Leon Robbins – Planemaker

Should have bid on them…should have bid on them…

A wonderful pair of panel raising planes from Leon Robbins recently surfaced on eBay. I got scared off when they went north of my own set figure, but in retrospect they were still a fantastic acquisition at the final sale price of $610.

Leon Robbins was one of those ‘one-of-a-kind’ planemakers who did things his own way. He was most well-known by his association with Michael Dunbar and his windsor chair making class at The Windsor Institute. Leon passed away in November 2007, but a lot of his planes are still in circulation and can be purchased from Crown Planes, the company Leon set up when he started making planes. (His own planes carry a crown stamp, but the ‘N.E Toolworks’ stamp on these planes was the retailer I believe. Leon supplied planes for N.E. Toolworks who added their own stamp).

When Leon died, Michael Dunbar penned a fitting tribute to the man on his blog, which is well worth a read, as it gives an insight into the craftsman and the way he worked.