Pattern makers radius plane, professionally made?

[toolsntat]

With a stroke of luck before Christmas I managed to purchase a fantastic quality pattern-makers radius plane.
It has 9 radius bases with 9 matching Marples parallel irons.
I have seen loads of this type of plane but as a rule they are usually user made in the pattern-shop by the workmen themselves.
It has been shown to a fair few toolies recently and no one has seen the like before but all tend to agree it has the look of being made by a reputable infill plane maker.
If this is the case who could it be?
I have yet to remove the infill and see if there is anything marked inside the casting.
Apart from the exquisite "cupids bow" detail, one of the "striking :roll: " features is the semi circle in the rear of the casting.
One name mentioned is Bayfield planes from Nottingham but from all of the pictures I have available, non show the rear of the plane to help confirm this.
Did any retailers offer such planes in their catalogues ?
As it happens I have seen a couple of lesser quality "copies" in brass which is what you would expect to happen in the trade.
So what do you reckon?
Andy

 

[bugbear]

Add me to the list of toolies who've never seen (or heard of) an infill pattern maker's plane.

It'll be hard to tell wether it's factory or hand made, since patternmakers were highly skilled craftsmen, with access to diverse trades and tools, and infills were semi--hand made even in factories. Thus the boundary between hand made and factory made is very blurred,

BugBear

 

[wellywood]

Norris and also Spiers offered infill planes but I don't think that's what you've got. I don't mean it as an insult but it looks too 'crude' to be by either of them. It looks like a 'craftsman made' plane (made by the user) and it's likely the stamped letters are simply the maker's/owner's initials.
Still a nice to have item though.

 

[rileytoolworks]

Can't help with your query Andy, but it's nice to see it again. I must say though it's even more impressive in the flesh.

All the best.
Adam,

 

[toolsntat]

Add me to the list of toolies who've never seen (or heard of) an infill pattern maker's plane.

It'll be hard to tell wether it's factory or hand made, since patternmakers were highly skilled craftsmen, with access to diverse trades and tools, and infills were semi--hand made even in factories. Thus the boundary between hand made and factory made is very blurred,

BugBear

Very true and the best I can hope for is to find the same rear casting on another plane.

Norris and also Spiers offered infill planes but I don't think that's what you've got. I don't mean it as an insult but it looks too 'crude' to be by either of them. It looks like a 'craftsman made' plane (made by the user) and it's likely the stamped letters are simply the maker's/owner's initials.
Still a nice to have item though.

Yes Pete the they are the initials of the previous owner.
As Adam says above the picture barely does the quality of this plane justice.
Which bits for you would you say let it down ?
For me I would have liked to see better quality bases :wink:

Andy

 

[wellywood]

Yes Pete the they are the initials of the previous owner.
As Adam says above the picture barely does the quality of this plane justice.
Which bits for you would you say let it down ?
For me I would have liked to see better quality bases :wink:

Andy

Andy, I've looked more closely at the pictures without the aid of the bottom of a gin bottle and also dug out some photos of Norris infill planes for comparison. I unreservedly withdraw my 'crude' comment
I'll be fascinated to see if the maker can be identified.

 

[toolsntat]

Andy, I've looked more closely at the pictures without the aid of the bottom of a gin bottle and also dug out some photos of Norris infill planes for comparison. I unreservedly withdraw my 'crude' comment
I'll be fascinated to see if the maker can be identified.

No worries Pete :wink: :lol:

Andy

 

[toolsntat]

Just to bring this up to date I have recently visited a friends collection and he has exactly the same unmarked plane.
This now makes me feel that most likely there was an Infill Planemaker actually making these at some point.
Be nice to find a name.

More information on my feed here ....



Cheers, Andy

 

[Trafalgar]

Weren't these planes made in a way that the sole could be switched out for ones of different radii? I think that may be what this tool is.

 

[toolsntat]

Weren't these planes made in a way that the sole could be switched out for ones of different radii? I think that may be what this tool is.

Yes, most definitely, not sure if you can follow the link to my Instagram page but all the soles and irons are displayed there.
Cheers, Andy

 

[toolsntat]

Weren't these planes made in a way that the sole could be switched out for ones of different radii? I think that may be what this tool is.

Sorry, I forgot the Instagram link.
Cheers, Andy

 

[niall Y]

A lovely little plane. I hadn't come across this type of plane until recently , when a larger and slightly rougher one was featured in the post of @joshvegas a couple of days ago

 

[joshvegas]

Rougher?! How very dare you!

I've gone from "not collector" to "cool a transformer" I have been Google plates of tools steel for blades and have a few ideas in my head how I can use it.

 

[Trafalgar]

Yes, most definitely, not sure if you can follow the link to my Instagram page but all the soles and irons are displayed there.
Cheers, Andy

I'll take a look. Thanks.

 

[toolsntat]

EDIT
Whoops, repeating myself......
Cheers, Andy