Likes Likes:  0
Needs Pictures Needs Pictures:  0
Picture(s) thanks Picture(s) thanks:  0
Results 1 to 11 of 11
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2022
    Location
    Toolangi
    Age
    68
    Posts
    38

    Default Need help with unknown brand No. 3 plane

    Hi,

    Seen this on eBay. Any idea who the manufacturer is...??Vintage_No__3_Wood_Plane.jpg

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Age
    2010
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Sebastopol, California, USA
    Posts
    172

    Default

    No, but it looks like a steel body; definitely a formed steel cap. Hard to tell about the frog. If you're looking for a user-grade plane, you'd be taking a chance; this could be a decent plane or trash. Most planes fabricated (bent to shape) from steel lean toward the trash direction.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Brisbane (western suburbs)
    Age
    77
    Posts
    12,094

    Default

    Agree with Bill's assessment; it looks very suss. If I saw it on a table at a flea-market for $2 I might take it home out of curiosity, but I'd not pay real money for it. It's probably quite a bit lighter than a cast bodied #4, & might make a usable scrub plane, but you would probably struggle to turn it into a fine instrument.

    There was some discussion of "Faithful" pressed-steel bench planes on a UK forum a while back. The lever-cap & blade adjuster (Norris style) on these are different from yours, which seems to have a Bailey style adjuster, so the one you show is definitely not a "faithful". The general consensus was that they are not worth taking home.

    Stanley made some steel-bodied planes like the 118, which Patrick says unkind things about.

    P'raps it's just snobbery, but pressed-steel bodied planes don't seem to be held in high regard anywhere!

    Cheers,
    IW

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
    Posts
    4,882

    Default

    I just had a look at the ebay listing and there are quite a lot of pictures. It actually looks a bit better than I was expecting but I would not pay 99 bucks for it. No idea on the maker however. Like Ian says if it were going for a song then it may be something to tinker with for the experience. Who knows if it does not go this time round he may reduce the price.
    Regards
    John

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    788

    Default

    At first I thought it may be a Bohrer, but I couldn't find anything similar.
    It may even be a Birmingham "B" plane, but I can't see an example logo anywhere.

    Birmingham or “B” Planes | TimeTestedTools

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Hobart
    Posts
    5,107

    Default

    Do you have any more photos, Rob?

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
    Posts
    4,882

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Brisbane (western suburbs)
    Age
    77
    Posts
    12,094

    Default

    Thanks , I was thinking of looking it up to see more pics & you made it easy...

    That 'B in a diamond' logo seems very familiar to me, but I just can't put it in context. It's been bugging me since I saw it - one of us should save a pic of it & post on the UK forum, there are a couple of dudes there who seem to recognise every trademark that was ever applied to a tool!....

    One thing's for sure, you have to grant that the manufacturer of that plane has made very good use of stamping machines, even the frog is stamped! I think I've seen enough to convince me that it would be good for someone who collects odd & unusual attempts at emulating "Bailey's original recipe", but if you wanted a good user, you could probably pick up a far better candidate for half the starting price!

    Cheers,

    [Edit: OK, I dunnit, so let's see what they come up with - I'm sure someone there will know...]
    IW

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Hobart
    Posts
    5,107

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    Thanks , I was thinking of looking it up to see more pics & you made it easy...

    That 'B in a diamond' logo seems very familiar to me, but I just can't put it in context. It's been bugging me since I saw it - one of us should save a pic of it & post on the UK forum, there are a couple of dudes there who seem to recognise every trademark that was ever applied to a tool!....
    ...

    [Edit: OK, I dunnit, so let's see what they come up with - I'm sure someone there will know...]
    Thanks, Orraloon and Ian. I also have a deja vue feeling about the "B in a diamond" trademark but have been unable to identify it precisely. Let us hope the Poms come up with something.

    You will note that the central bar on the "B" is angled, not horizontal, which is the sort of thing that IP attorneys advise for differentiation purposes.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    807

    Default

    It is not quite the same, but I have seen a "B" in some sort of diamond shape on planes from the old USSR.

    I have small #1 size.




    The logo might have undergone some evolution. Maybe worth looking in that direction too.

    Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    US
    Posts
    3,076

    Default

    Avoid all planes with an aluminum or stamped lever cap. Even a sort of pot metal-ish clever cap is probably better, and a cast lever cap more like stanley is better.

    Aluminum and stamped lever caps are flexible enough that the iron can move ever so slightly in use and fail to enter and stay in a cut nearly as well. The effect and how significant it is is very big, and just changing the lever cap on a plane like that to a good one (like any older stanley) will make for a huge performance improvement.

    i've never had a plane with an aluminum or stamped frog, so can't comment there, but a lever cap is not where you want to cut costs - the end of it and where it presses on a cap iron is critical and flexibility is bad.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 3
    Last Post: 22nd December 2021, 05:06 PM
  2. Unknown brand name router plane
    By Skilsaw in forum HAND TOOLS - UNPOWERED
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 7th May 2019, 03:18 AM
  3. Unknown plane bodies
    By Stringy in forum HAND TOOLS - UNPOWERED
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 18th July 2011, 09:26 AM
  4. Unknown Number 6 Plane
    By Burnsy in forum HAND TOOLS - UNPOWERED
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 9th October 2007, 04:59 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •