Category: Shoulder planes

Categories
Norris Shoulder planes

Distinctive Norris A7

As readers of this blog will know, I do trade in collectable woodworking tools, but I don’t often get round to keeping many of them myself. I see little point in keeping tools on a shelf, when they could be being used in a workshop and appreciated in use, rather than for purely aesthetic reasons. I maybe own four or five tools I would call ‘collectable’, the rest of my tools are good clean users, Stanley, Record and the like.
One of my rarer tools is this Norris plane which I’ve been using on a small project and it only goes to confirm my opinion that tools are best kept used and not shelved.
This Norris A7 shoulder plane is a rarer type because the wedge tensioner is at the back and not mid-mounted. This design was a short-lived venture, (I think some models were made around the 1920’s-30’s, according to someone who knows much more than me).
In use, this plane is sublime. The mouth is super-tight, as you can see and the classic Norris adjuster allows for micro blade adjustment. The blade itself has four drilled holes, allowing for larger shifts up or down according to wear, before you dial in with the adjuster.
So if you have a lot of collectables, I would recommend getting a few out one day and getting them going on a project. After all, you can’t take them with you!










Categories
G.Miller Shoulder planes

Another G.Miller shoulder plane (I think?)

G.Miller_rhinohorn_1
G.Miller_rhinohorn_2
G.Miller_rhinohorn_3
G.Miller_rhinohorn_5
G.Miller_rhinohorn_4
The features of this plane lead me to believe (or hope), that this is by G.Miller, a favourite English planemaker of mine. I’m fortunate enough to already own two of his planes and the build quality is superb, not to forget the beautifully flamboyant touches here and there.

None so fancy as this gunmetal shoulder plane with ebony inserts and a ‘whale-tail’ wedge. The most striking feature being the ‘rhino-horn’ central infill, which thankfully made it through the UK postal system unbroken.

I’ve yet to pop the wedge and clean and sharpen the blade. No makers marks on this one, but Miller was known not to stamp all his planes.

Categories
G.Miller Shoulder planes

G.Miller shoulder planes

GMiller
Quick post about two lovely shoulder planes I recently found. The maker is G.Miller, of 24 Ampton St, Grays Inn Road, London. He was active at this address between 1890 and 1914. Miller, late to plane-making, concentrated mainly on shoulder planes, but his chariot planes are also lovely, and a little rarer. Miller did not always add his stamp and indeed only the smaller plane of these two is marked. The shoulder planes are made from gunmetal, which was typical of Miller’s style, with a thin steel sole ‘sweated’ on with silver solder. The infills on the planes are made from ebony.

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Categories
Record Shoulder planes

Record 042 shoulder plane

Record 042 shoulder plane
Lovely old classic Record 042. No chips around the mouth and in a half-decent wooden box, (although not the original one it would have come in from the factory).

I finally scored a Record 042 shoulder plane, which came in from a seller who had seen my website.Very pleased that my home-made website actually works and buoyed with childlike enthusiasm, I thought I’d post a few pics.

Record 042 shoulder plane
Sexy ‘as though reclining on chaise-longue’ shot, showing the clean, square soles of these planes.

The Record 042 is specifically designed for cutting rebates, or ‘rabbets’. It’s also very useful for cleaning up tenons and for any other joints that need to be kept very square. This is due to the fact the tool’s square sides can be laid flat as you cut against perpendicular edges. It can of course, be used in the left or the right hand. The iron of the tool not only projects by some 10-thou through the mouth of the plane, but should also be set to project by around half that, from either side of the plane. With this set correctly, movement of the tool means you cut square on all three sides.

Record 042 shoulder plane
The cantilevered top lever pushes down on the iron, to keep it in place. The pressure is adjusted by an adjustment screw at the other end of the lever pushing down.
Record 042 shoulder plane
This image shows iron in mouth of plane. Need to work on getting this set up correctly. With no mouth adjustment, it’s a case of gauging it, depending on the stock you’re working I guess.
Record 042 shoulder plane
With the iron out, you can see the mouth from inside and decent bed to hold it secure.
Record 042 shoulder plane
Previous owner had a pretty steep bevel on the iron, and for me, it’s not even projecting enough to cut. Will have to check bevel angles for the irons on these planes, but with the compound angle of the bed, I should think this needs to be shallower?

This particular model was manufactured post-1938, as the ‘Made in England’ casting  would have previously read ‘British Made’ before 1938. The plane is 8″ long with a 3/4″ wide sole. It’s a classic design and modern shoulder planes from well-known tool makers show that the design has lasted. Lie Nielsen’s shoulder planes for one, are basically Record 042’s with mouth adjustment. The Record 072, 073 and 074 do have mouth adjustment. I’m going to spend some time adjusting and honing this blade to get the right projection. I think I may even have to get a new blade, we’ll see how it goes.