Hi Old Workshop here,
I have a 22" Split Frame Plane and would
like some info on it please. Attachment 451455
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Hi Old Workshop here,
I have a 22" Split Frame Plane and would
like some info on it please. Attachment 451455
OW, I have copied your post in the 'sticky' thread and started a new thread for it. I think you'll be likely to get a better response this way, and it's such an oddball, I think it deserves it's own discussion....
Cheers,
I’m getting vague in my old age but from memory this was one of Leonard Baileys early experiments before it developed into what we all know as the Stanley plane.
I think he actually patented some thing on this so that would be a good place to start looking.
Roger Smith May also have a mention in PTAMPA.
As I said was right into early metal planes 30 years ago but my memory fails me.:no:
H.
About 1855 vintage the split frame came out, with the vertical post adjustment which rocked the frog caused the depth of cut to change.
No clue, but it's a nifty early modular design that I'd love to see more about.
Good suggestion, H., it does look a lot like some of the weird & wonderful metal plane designs that pre-dated or were contemporaneous with Mr. Bailey's eventual triumphant 1867 patent (for the plane we all know & love or hate today). From what I was able to discover, Bailey patented his rocking frog idea for a scraper plane in 1855, originally, and adapted it to a bench plane some time later. This example is possibly his most advanced design, but it looks a lot more like the later fixed-frog planes than the one above. The one book I have that discusses early American metal planes mentions an earlier design with a two-part body doesn't show a picture, but the description could fit the plane above.
I was hoping the OP might post a few more pictures, revealing a bit more of the construction- particularly some more details of the frog...??
Cheers,
Hi oldworkshop here, I will try and post a few more pictures of the plane including the frog.It is in a glass cabinet so will have to take the glass out.
Will keep you posted
Hi oldworkshop here, some pics of the frog.Attachment 454547Attachment 454548Attachment 454549Attachment 454550
The knurling on those wheels is really nifty - subtle and seemingly different on most of the corners.
one more picture.Attachment 454571
Really nice work done on those knobs. Someone had some knurls and wanted to show them off - they're wonderful.
I thought they could be engine turned or turned by a a rose engine lathe.
My father was walking past a retirement home and someone asked if he
wanted the plane or he was going to throw it in the bin. Another one saved.
So no-one has yet come up with any more info for this mystery plane? It's the first time I've seen the brains trust completely stumped!
The casting & machining of the body & that rotating frog isn't something your average (or even above-average) backyard foundry would toss off, so very unlikely to be a 'home bake'. One thought I had was that someone like Preston was trying out a prototype, decided not to go ahead, and somebody took it home rather than see it chucked back in the crucible. However, it would be unusual to make such a decorated pair of thumbscrews for a prototype, even in the mid 1800s, when a few people were fooling about with rotating frogs for depth-of-cut control (including Lord Leonard himself).
C'mon, you hand-toolies, someone must have come across something, somewhere!? Unfortunately, one of our most knowledgeable members wrt hand-plane history has left the building, but I'll bet he has an old catalogue or book that could shed some light....
Cheers,
There is a name on the frog knob which reads R Lee but i found no
info on R Lee. Maybe someone else could look up the name?
Also plane iron by Issac Greaves of sheffield 1825-1902