Just to show that there are still bargains to be had on eBay...
Among my selection of wooden planes, I have just a few which date back to the eighteenth century. I spotted a couple more on eBay which looked interesting, and bought them for £4.99 +p&p, which was the only bid placed.
One is a number 17 round by Madox, who made planes in Westminster between 1748 and 1775.
So far so easy - it's clearly marked. The wedge is a replacement, which is a shame, but the mark is ok:
.
Its companion number 14 hollow has a very similar body shape, and a proper Madox style wedge:
However, it has no maker's mark - I think this is an owner's mark, done quite nicely, with separate letter punches:
Ok for E Harkness, but too much bother for a manufacturer.
But here's the clincher, to show that this is an C18th plane: when you look at the irons, they both have a distinctive rounded corner, which I have only seen on planes of similar age.
and the iron from the no-name hollow has a maker's name on. That is very unusual on a moulding plane iron. So it's especially nice to compare it to the picture in BPM and see that it's the mark of Robert Moore, who hammered away at bits of good steel in Birmingham between 1750 and 1770.
So, as these two have the same owner's name on, my conclusion is that they can share the other clues as well. I reckon that they have spent the last 242 to 262 years together. I'll do what I can to give them a good home.
Among my selection of wooden planes, I have just a few which date back to the eighteenth century. I spotted a couple more on eBay which looked interesting, and bought them for £4.99 +p&p, which was the only bid placed.
One is a number 17 round by Madox, who made planes in Westminster between 1748 and 1775.
So far so easy - it's clearly marked. The wedge is a replacement, which is a shame, but the mark is ok:
Its companion number 14 hollow has a very similar body shape, and a proper Madox style wedge:
However, it has no maker's mark - I think this is an owner's mark, done quite nicely, with separate letter punches:
Ok for E Harkness, but too much bother for a manufacturer.
But here's the clincher, to show that this is an C18th plane: when you look at the irons, they both have a distinctive rounded corner, which I have only seen on planes of similar age.
and the iron from the no-name hollow has a maker's name on. That is very unusual on a moulding plane iron. So it's especially nice to compare it to the picture in BPM and see that it's the mark of Robert Moore, who hammered away at bits of good steel in Birmingham between 1750 and 1770.
So, as these two have the same owner's name on, my conclusion is that they can share the other clues as well. I reckon that they have spent the last 242 to 262 years together. I'll do what I can to give them a good home.
