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
Hand Tools Planes

Info on coach making tools?

This beautiful coachmakers plough plane went past my limit last week on a well-known auction site. I should have gone higher, but a limit is a limit. It’s a stunning tool with a fence that will work around curves, such as a coachmaker might require.
I have had so many coachmaker-related tools of this kind pass through my lock-up, I’m more and more keen to find a book that shows the variety and uses of all the different types. Like coopering, the art is now pretty much lost, but if anyone has information on a great book out there that deal with all the various challenges with coach building, or if you know of a good book about the tools used, please let me know.
Meanwhile, here’s the stunning plough I really should have gone higher on… 😉







Categories
Planes Router planes Walke Moore

Walke Moore 2500 Router Plane

This is a tool that could well interest a few people. After a few years of on-off tool hunting, I’ve only come across a few Preston 2500P router planes and those I have found have tended to stay in my box and not sold on. They are a great tool to have around, but as I say, not easy to find.
A relatively new toolmaking duo from the US, Walke Moore, are now producing a similar plane that looks to be very nicely put together and looks to do the same job.
The 2500 (they dropped the ‘P’ because it’s not an exact copy of the Preston and it’s good to have some differentiation in the naming), is on their website now, priced at $274.00, with the option to add more knobs to the order.
Walke Moore 2500 Router Plane_5
You can choose the Preston or Stanley-style knobs, (although Stanley only made the the ’71’ configuration I believe) and the tool comes as a bronze, machined casting with an O1 steel cutter. The great thing about this style of plane is the enormous variety of uses, due to the different positions you can place the knobs.
It looks to be a well-made tool, although personally I would gripe at cleaning up pale wood because of bronze markings. That’s something that’s always made me shy away from LN bronze tools for the same reason. It seems odd to me that people don’t mind re-planing stock or sanding it, after their high-end, expensive plane has made marks all over it. However, I would say, in it’s defence you can still add a wooden base to the router with built-in screw holes and this was also a common thing to do with the earlier planes.
I’ll stick with my Preston for now, but good to see new makers on the scene. Here are some more pics, courtesy of Walke Moore. Walker Moore also have an Instagram feed, showing more pics and video.
Walke Moore 2500 Router Plane_3
Walke Moore 2500 Router Plane_4
Walke Moore 2500 Router Plane_1
Walke Moore 2500 Router Plane_2

PS. I did once find a nice page showing a chap making his own wooden plane that did the same job. Damned if I can find it now, of course, such is the confusing morass we have built and called the internet. If anyone recalls this, please do comment.

Categories
Norris Planes Smoothing planes

More pics of Norris 6 planes

Norris No.6_1
Further to my queries about my own Norris 6G, a kindly reader has sent some pics of his own (No.6) plane, which seem to have the same characteristic details that I questioned in my plane. Thanks goes out for these pics, it’s sometimes very hard to find good photos for comparisons.

Categories
Hand Tools Planes Stanley

Making a Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane from a Stanley 4

This post is written by Colin Sullivan, who has previously shown his very nicely-made Stanley No.9 Cabinet Makers plane. Here, Colin shows another nice bit of engineering, a Stanley ‘164’ copy, for which he’s used a standard Stanley No.4 as the starting point. Colin writes:

This plane is made from an early no. 4 body – this one model has just enough metal in the base to take a thread for the cap iron bolt. A small block of metal was glued into the sole for machining and the whole base was milled to 11deg. the plane iron angle for the Stanley 164, see drawing for details. Stanley only made this low angle smoother from 1926 to 1943, and now it is both scarce and expensive!
It was designed by EA Schade using the Bailey method of blade adjustment on the top of the cap iron to allow for the very low blade angle of 12 deg. The blade is from Lie Nielsen who make a copy of the 164, in bronze with an adjustable mouth the same as Stanley. The cap iron is S/S and the adjusting lever is mild steel using the standard small brass knob for adjustment.
The mouth is not adjustable like the original but it ended up just right and performs very well, well worth the time spent making it.

Copy of Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane_1
Cop of Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane_2
Copy of Stanley 164 Low-Angle Plane_3