I have no doubt the tool makers had the same arrangement.

My interest is … who made the infill planes. Plenty of the Mathieson planes were made by Spiers.
Although the rear infill is two piece, like Spiers, the lever screw on Jack's plane doesn't look like a Spiers plane. It looks more like one made by Holland, but what I can see of the mark, it look very like another one I have.
Regards,
Peter

Lightwood, this one turned out a bit better. Stamp1.jpg Hope this helps.

I should note that the only other identifying mark on the plane (that I have found) is the numeral 2 on the inside of the lever cap.

Under the above magnification, it does appear to me that the bun is in fact 2 pieces - although the grain match is very very good.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Jack in Nepean

Lightwood, this one turned out a bit better. Stamp1.jpg Hope this helps.

I should note that the only other identifying mark on the plane (that I have found) is the numeral 2 on the inside of the lever cap.

Under the above magnification, it does appear to me that the bun is in fact 2 pieces - although the grain match is very very good.

Cheers.

Jack,
thank you very much for taking that picture. You have done brilliantly well!

Thanks again,
Peter.

Yesterday I swapped out the Marples iron for a Ward cast steel of the same era. I had closed up the mouth to about 0.006" using cardboard shims. Slightly different technique - pushing the plane forward using a lower grip and not putting any downward pressure with either hand - letting the tool do the work . Success!!!! Wispy sub thou shavings on cherry, maple and some gnarly walnut. The final test was on some highly figured birdseye maple - no tearout whatsoever. I was as excited as a 4 year old on Christmas morning (not a pretty picture since I won't see 60 again), but exciting nonetheless.


Cheers

Jack