My shed clean-out continues & here are some more planes that are excess to requirements. They may look like cute toys, but the two little smoothers in particular are of a size I've found very useful for small work or even larger stuff if you need to touch-up a small area that a regular plane can’t get at.
1. Mini smoother, sole length 100mm, 25 x 3mm HSS blade bedded at 450. Bull-oak infill, “adjuster” included. $50
This is a practical tool despite its diminutive size. The M2 HSS blade takes a fine edge & holds its own against the worst of woods. Once you get the knack of hammer setting (a brass-headed “adjuster” is included), it is easy to set for the finest of shavings for smoothing or a coarser set for easing edges etc. Despite being a single-iron plane it can handle even difficult grain if you keep the blade sharp & use a fine set. The infill wood is a particularly fine-grained piece of bull-oak, which is one of those woods that takes a lovely, tactile finish.
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2. Mini smoother, sole length 100mm, 25 x 3mm HSS blade bedded at 450, Box elder (Acer nigundo) burl infill – with “adjuster”. $50
Essentially the same as #2, with a different infill wood.
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3. Mini chariot plane, sole length 75mm, 19 x 3mm HSS blade, figured black wattle infill – with “adjuster”. $40
This is a miniaturised version of a chariot plane based on the Norris A28 though because of the size I did not attempt to add a screw adjuster. Despite the tiny size, this plane is quite functional, so it can be used for small work or you could just keep it on your desk as a conversation piece & stress relief (you could have the sharpest pencils in the building!) It does have plenty of genuine uses if you are into small stuff….
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Old Mathieson blades. Yours for postage
I had intended using these to make a couple of reproductions of early Mathieson infill planes but my shoulders have told me they won't tolerate any more full-sized plane-making, so maybe someone out there can put them to good use:
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These are hefty, solid old blade/cap iron combos. The taller blade is tapered, so will better suit a wedged plane than one with a screwed lever-cap. They both need a bit more work to clean them up fully, but both can be returned to full function.
Cheers,
