# Strange old plane



## Dangermouse (18 Oct 2012)

Got this plane at a boot sale, looks like new, sharpened it up and cuts like a dream. As the label on the box says, its all metal, even the handles! Does anyone know anything about these planes.


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## Elapid (18 Oct 2012)

Looks like a nice solid piece of kit.

I need to get to more boot sales. If I'm lucky I get to pop over the one at Pool Market every now and then.


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## AndyT (18 Oct 2012)

Interesting! Presumably the handles are aluminium?
I notice the box says 'emergency finish' which suggests a WW2 date when there were restrictions on chrome or nickel plating.

This page at Grace's Guide shows 'Milbro' as a trade mark used by Millard Brothers, so I'd guess that they could have been the makers.


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## stoatyboy (18 Oct 2012)

thats both incredibly cool and amazingly ugly all at the same time - brilliant

aluminium polishes really easily - i'd be tempted to polish it to death for a ray gun look

but if it's war time old - best not!

How much??


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## Tinbasher (18 Oct 2012)

I can't imagine the handles being aluminium if its WW2 " emergency" finish. I know Milbro more as a maker of air guns and fishing rods.


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## Phil Pascoe (18 Oct 2012)

Milbro used to make catapults, iirc.


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## Phil Pascoe (18 Oct 2012)

Elapid":xslj2fhp said:


> Looks like a nice solid piece of kit.
> 
> I need to get to more boot sales. If I'm lucky I get to pop over the one at Pool Market every now and then.



:roll: Same excrement, different day - you've got to be lucky to get anything worthwhile there.


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## bugbear (19 Oct 2012)

Is the body casting aluminium or iron?

BugBear


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## AndyT (19 Oct 2012)

If it's the same model as was discussed on the Lumberjocks forum here http://lumberjocks.com/topics/29100 the body is alloy not iron. Some of it would be polishable if you really wanted to.

The alloy casting would fit with it coming from the same Millard Brothers who made the cast alloy catapults mentioned. 

There was a similar one sold on ebay last month for only £1.20 +P&P - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Very-unusual-Milbro-No-4-smoothing-plane-aluminium-/261095569881 - the listing included the statement that the plane is actually heavier than a normal no 4.


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## MIGNAL (19 Oct 2012)

You would get more at the local scrapyard!


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## Eric The Viking (19 Oct 2012)

IIRC, near the end of the war, aluminium was in less demand than steel and hardwoods. The only bit that had to be steel, of course, was the plane iron.


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## t8hants (19 Oct 2012)

All those scrap pots and pans had to go somewhere, as they were useless for aircraft. 
When the Ministry of Supply said they wanted your jam pan for "plane production" the public only assumed it was for Spitfires!

Gareth


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## Harbo (19 Oct 2012)

Till the age of 11 I went to a school built in the early 1900's.
During the war they removed all the wrought iron fencing (12' tall) apart from the section separating the boys from the girls! 

Rod


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## t8hants (19 Oct 2012)

_During the war they removed all the wrought iron fencing (12' tall) apart from the section separating the boys from the girls!_

That metal also proved to be equally useless for munitions, the railings removed from the Isle of Wight were dumped in the Solent.

G


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## Dangermouse (20 Oct 2012)

Well at a value of £1.20 i think i might keep it and see what it fettles like. (hammer) 
Seems to a rare bit of kit, even though its worthless :shock:


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## Benchwayze (25 Oct 2012)

phil.p":4y7th4eq said:


> Milbro used to make catapults, iirc.



Someone threw a No. 4 at me once! 8)


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## okeydokey (4 Jul 2017)

Hi Folks
Well for the fun of it lets reactivate an old post! 

I've just bought off ebay £8 a Milbro A4 plane made from some sort of alloy it will arrive in the next few days - I've seen the link to lumberjocks, read the previous posts but has anyone else got something to add?
Any more on the history or how old/when were they made/range of years. What was stamped on the iron so I can see if 'my one' is fully original. Any more snippets ? How are they to use? Has anyone bothered to make them 'sparkle' with huge amounts of polishing? 
thanks and regards


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## ED65 (5 Jul 2017)

okeydokey":35c7y1nf said:


> What was stamped on the iron so I can see if 'my one' is fully original.


I have a link in my broswer history from a while back to an ebay listing, here, and the first photo shows the top of the iron clearly enough that you can begin to make out the logo and other stamped lettering, "BRITISH MADE" along the top and "SUPERFINE CAST STEEL" under the logo.



okeydokey":35c7y1nf said:


> Has anyone bothered to make them 'sparkle' with huge amounts of polishing?


I've seen one or two polished up, probably in the Lumberjocks link posted on the previous page. 

Lots of surfaces available to be polished on these, no reason the whole plane couldn't be made painfully bright if the fancy takes you, although you might need sunglasses to use it on a sunny day 8)


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## okeydokey (5 Jul 2017)

Thanks ED65 that is a newish advert I hadn't seen - its the only one that has shown the logo and lettering. I've now examined the ebay photo of the one I bought and the vague outline of the same wording appears - so it seems mine is original. Funnily enough the vendors are about 30 mins drive away from me, they have a HUGE range of used machinery all types and hand tools.


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## okeydokey (7 Jul 2017)

I mean the vendors of the plane in ED65 link of July 5


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