Infill Plane Identification

[CrazyCanuck]

Hello from across the pond!!

I was directed to your wonderful forum through a similar one in Canada; and after conducting a quick search I realize I have come to the right place.

Recently I attended an auction and won a beaurtiful infill plane...mahogany infills, very little rust on the metal bits (except for the iron...that will need serious attention) and a peculiar lever cap - it has a heart and shield pieced in it. I apologize for not including a pic, but all of mine are too large...and I'm still too much of a rookie on this site to figure it out yet!!
It is somewhere in between a smoother and a jack size (i.e. a Stanley 4 and 5)...might be known also as a small panel plane. There is no conventional bun up front - the wood is flush with the sides and front of the plane. With the the exception of the Marples Hibernia blade there is no makers information anywhere. There are initials on the wood heel - WAGG or WEGG...the second letter is somewhat obscure.

I have heard that this is probably Scottish, but that is from only one source; and that was a North Amercian tool site.

Any information you might have would be greatly appreciated. I do plan to restore it somewhat, but not until I have a little more info.

Thank you !!

Bill

 

[adidat]

hi and welcome

forum rules, no pictures=it didnt happen,

we need pics

adidat

 

[adidat]

i will try and explain how to do it

make an account here http://photobucket.com/

then upload pictures from your hard drive

and then once the picture is saved to your online account click on the code on the right of the screen marked IMG code, and then paste this code into a post.

simples

adidat

 

[Richard T]

...and, I think you need to have three posts under your belt before you can post pictures.

Welcome Bill. I think it does stand a chance that it is Scottish although it could be a "user made" rather than a known maker.

 

[jimi43]

Hi Bill

Without a photofit it is difficult to be certain but your description kind of fits this one of mine recently acquired...

It didn't have a Quangsheng iron...nor a "Jimi bodge" knob...but it does have most of the other characteristics...

The cutout in the lever cap can be all sorts of variations on the heart/shield theme...this one is at the excellent INFILL PLANE website:

Any good?

Cheers

Jim

 

[CrazyCanuck]

jimi43: The example you show from the Infill website is the one and only pic I have seen that matches mine...the lever cap is the same. With the exception of the front bun being cut down, and that example having visible screws to hold the infill wood in place (mine uses pins) the two could be brothers.
Incidently, it was your post on the restoration of that panel plane that led me to join this forum and post my query. Thank you so much for sharing it. I hope that one day my plance looks half as good as yours!

Cheers

Bill

 

[jimi43]

Hi Bill

You are most welcome and welcome to the forum by the way...I am sure there is far more of interest here for you....great people who only require copious quanties of fine Canadian wood in payment for their advice! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Seriously though....there are a great number of really friendly members here who are just tripping over each other to be helpful and I am sure you will be made welcome.

The plane from the infill site...as you can see from the text...is a "user made" example...which is more correctly termed "user finished" as the owner would generally buy the casting from the foundry and infill it themselves to save money...the first "kit" as it were.

Indeed, Spiers himself was alleged to have bought a rough casting to finish himself...and then another...and another...and the rest is history!

Because they are custom finished they will all differ or be embellished in some way and this customisation is most evident in the infills and sometimes decorations on the lever caps.

Heart and Shield decoration is quite common, I have seen reference to it on a number of occasions....though not the reason....and mine is taking this to the extreme. This appears to be a deliberate casting so maybe a foundry produced a number of variations to suit the whim of the customer.

When you sort out photographs I would be most interested to see your one...clearly an emigrant from the 1800s....and it would make an interesting project to trace the history of how it got to the Colonies....

Cheers

Jim

 

[woodbloke]

i will try and explain how to do it

make an account here http://photobucket.com/

then upload pictures from your hard drive

and then once the picture is saved to your online account click on the code on the right of the screen marked IMG code, and then paste this code into a post.

simples

adidat

This is the way I do the job as well, but can I add that big pics on your hard drive need to be re-sized to roughly 25% (in other words 75% smaller) and then uploaded into pbucket in order to fit nicely onto the screen - Rob

 

[CrazyCanuck]

Hopefully the picture loaded this time....

Thanks again for all the info/advice. At this point I like the idea that this plane was made from a "kit"...and in mind I can envision that Mr. Spiers made it, used it, and then gave it to his children.

Hey - it's my fantasy. :mrgreen:

Cheers

Bill

 

[jimi43]

Hi Bill

Thanks for posting the picture...and yes...that is the typical "heart and shield" lever cap design.

I have seen a number of pictures of ones like this but not a smaller jack type...

The bun at the front worries me a bit...it would be awkward to plane with this the way it is IMHO.

Are you sure the top of the bun has not sheared off and been flattened? Are there any telltale signs this happened?

Interestingly...the rear handle aperture is the same as mine with is most coincidental as one has to wonder why the would be exactly the same if they were indeed made by two separate owners...that simply wouldn't happen.

I am now wondering if this was not a production design after all....mmmm

Do you have more pictures?

Jim

 

[Alf]

Are you sure the top of the bun has not sheared off and been flattened? Are there any telltale signs this happened?

My first thought too.

Interestingly...the rear handle aperture is the same as mine with is most coincidental as one has to wonder why the would be exactly the same if they were indeed made by two separate owners...that simply wouldn't happen.

Sure it would - copying existing handle styles is a fine tradition that still exists today.

 

[jimi43]

Are you sure the top of the bun has not sheared off and been flattened? Are there any telltale signs this happened?

My first thought too.

Interestingly...the rear handle aperture is the same as mine with is most coincidental as one has to wonder why the would be exactly the same if they were indeed made by two separate owners...that simply wouldn't happen.

Sure it would - copying existing handle styles is a fine tradition that still exists today.

You may very well have a valid point there ALF...although it is a tad easier now that we have the Internet.

I would like to thing that two brothers in a village in Scotland outside Ayr...hitched up their one pony and rode together ala Rolf Harris to town with their hard-earned wages to purchase two castings and returned to whittle up some mahogany scraps left over from some work for the Laird.

Many years later.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Jim