# Block plane, for planing blocks?



## neilyweely (20 Mar 2009)

OK, so what is this?

It says on the plane - block plane no1, and is a marples blade (although a pretty thick one!).

I have no idea. Blade is skew, handles very solid.















Any ideas?

Neil

PS It cost me a tenner.


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## Evergreen (20 Mar 2009)

Jeepers Neil! Where do you find this stuff???

I've never, ever seen one of those before. Looks like a sort of rebate plane but the iron is mounted at such a low angle. Is the depth of the rebate adjusted by those nuts on the side?


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## Ironballs (20 Mar 2009)

Did you get that at the auction today? Saw something that looked a lot like it, don't think they knew what it was did they!


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## neilyweely (20 Mar 2009)

Ironballs
Yeah, thats the one. How'd you get on? will you be there tomorrow?

Evergreen
I have never seen one either. The nuts at the side do allow the fence to move up and down, and closer inspection has revealed the motif USMC, and also the fact that the fence is numbered block plane no7, the frog (thing) is Block plane no5, and the iron, which is 4 or 5 mm thick, is labelled MArples.

It is not handmade (homemade I mean), but God only knows what it is for. I got it in the hope that it could be used, but am not so sure. Maybe if I can identify it I can put it on E-bay.

Cheers all

Neil


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## neilyweely (20 Mar 2009)

I think it will need the bevel grinding at a different angle in order to be useable. But I don't want to do this till I know I am not gonna mess it up.

Philly?? Waka?? Help????


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## neilyweely (21 Mar 2009)

Reckon I've got you all this time, eh? :lol: :lol:


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## jasonB (21 Mar 2009)

The iron could be a 1" Marples chisel which is probably not original :wink: 

Jason


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## neilyweely (21 Mar 2009)

From the position of the writing on the blade, and the general shape of it, i would say not. I may be wrong. 

I think I have got an early example of a low angle, skew blade, priceless circa 05 - 06 BC block plane. Or not.

Nah, no points for that Jason. :wink: 

Neil


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## head clansman (21 Mar 2009)

Hi neil 

nice piece , specially for a tenner. my guess it an early rebate plane judging by the height adjustment bolt on the side, why the blade is angled ? hmm. hc


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## Philly (21 Mar 2009)

Neil 
Been doing some research on your plane - zip. Can't find any pictures of anything like it.

But - what have you got? It is not a block plane (as is obvious from its appearance), but is a rebate plane. The adjustable fence is a depth stop and it is usual for there to be another fence to allow different width rebates to be cut. Are there any holes where another fence could be mounted? The plane is quite narrow and rather long which make me think it was for a specific purpose and the markings USMC could mean it was a military tool?? Marine Corp?

As for sharpening the iron, as the blade is skewed it makes things a little more interesting if you use a jig. Try honing it freehand. When you fit the iron it should just peek out of the side of the plane a little, otherwise the plane won't cut a square rebate.

Hope this helps?
Philly


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## Calpol (21 Mar 2009)

It resembles this Neilyweely but that's as far as I can go with it, just new I'd seen something familiar...

http://www.secondhandtools.co.uk/ww45en.htm

Called a Jiffy Wallboard plane... :?


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## jasonB (21 Mar 2009)

They use a razor blade to cut panels so not really the same set up, you can just see the old style blades poking up at an angle under the brass clamping plates

Jason


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## Evergreen (21 Mar 2009)

Hi Neil

After a night's sleep and a bottle of Fullers 1845, I'll risk a guess that Philly and Calpol are right - your plane is a specialised tool for trimming the edges of sheet material of some kind. That would explain the fixed rebate width and low angle blade.

But why it has "BLOCK PLANE" stamped in the casting, I don't know. Unless the sheet material came in small chunky sizes and were called "blocks" in whatever trade used this plane.

Evergreen


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## Calpol (21 Mar 2009)

Evergreen":2oqu9c1u said:


> Philly and Calpol are right



I'm going to print that off and frame it...


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## AndyT (21 Mar 2009)

A few more wild guesses...

looking at the solidity of it and the deep section with no blade showing, could it be designed to run in a jig of some sort (sort of like the Stanley cast iron 'shuteboard' ) but to plane parquet flooring blocks? - if anyone ever had to do such a thing by hand? That could fit with the name...

Probably miles off and I've never seen or read of one quite like it before either.

Ady


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## neilyweely (21 Mar 2009)

> But - what have you got? It is not a block plane (as is obvious from its appearance), but is a rebate plane.


Philly - it is certainly a block plane! It is stamped on the front of the body!!
Many thanks for your input, am sure you are right. I did look up the usmc bit, and came back with military jargon. It is kinda written in a wavy pattern
Andy T - thats the sort of thing I wondered about, but i THINK pHILLY is right (sorry, slipped) in fact the more I look at it the more I think it was used in a jig.
Calpol - nice one, it does resemble it.
Evergreen - Whatever it is it is certainly a plane, for planing wood stuff. And I will certainly never use it, so it was certainly a waste of money!
Never mind, you should see what I got today!!

Cheers everyone, am gonna find out what this thing is if it kills me!

Neil


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## Calpol (22 Mar 2009)

Try these books maybe:

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/5530 ... oduct.html

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/1218 ... oduct.html

You can get a look inside on Amazon but they're cheaper from Play...


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## AndyT (22 Mar 2009)

I just had another idea which might help...

Could it be connected with preparing *printing* blocks?

That could explain why it seems to have a very narrow range of adjustment on its depth stop (it's for one specialist job), is ruggedly built, and is not featured in the woodwork related publications we all know?

Are there any retired printers out there who remember the last days of working with movable metal type in frames?


Andy


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## Pekka Huhta (22 Mar 2009)

If you'd remove the fence, it would definitely look very much like a core box plane. In fact, I saw a smaller one with a very similar cutter layout just a month ago. It was from an old patternmaker's tool chest frm the 60's. Can't say for sure, but...

I know that Stanley's core box planes were symmetrical, but at least the few I have seen over here have had the iron just like yours. 

Pekka


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## neilyweely (22 Mar 2009)

I think USMC stands for United States Marine Corps.

waddya reckon?




[/img]

neil


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## neilyweely (12 Jun 2009)

Ok, I'm not sure if anyone is interested, or knows anything about this, but the mystery has been solved, a bit at least. This is a United Shoe Machinery Company block plane. I guess that means it was for planing some sort of wooden shoe part? 

There was an auction some time ago by Tony Murland (?), in 2007, and I got hold of one of his catalogues for this sale. Amongst all the treasure is a plane that is almost identical to mine, but not sure if it has the fence.

It would be nice to know how they were manufactured (in house or by another company) and whether or not I can SELL IT!!!!  

Any help appreciated!!

Neil


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## Racers (13 Jun 2009)

Hi, Chaps

I think the blocks it refers to are lead printing blocks and its used for trimming them so they are all the same height.

Pete


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## FatFreddysCat (14 Jun 2009)

neilyweely":2p9j0vp9 said:


> Ok, I'm not sure if anyone is interested, or knows anything about this, but the mystery has been solved, a bit at least. This is a United Shoe Machinery Company block plane. I guess that means it was for planing some sort of wooden shoe part?


There was once a very large company in Leicester called the British United Shoe Machinery Co (or "The BU" as older locals call them) who were a major employer. I've had a look and they existed until quite recently as United Shoe Machinery, although their main factory site is now derelict. If they still exist maybe they have an archivist or somebody you could ask, or failing that perhaps Leicester City Council have someone in their museums section who could help. In this valley we still have some shoe component manufacturers left, though not many, and I've seen BU machines in a few places. Wooden components are still used in shoe making, e.g. for built-up heels, as well as for all sorts of formers to allow components to be held whilst they are processed, but what about the possibility that the item in question was used to cut leather?

Edit: Just found this article in Wikipedia which explains the history of BUSM and its American counterpart (the United Shoe Machinery Company of Boston). BUSM went bust in 2000 having allegedly had their pension fund milked by their venture capitalist owners. Must have been a big factory to be able to build 1600 new homnes on the site


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## neilyweely (14 Jun 2009)

FFF - nice one mate. But TTYTT I still wouldn't know where to ask what in Gawds name it is. I guess I will do as you suggest and get in touch with the most recent incarnation of the company I can come across.

I am a buffoon, because I really am not a collector (I have NO Norris planes!!) and yet I bought this on a bit of a whim (who am I kidding - it was cheap!!) and now have little use for it. I should have looked at it and realised it was a skew blade, and I wouldn't have bought it.

Thanks for your help mate, and thanks to Pete too - do you mean it was used in a printers outfit, or did this have a use in said company?

Cheers again

Neil


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## AndyT (21 Jul 2016)

I know it's a long time since this question arose, and that neilyweely isn't posting on the forum any more, but in case anyone else reads this thread looking for information on big heavy planes marked USMC and 'Block Plane' I thought I'd add some information here.

The trade in question was shoemaking, where end grain boards were used, with shaped knives cutting out leather at a single click.

This is from the patent, US 138625, filed May 6 1873:

_" In using dies for punching or cutting shoe soles and uppers, and other stock, it is customary to use blocks of wood with the end of the grain uppermost, the top surface being faced off for smoothness. As such a block becomes too much worn for practical use, it is cut down with an adze to a plane below the lowest depression worn by the dies, and is then surfaced off with a smoothing-plane. This method of surfacing a block is very slow and laborious, and does not result in procuring a uniform face.

My invention has reference to a method of surfacing such a block by means of a plane alone."_

You can read the rest of the patent here (Datamp.org) 
or here (Google Patents) 

The patent shows a drawing of neilweely's plane, and lists the *United Shoe Machinery Corp* as the patent assignee.

[Edited to correct company name.]


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## Jacob (21 Jul 2016)

Interesting - but did it take off, and was it ever called a "block" plane?
I'm happy with
_"According to Patrick's Stanley Blood and Gore, Stanley marketing materials describe the origin of the name of this tool as follows: "A Block Plane was first made to meet the demand for a Plane which could be easily held in one hand while planing across the grain, particularly the ends of boards, etc. This latter work many Carpenters call 'Blocking in', hence the name 'Block' Plane."_

which agrees with my (controversial :roll: ) idea that the term "blocking, blocking in" is common amongst various crafts with a roughly similar meaning - along the lines of "knocking into shape" i.e. _finishing visually_ e.g. straightening arrises, tidying board ends etc. which you'd do to a finished item - something you might not want to hold in a vice, but which could be tackled with a one hand plane.
That's certainly my main use of one since I bought my first about 40 years ago.

PS it's OK to talk about block planes isn't it - or is it against the rules? I couldn't see anything in the rules myself. Are any other tools banned?


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## AndyT (21 Jul 2016)

Jacob":fjeuzd4r said:


> Interesting - but did it take off, and was it ever called a "block" plane?




In the opening words of the original post,

"It says on the plane - block plane no 1"

Obviously, it's not a small one-handed plane for general use, it's a specialised, patented tool for one particular trade - that's why it was hard to recognise and got asked about.


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## Jacob (21 Jul 2016)

OK


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