# Infill plane makers of modern times.



## Cheshirechappie (13 Mar 2016)

We're quite familiar with the infill planemakers of old - names like Norris, Spiers, Slater, Mathieson and Preston - but since their demise a number of plame makers have taken up the challenge. Still working, there are people like Karl Holtey, Conrad Sauer, Ron Brese, and Raney Nelson (Daed Toolworks); there are probably others I don't know about.

However, I've come across a few no longer making infills. Bristol Design and Ray Iles offered them for a while, but no longer do. Bristol Design also offered a range of castings for making infills - not sure if they still have any.

There are a couple of other names I've come across. One is the Shepherd Tool Company, who offered kits for a while. It seems the enterprise failed sometime in late 2005 or early 2006 in rather unfortunate circumstances according to Fine Woodworking - http://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-gui ... -down.aspx .

Another I've seen is Forgebrook Fine Tools, which according to a news item in F&C in the early 2000s was operated by toolmaker David Sealey from an address in Blakeney, Gloucestershire. I've seen no other reference to this maker, and google draws a complete blank. Anybody know any more?

There must be other makers to add to the list, too. Can anybody add anything?


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## J_Cramer (13 Mar 2016)

There is Gerd Fritsche in Germany:

http://traditional-handplanes.com/

Jürgen


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## OSM. (13 Mar 2016)

A few more for you....
Sequim Tools (John Wandling), 
Wayne Anderson 
Bill Carter, of course. 
St. James Tool Bay Co. still make kits, castings, adjusters and finished planes. 
Brian Shugarue of BJS Planes
Juan Vergara
Yours truly - (which you can test drive to your hearts content at Richards charity open day :wink: )
Lazarus Hand Plane Co.

The infill game is a hard one to get into, the standard set by modern maker is so high it requires a lot of dedication and time to get proficient enough to make a living from it. I suspect that is why most planemakers keep it on a hobby level. I'm now in my fifth month of full time planemaking after quiting my full time cabinetmaking job and have just finished renovating and fitting out my new workshop, tailored specifically for planemaking. Its quite demanding but very rewarding.

One of the best things to happen is the shift away from traditional. For a long time modern planemakers only offered copies of existing patterns. This is really changing now and many more contemporary and original designs are bringing the craft forward. There were other makers doing this before him to some extent, but in my opinion Konrad really kicked this off with his incredible K series.


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## Cheshirechappie (13 Mar 2016)

Thank you, gentlemen. I've just had a happy hour looking through some of the work done - the standard of plane making is truly astonishingly high.

Jurgen - following the links on Gerd's site led me to another maker, Marcou Planes in New Zealand.

Ollie - good luck with the new plane making enterprise - though by the standard of work on show, you're making your own luck! I'd slightly quibble with the thought that Konrad started the trend for modern design, I think Karl Holtey was experimenting with several aspects of plane design and materials of construction way back in the 1990s. I'm pretty sure he was the first to use A2 steel for cutting irons, for example, and the 98 smoother first saw commercial availability in the late 1990s. That's not to denigrate Konrad in the slightest - his work is undoubtedly up there with the best.


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## D_W (13 Mar 2016)

Brian Buckner was another maker making planes on the highest order, probably still is. I have never seen him mentioned in the forum circles (presumably because he's not making "production" models as some of the current makers are doing.

I tried making a few planes from scratch, and a couple of kits when I first started, but with just a cordless drill (and some appropriate marking tools/punches so that the drilling would occur where the mark was) and a hacksaw and belt sander and lap. 

You can make yourself quite a nice plane with very minimal tooling, but it is very sweaty work to do it and it takes about 6 or 7 times as long for me to make a decent infill plane as it does to make a very nice wooden plane. It's also trouble to find dry exotics in large billets without paying the moon for them. 

George Wilson also made a lot of very nice planes, nothing that he made more than once, and his design aesthetic is very refined as he was formally trained by one of the better designers in the united states. I think his (george's) infill plane making started quite a long time ago, though, long before infill planes had the revival they've had.


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## AndyT (13 Mar 2016)

Just to add to this useful round up and answer CC's questions, Bristol Design may not be sourcing new infill planes but they do still have a few bare castings and a few Norris style smoothers for sale. There are some pictures in this earlier thread which still match what I saw there on my most recent visit.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/bristol-design-t90725.html

Another relatively recent, (1980s?) small scale maker was the Henley Optical Company.


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## JohnPW (13 Mar 2016)

How about the oddly named "Henley Optical Company"?

I think the 70s would not be "modern times" as far as infill plane are concerned, I don't think "infill" was even used back then, it's not in Salaman's Dictionary of Woodworking Tools nor in the following article.

From Woodworker Magazine (U.K.), August 1976:



> Thoroughbred: A Best English Mitre Plane from the Henley Optical Co.
> 
> By Antony Talbot
> 
> ...



photos at http://www.handplane.com/28/henley-opti ... tre-plane/
more if you do a search

edit:ha, got beaten to it!


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## Cheshirechappie (14 Mar 2016)

Thank you John - and yes, since it's in the post Norris etc era, I'll count that as modern!

Googling the Henley Optical Company led to a couple of sites I wasn't aware of (though probably well known to many on here) - Handplane Central (the www.handplane.com link that John mentioned at the end of his post) and www.infill-planes.com which is particularly interesting as it references makers of infill planes in both the modern and 'vintage' eras. There are several names I hadn't heard of, such as Arthur Price (London, 1940s to 1960s) and John Holland (London, 1861 to 1889) - checking BPM2, both are included. In the modern era, Jeff Warshafsky, Cameron Miller, Brian Lilley and The Jamestown Tool Company.


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## bugbear (14 Mar 2016)

IIRC Footprint did a (very) short run of infills, but the manufacturing costs
versus the price the market would pay didn't work out.

BugBear


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## Klaus Kretschmar (15 Mar 2016)

Want to add a few pics of an infill plane that was built out of a kit last weekend by a woodworker friend. He joined a workshop with Gerd Fritsche in Gerds shop. The kit price of this special one with bronze sides and Norris adjuster was € 375. The kit price starts at € 246. (steel sides, without Norris adjuster) All parts preshaped in a way that you can make the plane in your own shop. You just have to make a fitting wood block for the peining work of the plane body - or you join Gerd and do this step in his shop  

The plane:

















Rather good value for the money, isn't it?

Klaus


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## Konrad Sauer (15 Mar 2016)

A few other infill makers to add to the list;

Geoff Entwistle (UK)
Gabardi and Sons (USA)
Ian Perry (UK?)
Darryl Hutchinson (UK?)

All 3 UK makers were around when I started making planes, but are no longer in the business as far as I know. Geoff passed away a few years ago.

It is worth noting that modern planemaking includes both infills and non-infill planes. Karl's No.98 (a non-infill) was the single biggest departure in this regard. It was a revolutionary plane, and I see the influence in every non-infill since it arrived. It was a completely different approach to plane construction and construction design. Sadly, the influence of the No.98 is often underestimated and is wrongly considered public domain.


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## Cheshirechappie (15 Mar 2016)

Thank you, Konrad.

A quick google confirmed that Geoff Entwhistle (of Bury in Lancashire, UK) passed away in 2012 aged 81. Darryl Hutchinson has a basic website which places him in Chagford, Devon, UK, but gives no clear indication that he's still offering planes for sale. So far, no information on the other two.

Edit to add - I can't track down anything for Ian Perry (or Iain Perry, Ian Parry, Iain Parry). It seems that Gabardi and Son (of Salt Lake City, Utah) was the trading name of Matt Hodgson, who ceased trading in about 2011, apparently without having fulfilled some orders for which deposits had been placed. Not knowing the circumstances, I don't wish to say more. It seems that before that, he made planes that earned plaudits from people of knowledge and repute.


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## Konrad Sauer (15 Mar 2016)

I had a chance to see two Perry planes while on a trip to San Diego about years ago. They were well made (traditional) infills both with ebony infill and brass sides. I can double check with the owner to make sure I have the name right, but I am pretty sure I do. I don't think he was a prolific maker, but seeing a smoother and jointing plane suggested that he took it pretty seriously.


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## richarddownunder (17 Mar 2016)

Cheshirechappie":2pohqjdu said:


> Thank you, gentlemen. I've just had a happy hour looking through some of the work done - the standard of plane making is truly astonishingly high.
> 
> Jurgen - following the links on Gerd's site led me to another maker, Marcou Planes in New Zealand.
> 
> Ollie - good luck with the new plane making enterprise - though by the standard of work on show, you're making your own luck! I'd slightly quibble with the thought that Konrad started the trend for modern design, I think Karl Holtey was experimenting with several aspects of plane design and materials of construction way back in the 1990s. I'm pretty sure he was the first to use A2 steel for cutting irons, for example, and the 98 smoother first saw commercial availability in the late 1990s. That's not to denigrate Konrad in the slightest - his work is undoubtedly up there with the best.



Hi
I visited Philip Marcou a few years ago when I was dabbling in making infill planes with a hacksaw and files (he gave me a bit of spare brass). His planes are fantastic and obviously not made with a hacksaw and files. I'd love one of his planes but would probably be afraid to use it and they are a bit outside my budget. Its worth taking look at some of his work http://www.marcouplanes.com/

Cheers
Richard


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## Cheshirechappie (17 Mar 2016)

I've found very little about Ian Parry, except this listing in a dealer's website from 2006 of a 17 7/8" panel plane made by Parry in 1999. It is a fine piece of work.

http://www.20thcenturyfashion.co.uk/tft/tlatest.htm


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## clivehurman (3 Jul 2020)

Dear Cheshirechappie, I was reading your notes about David Sealey, Planemaker. I commissioned
from him a superb brass and steel dovetailed block plane with rosewood infill, in 2003. At the time, he only lived about 20 miles from me. In 2005 I wrote an article about David and the plane he had made me, which was published fully , with photos in the Woodworker magazine of February 2005.
Soon after, David moved away from Blakeney, and, I believe, back into engineering employment.
I am not sure if I am the only owner of one of his planes, apart from his own collection!
Clive Hurman


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## Cheshirechappie (3 Jul 2020)

Thank you, Clive. That adds a little flesh to the bones, and explains why Forgebrook Fine Tools disappeared so soon after it's birth. I hope David Sealey found adequately remunerated employment, but it's good to know that he left at least one satisfied plane customer.


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