Compass Plane / Circular Plane

[woodbloke]

I think you're just becoming a collector, Rob :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

That's my excuse Paul, and I'm sticking to it :lol: - Rob

 

[mahking51]

Ho Humm...
I might have one or eight knocking about somewhere if the OP would like to PM me..........
Trouble is they are probably hidden under a pile of 51/52's and Howkins and other such junk....
I really must tidy up some day...
Cheers,
Martin

 

[Benchwayze]

I had an email from a friend today...

He has 'inherited' a cabinetmaker's tool chest, with a 'few planes' in it.
He said there was this weird plane, with what seemed to be a flexible sole.
Said it was a bit greasy, but maybe it would clean up. Was I interested! :lol:

Don't worry folks. I won't let us down by seeing him off on the price. 8)

Pics will follow if it's a good user.

I think Rob has made the point for having one.
A circular table top or maybe a curved door rail can be made easily with spoke-shaves. But a wide, serpentine shaped drawer front is best shaped with a good compass plane. So if a worker does a lot of repro work, maybe a compass plane is a boon?


Regards
John

 

[Smudger]

Was a compass plane one of those tools that a general woodworker would have? Or would it be the sort of tool that would be owned by a workshop and used by the joiners as required, like a boat anchor?
I know someone who has one (woodwork teacher) and he reckons to use it once or twice a year, which doesn't seem particularly economical.

Dick, I think it's one of those tools that's nice to have in your arsenal should you require it. I've had a decent one now for a year that I bought of Martin and haven't yet used it, but there will come a day and a project when it'll be the right tool for the job. The reason I got one was that I was making a project with a curved drawer front...had I a compass plane at the time the whole process would have been a lot less convoluted than it turned out to be - Rob

The point I was trying to make is how often a plane like that would be part of a woodworker's tool kit, or whether or not they would be hired or borrowed on the few occasions that a general woodworker would need one. Specialists would be different, but they would be relatively few.
An analogy would be why there are so few Record 400½s about compared to Stanley #40s - in Britain the scrub plane was rarer because the mechanical dimensioning of timber was commoner. Or so I have read.