not a fancy plane

[bugbear]

The local auction strikes again!

Wandering around, I saw a 'U' section girder in the "country furniture" part of the sale.

Odd, I thought, you don't normally see girders here - they're normally in the builders materials section,

It wasn't a girder.

Well, it was once, but it had been tapered down at both ends, a mouth cut open, and a frog welded in.

Despite being 5 1/2 feet long, and weighing (I picked it up) around 70 Lbs, it's a plane.

A cooper's jointer.

I wrestled it out into the open, set it up on the stand and:

The blade is 3" wide, and carried no maker's name, nor did the girder. The white stick in the photos is a 1' ruler.

I understand that some people prefer heavy planes ;-)

BugBear

 

[adidat]

i hope you bought it? how much?

adidat

 

[Richard T]

Did they want more for it after you had set it up and revealed what it was and how it was used?

 

[Grahamshed]

Sorry, this thread does not belong in the 'hand tools' section.

Do we have a section for 'Fork Lift Tools' ?

 

[jimi43]

I trust this was Henry the Cooper's plane? :mrgreen:

Yes...tell us you bought it!!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

You'll need one heck of a lapping plate to get the sole clean and flat.

I've never seen a steel cooper's jointer. The only ones I've seen were about 5 feet long, and made of a 4" x 4" chunk of beech.

 

[bugbear]

You'll need one heck of a lapping plate to get the sole clean and flat.

I've never seen a steel cooper's jointer. The only ones I've seen were about 5 feet long, and made of a 4" x 4" chunk of beech.

Neither had I. A GIS revealed one in NZ though.

http://www.carbatec.co.nz/making-a-coopered-barrel

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

Great link BB!

Of all the traditional crafts that exist...coopering and wheelwright work are ones that I must set time aside to try...are there any courses on these old skills do you know?

Jim

 

[adidat]

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/coopers-jointer-t54283.html

a link to my coopers jointer.

adidat

 

[marcros]

there was somebody who used to post on here that made wheels for carts wasnt there? Aled something. Cant remember what the user name was though

 

[AndyT]

Great link BB!

Of all the traditional crafts that exist...coopering and wheelwright work are ones that I must set time aside to try...are there any courses on these old skills do you know?

Jim

I'd be surprised if there were any for coopering - it's a lifestyle, not a hobby!

Have a read of "The Cooper and his Trade" by Ken Kilby for a flavour of the sheer hard graft - the first lines are:

"Robinson Crusoe was able to make anything but he never made a barrel. There are no amateur barrel makers. Coopering is a skill acquired through years of sweating, muscle-aching, back breaking labour 'at the block' as coopers say."

Then think of the millions of barrels that have been made over the last few thousand years - in places like Burton-on-Trent

 

[GazPal]

there was somebody who used to post on here that made wheels for carts wasnt there? Aled something. Cant remember what the user name was though

I think Alan Jones (From this neck of the woods) who has experience in wheel and cart wrighting.

 

[bugbear]

The auction was this morning, and I did leave a low "if no one else bids I'll get it" bid.

The plane (which was listed accurately as a cooper's jointer) sold for £42 + commission.

BugBear

 

[GazPal]

I almost suggested Derek Cohen as a potential buyer, because he likes em long

I sincerely hope the cooper's jointing plane went to a cooper / someone who'll use it for it's intended purpose and not a collector. I've absolutely nothing against collectors, but I'd prefer it to go to someone who's actively keeping the coopering trade alive.

 

[bugbear]

I almost suggested Derek Cohen as a potential buyer, because he likes em long

I sincerely hope the cooper's jointing plane went to a cooper / someone who'll use it for it's intended purpose and not a collector. I've absolutely nothing against collectors, but I'd prefer it to go to someone who's actively keeping the coopering trade alive.

Given the exodus from the trade, I would very much assume that all existing coopers have as many (and more...) tools as they want or need, with plenty left over to decorate holiday cottages, pubs etc ;-)

BugBear

 

[GazPal]

I almost suggested Derek Cohen as a potential buyer, because he likes em long

I sincerely hope the cooper's jointing plane went to a cooper / someone who'll use it for it's intended purpose and not a collector. I've absolutely nothing against collectors, but I'd prefer it to go to someone who's actively keeping the coopering trade alive.

Given the exodus from the trade, I would very much assume that all existing coopers have as many (and more...) tools as they want or need, with plenty left over to decorate holiday cottages, pubs etc ;-)

BugBear

I think it's less an exodus and more a case of lack of employment opportunities, since many brewers, barrel and keg users, once employed their own coopers/coopering staff.

 

[matthewwh]

At the end of a coopers 5 year apprenticeship they would have to make a concave sided barrel (skinnier at the waist as opposed to fatter at the waist) which would then be filled with water - once. If any came out they could go back and repeat the final year of their apprenticeship and try again. If their second one leaked they failed their apprenticeship and were back on the street without a trade.

 

[Eric The Viking]

At the end of a coopers 5 year apprenticeship they would have to make a concave sided barrel (skinnier at the waist as opposed to fatter at the waist)...

That would have been truly horrible to do in its own right, but even more so as they'd spent five years working 'the other way round'.

I wonder if any have survived? I assume they'd be known as apprentice pieces. Googling for an image doesn't turn up anything.