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Hi Adam, it's "Ringed Gidgee", or Acacia cambagei. One of our (many) dry-country acacias. Hard (Janka hardness ~19,000N) and dense (SG 1.1-1.2) and the wild grain makes it a beast to work with, but when you do manage to bully it into shape, it's magnificent, at least the equal of the Dalbergia...

Struth! Three of 'em - no wonder I could never find one....! 😁 Since we're into confessions, I'll fess up too, I've got 3 as well, but all different sizes: These are built around blades for various different makes, the 1 1/4" has a Lie-Nielsen blade, the 3/4" & 1/2" have Chinese-make...

There you go then, Adam, they are essentially 'infills', so you've fallen for the story-line too! 😅 One of those planes was also in my lust-bucket way back, & I would dearly have loved to get my hands on one, but where I live they are almost as rare as feathered frogs, & out of my price range...

Beauty's in the eye of the beholder, me lad, I thought infills looked very spiffy at first sight, & have not changed my mind in the 40 years since. If you want fugly, take a gander at a few Bridge City tools! No accounting for taste, is there? ;) You could argue all day about whether or...

To each his own, Adam. I think if you ever got to use a nice infill in the right circumstances, you'd get a small thrill, even if you are a dyed-in-the-wool power tool junkie. However, there's little doubt in my mind that part of the pleasure comes from having something that's not your...

Nope, J&K, not heresy in my book, just the plain facts. I think you've touched on the nub of the matter when you mentioned the superiority of (some) infills over the Bailey types produced after WW2. Almost anything had to be better than some of the garbage that was foisted on a public whose...

Yes, you need to know your way around in the Norris world, it seems! I bought a post WW2 A5 about 25 years ago because I wanted to experience this magical Infill bliss folks were talking about in the various magazines & books where I'd seen them eulogised extensively. Instead of doing a little...

No. Blackwood (A. melanoxylon) doesn't have such a coarse grain nor does it have that white fleck in it; none of the Acacias that I've seen do. Most acacias also havequite tight growth rings with small pores, particularly the very dense types that grow in dry-country. The only Australian wood...

I studied the pic for some time but can't blow it up enough to be certain about that blade. It looks tapered towards the top, but when I stare at the lower part, it seems parallel. A parallel blade makes more sense in a lever-capped as opposed to a wedged plane, it makes adjustment a lot...

No mystery, dave, the body of the plane is filled or "infilled" with wood, also commonly referred to as "stuffing". When the wood comes over the tops of the sides & made flush with the outside, it's called "over-stuffing". Cheers, Ian

That's a grand old thing. It has a most unusual bridge, the likes of which I've not seen before, so I saved a pic of it for future reference (though I've sworn black & blue I'm not making any more planes!). If Mr. Tissington made any more planes like that they would be easily recognised. The...

Try this site, okeydokey. It's still presented as a 'draft', so don't know if it's still in progress or the contributor has found other things to do. As others have said, don't swear any oaths based on your age determinations, parts are far too easily swapped, for all sorts of reasons. Some...

Ok, I wasn't going to weigh into a "what's best" debate but I do have an old type eleven 5 1/2 inherited from my dad. It has become my absolute favourite bench plane & gets used daily. I like it because of the lighter casting - at my age, pushing extra metal around for no good reason is not as...

'Tis a nice little saw, I'm pleased it has found a new master to give it a good home. :) You must have whopping hands, though! While the handles of panel saws were definitely smaller, I've not met one that wouldn't allow three fingers of an average hand through easily enough - are you trying...

Brill, what you have looks like a "panel saw" but I'm used to seeing Disstons, which had 4 handle bolts (as opposed to 5 on their full-sized hand saws). The 3 bolts & smaller handle on your saw are a good indicator it's meant to be small & is not a cut-down of a full-size saw, which exist in...

Nick, just about anything is repairable; how well you can get it to perform is another matter but it's always worth giving it your best shot. Worst-case scenario is that it becomes an interesting mantlepiece ornament & memento of your grandad's shed. Wow, that blade has had a doing-over from...

As Andy sez, it's a chariot plane. They had a brief heyday around the turn of the 19thC and faded from the catalogues after about 1920. In essence, they are a slightly fancy versiom of a metal block plane. I'd venture a guess that that what you have there is a user-finished casting. At least...

What makes a tool handle of any description "just right" is a matter partly of personal taste & very much what you've become accustomed to. While there are definite trends in chisel handle sizes & shapes within manufacturers' ranges and within countries/regions, you can easily find exceptions...

Have I misunderstood? Tibi, are you wanting a rip saw or a crosscut saw? I had the impression you wanted a crosscut, so my advice was aimed at achieving an efficient crosscutting tooth profile. Your proposed guide is way more elaborate than necessary & not very practical, imo. It's better to...

Indeed, a floor saw is an example of extreme "breasting" which, as you say, couldn't do its job otherwise. I borrowed the principle for this saw I made (from a scrap of floor-scraper blade), to cut out the back of the curved slot in replacement handles for old Disston saws 'cept I made it cut...