Vintage plough plane (with pics)

Anonymous · 30 Aug 2004

Aeeeh ! After months of fierce yet frustrating fightings on the eBay against the merchants who bid at any price (so what, they re-sell anyway at 200%...), I managed to put my hands on this little gem for a price that seemed to me more than fair (how much, according to you ?).

It is an English (ooops sorry, Scotch !) plough plane, beech, classic style, in pretty good conditions:

pic1

It has a variable fence, a depth stop regulated by a brass key and a generous rounded "skate"

pic2

I'm not sure about its age, but I would say end of '800 (would you agree ?), made in Scotland by Messrs J. Dobie & Co. of Glasgow for the
structural part ...

pic3

... and by Messrs D. Malloch & Son of Perth for the iron

pic4

the iron is 1/2 inch and so thick that it does not need a cap iron. Behind the skate there is the sole of the depth regulator

pic5

Note how the "skate" is fixed to the stock by an elegant brass plate and big flush screws

pic6

The depth regulator can be stopped laterally by another screw

pic7

The fence is mounted on two sliding arms. To move them, they have to be hit one after the other. For this reason, the ends of the arms are refined with a nice brass ferrule, reinforced with crossed hardwood inlays and the fence can swivel freely

pic9

In the end, I am so happy with my acquisition that I spent half an hour to compose this post: hope not to have bored you too much. Can any of you add some commentary and/or information about this toy and/or its manufacturer ? Thanks in advance

!

Cheers
Alberto

Alf · 30 Aug 2004

Alberto,

Nice plane; worth all the frustration.

The wood's in lovely order and the metal's been cleaned sensibly. I'll now go on to reveal my ignorance of wooden planes and stick as much as possible to the information in British Planemakers:

John DOB(B)IE, 205 Argyle Street (& 336 New City Road), Glasgow. 1862-1902.
John DOB(B)IE & Co, 205 Argyle Street, & 247 New City Road, & 18 Great Western Road, Glasgow. 1903-1922.
247 New City Road & 18 Great Western Road, 1923-1925
18 Great Western Road, & Maryhill Road & 326 Paisley Road, 1925 onwards (no end date given).
Toolmakers. CO (common - will be found regularly)

Obviously John couldn't decide how many "Ds" to have in his name...

David MALLOCH, 57 South Methven Street, Perth, 1850-1860.
25 St John Street & Kirkside, 1860-1870.
50 South Street, 1870-1878.
David MALLOCH & Son, 50 South Street (The Perth Plane Works), 1878-1913.
11 East Campbell Street, Glasgow. 1914-1932 and sometime after. Subsidiary of Alex Mathieson, Glasgow.

So that puts the Malloch mark after 1878 and the Dobie mark after 1903, so the plane can't be earlier than 1903, and given the Perth mark presumably before 1914 when Mathieson bought them up. Unless Mathieson continued using the Perth mark anyway...? Apparently a model number on the plane indicates it was made by Mathieson after the take over btw. What the link between Dobie and Malloch was though, goodness only knows. There must have been one for them both to have their marks stamped on the body surely? It's not usual to have the iron maker's mark on the body, at least not as far as I'm aware. The double-headed eagle(?) is Malloch's trademark incidentally. Now if one of them was a dealer, but BPM doesn't say... I don't know if the saltire on the ends of the arms was common with all Scottish makers, but it's noticable that an extract from the Mathieson catalogue shows many of them with such a cross on the arms. You can probably see where I'm going with this; I think it might be later and in fact a Mathieson, but what do I know? (Don't answer that...) Enjoy it anyway.

Cheers, Alf

Chris Knight · 30 Aug 2004

Alberto,

Looks like a very nice plane. The big question is what are you going to do with it? Stick it on a shelf and admire it or use it?

Anonymous · 30 Aug 2004

waterhead37":23yhbuyu said:
Stick it on a shelf and admire it or use it?

er... I'm afraid it will be the first answer

(shame on me !)

Midnight · 30 Aug 2004

er... I'm afraid it will be the first answer (shame on me !)

Ohhhhh.......Alberto...

I donno what's worse; calling it English, calling it whiskey or letting it wither on a shelf.....

the shame.......

:wink:

Anonymous · 31 Aug 2004

Midnight":35973t5p said:
(...) calling it whiskey (...)

o damn... please forgive my English: it is rather autarkic and dates back to the last century, when a living being was Scottish and an inanimate object was Scotch ...

OK: I will try to drown my sorrow in a glass of Scotch...

Cheers
Alberto