W. Greenslade Badger plane

[MusicMan]

So the big car boot sale in Stratford today was rained off, so we went to the nearby Antiques Barn. Not usually many tools there but I struck lucky today with a William Greenslade wooden Badger plane (iron skewed and rotated, to cut rebates). It is in excellent (and I think original) condition, a good iron by James Howarth and after a quick sharpen cuts beautifully in rip and on shooting board. I am pretty sure the body is oak, which is unusual, and it is not quarter-sawn; the body has distorted slightly so the side is a degree or so out of perpendicular to the sole. I am not going to correct this or alter it in any way, as it is perfectly usable and the patina is great.

I'd be interested in finding out more from some of the real experts here - I know Plumber Pete specialises on Bristol planemakers - it should be fairly well datable from the awards listed on the stamp. Am I right in thinking that this is a fairly rare plane? I do use woodies from time to time (I was trained on one 65 years ago!) but am not a specialist in them. Whether rare or not, this is a gloat for me as it is the loveliest plane I have ever owned. It was £20 and I snapped their hand off.

Keith

 

[JohnPW]

Nice plane!

I'm certain that's beech. I agree with not altering it, that's one drawback with old wooden planes; how to correct any faults without removing any patina.

 

[Droogs]

she's lovely. As long as the iron and sole's OK just use her and respect her in the morning

 

[matthewwh]

Rare?
Not especially (yet).

Very good maker, nice example in good condition, with plenty left to give and worth honing up and using?
Yes, yes and yes...!!!

Badgers are a bit more specialised and therefore tend to have seen less work than the more general purpose planes, by comparison jacks are quite often completely mullered.

Have you tried raising a panel with it yet?

Or cutting a rebate..?
https://youtu.be/QsAIqHss9iE

 

[AndyT]

The dates of the exhibitions are London 1862, Dublin 1865, Paris 1890 and Melbourne 1880 so it must have been made between 1890 and WW2 when bombing finished off the business.

 

[D_W]

Looks good. If it feeds well, you're golden, especially if the cap iron is in good relation with the skew at the mouth (and presuming that it's not munged up at all at the corner where the iron protrudes).

We have badger planes come up from time to time here. I robbed one to make a raised panel plane last year, but the orientation of the iron changed enough in what I did that it was not to be and I broke the abutment out (it still works, but it has four ugly screws in it).

I agree with John, it's definitely beech, but a nice piece of it (nobody used junk back when they made those planes, so it's not surprising).

 

[Plumberpete]

Hi Keith,

As Andy says, it has to have been made between 1890 and 1940. Maybe the plane iron (if it's original) will help you narrow it down to a more precise date.

And as JohnPW has mentioned, it is in fact made of beech as most British wooden planes were.

The Greenslade's were brushmakers by trade, employing around 600 people at their peak. They consistently employed between 20 and 30 planemakers from 1825 (when they took over James Langworthy Carver's planemaking concern) until at least the late 1920's, so their planemaking output was prolific and many examples can be found.

Greenslade badger planes however, appear to be very thin on the ground and don't turn up anywhere near as often as smoothing, jack or try planes.

It's a nice find and a steal at that price. Well done! =D>