W Marples & Sons Hibernia old plane blade

[lignum42]

Hi, I recently came across an old coffin smoothing plane made by Martin & Shaw Birmingham. The chip breaker looks like it's made by a company called ?arker & Drew. Could this be a tool dealer? Also the iron is made by W Marples & Sons Hibernia Cast Steel but over the makers mark is stamped the word 'WASTER'. Is this a factory 'second'? Although it appears to have been used in the plane and sold to its original user who stamped his name W Wellington.

If anyone can shed any further light on the plane maker, the company name on the chip breaker and especially the word 'WASTER' on the iron.

 

[kwigly]

My old BPM2 has Martin & Shaw operating 1845-54
Barker & Drew cap irons, irons, come up on google, but BPM2 only has Wm Barker & Son 1863-72-, without any Drew
(I got nothing on Waster, or W Aster )

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Well, that's certainly unusual!

'Waster' was the term generally used in Sheffield for a reject or scrap product, and some were sold off at reduced prices (or, perhaps, 'escaped' from the works and changed hands for cash without too many questions being asked). It would be interesting to know why it was rejected, though - can you see any obvious flaws?

Much can happen in 150 years, and my suspicion is that the iron and cap-iron are not those originally supplied with the plane. It could be that the original iron wore out or was lost for some reason, and a replacement was 'found' rather than purchase a 'proper' one.

 

[lignum42]

Thank you for your responses Kwigly and Cheshirechappie,

The iron was very burred over at the top from repeatedly being struck with a hammer and there is a small vertical crack in the iron from the top of the blade down about 10mm. There is some pitting around the top of the iron which is almost definitely age related. I assumed that the hairline crack in the iron was related to the hammer blows but it is possible that the iron was rejected because of that as a flaw. About midway down the back of the iron (bevel side) the surface of the steel appears almost scaly in appearance, not sure if that is a flaw or just a form of corrosion. The cut out for the chip breaker screw is quite rough.

I tried to post a picture but have not worked out how to do it yet as I'm new to the forum.

I think that this iron was a factory reject as you say Cheshirechappie especially if Waster is a known term for that kind of thing.

Seems a neat and elaborate stamp of the word waster, you'd have thought they would have just binned the iron or melted it down.

 

[ED65]

I assumed that the hairline crack in the iron was related to the hammer blows but it is possible that the iron was rejected because of that as a flaw.

The crack would well have been the flaw that resulting in it being classed as a waster.

The main body of irons (alongside and above the slot) should almost never be found hard, and in irons of this type generally won't be a material capable of being hardened at all. When filing the burrs off old irons by hand you find the metal is really quite soft and malleable so I'm thinking the crack is a welding flaw that was only spotted when someone had a close look at the iron during QC after tempering.

About midway down the back of the iron (bevel side) the surface of the steel appears almost scaly in appearance, not sure if that is a flaw or just a form of corrosion.

Possibly some remaining forge scale/mill scale (iron oxide).

The cut out for the chip breaker screw is quite rough.

Not too uncommon for them to be crude-ish judging by the number I've seen that weren't exactly neat!

Seems a neat and elaborate stamp of the word waster, you'd have thought they would have just binned the iron or melted it down.

Does seem odd doesn't it? Melting it down might have been considered more effort than it was worth at the time. With a tip made from high-carbon steel and a main body from wrought iron or something like that they wouldn't have wanted to mix the two materials together, and separating them neatly would have been a pain.

Or maybe it's as simple as there being an established market for wasters that we aren't aware of. After all many different products have seconds that are sold, even glass where they can recycle defects endlessly if they chose to.

 

[ED65]

I tried to post a picture but have not worked out how to do it yet as I'm new to the forum.

If you want to host pictures externally (this is the best way to do in-line images like AndyT's post here) I can recommend Imgur. You create an account, which is free, and upload your pictures to it and the Imgur software automatically creates the links you paste into your post. Simples!

It's pretty much foolproof as long as you remember to log in to Imgur when you return at a future date.