Have you got a moving fillister, boxed moulder, or another plane with more insanely complex boxing than this?! How did craftsmen even manage to do this? Seriously, if you know the procedure please do let me know, or point me to a link.
In the meantime, I announce the start of the Hackney Tools ‘Boxing Tournament’. Got a better one? Send me a pic. mail@hackneytools.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hjhTbePvyXc
Speechless.
A recent tool hunt turned up an early Norris ‘5’, with lovely rosewood infills. I found a proper Norris iron too, so I’ll have to swap that and give this plane a try.
For many, the work of the London firm Norris represents the height of planemaking, and even in their day the price the planes represented a fair portion of a craftsman’s salary. Nowadays however, you can’t ignore the incredible work of people like Konrad Sauer at Sauer & Steiner and, of course, Raney Nelson at Daed Toolworks. There are many other new planemakers building on the work of infill makers like Norris. Shortly, I’ll write a big post about Norris, but in the meantime a fairly new site has sprung up which gives a good type study of Norris planes, should you wish to do more research.
I recently found this amazing movie, which I thought I should share. (I wish I could save it, in case in disappears. However, as with most things on the internet, I’ll just have to link and hope someone has future-proofed it). Here is also a link to some of the tools they have made and some stills from the movie.
The video itself is made in the workshop of father and son team, Werner and Eric Raggenbass in Geneva, Switzerland. It was filmed in 1979, although the quality of the film and the characters somehow make it look like it hasn’t changed from when it was built, in 1896. If I could describe my perfect workplace, it would probably be in a workshop like this, hanging out with these dudes.
The film was directed by Pierre Barde, for the French part of the Swiss Broadcasting company. He was assisted by Rose-Claire Schule, Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser, Arnold Niederer, Jacques Tagini, Paul Puhl, André Jeanneret, Bernard Crettaz.
Enjoy.
Cox & Luckman began making planes on Darwin St in Birmingham in 1839. In 1876, however, the firm became known as Cox, Luckman, & Son. The company was a well-known manufacturer of planes and tools , but also of fire-iron and fenders. From 1855 they are also listed as producing weighing machines and bedsteads.
According to the Furniture Gazette published March 10, 1883:
The firm of Cox, Luckman, & Son, Birmingham, fire-iron manufacturers has become dissolved by the retirement of Mr. George Luckman. The business will however be continued…. and the style of the firm will be Cox, Luckman, & Sons”.
I was recently offered a complete half-set of hollow and round planes, stamped with the former name, ‘Cox & Luckman’, dating these planes between 1839-1876, which is a pretty wide spread. I’d love to know a bit more detail about this firm if anyone has access to more details, ideally narrowing the date when these planes might have been made. The planes are in excellent condition, coming from a carpenter’s workshop and having been stored in dry conditions. Great to find a complete half-set from another renowned Birmingham maker, they are as good, if not better, than the Routledge set I found.