What’s this planes task?

[Adam W.]

One of the bits of info dug out in the thread on these planes on the Aussie forum is from "The Wooden Plane" By John M . Whelan which gives about the closest thing to a description of how these T-rabbets were used. Briefly, he says "coachmakers had to trim the side and bottom of rebates in final fitting . They had limited space in which to work. One of his tools was the T Rebate in which the sole was extended beyond the stock. This offered a clearer view of the work and provided a bit more finger room . It also permitted paring either side of a groove by placing the tool sideways...."

The wear marks on the sole of the plane above sure look like it spent a lot of time trimming rebates of a fixed depth or width (depending which way it was held).....

And btw, Tyzack was still offering them for sale in their 1930 catalogue:

View attachment 129855

Cheers,
Ian

The only way to truly find out is for you to make an authentic carriage by hand and report back to us.

I'd do it, but alas, I'm busy.

 

[hodsdonr]

Yep, when you have the right name, Google finds things very easily, doesn't it?! Here's the relevant page from the 1908 Tyzack catalogue:

View attachment 129758
There must've been a few coachmakers still making coaches for horses in 1908, but their time was getting perilously close! The trade continued for another 30-something years making car bodies, and many more years making railway carriages, but neither was quite as refined as the high-end coaches made for the well-to-do.
Cheers,
Ian

This sheet just allowed me to identify the Fence or grooving router that came up on a FB group here in South Africa

 

[Adam W.]

Is the radius of curvature constant? If the answer is yes but it's a 120 foot radius then I'm still stumped. Obviously no idea how they did it, if I had to try I would lay the beam on it's side and fix it and a center point to the floor and cut with some sort of trammel arrangement. That would leave the two grooves with flat sides but the bottom rounded. Next would be a tool some what between a plain and a roach with several nearly half round blades, the body long enough to follow the established curve. I shall pretend I have the necessay skills. Begs the question why, I think I have seen similar made by stone masons with the internal radius larger than I imagine this part to be were they copying a theme established else where in the building

I'll try and find some better drawings and as you say the internal diameters can be large, up to 3" in some cases but with only a 3/4" slot to get the tools in and and waste out of.

 

[Bedrock22]

I believe that Morgan Cars are still built with the bodies on ash frames, in Malvern, on the English border with Wales. Be interesting to know whether they still use coach-builders tools.

 

[Austin Branson]

Hello everyone, my late Uncle Norman was a bodybuilder/coachmaker. He almost certainly would have had experience with planes like this. The prices stagger me! Four and sixpence at the turn of the century! My grandfather was a machine gunner in WWI, and was paid 4/- a week!

 

[Stevekane]

I guess you should put it to use and see how it works, then try and think like a carriage maker and find its purpose, which could be: Used on its side for widening shallow rebates, but that's a guess. There's loads of historic stuff like this, where the method or purpose has been lost and academics come up with loads of old baloney about it.

My next task, once the vault is done, is to research making the 3/4 hollow seen on 14th century moulded beams. It's a deceptively simple moulding, until you start to try and work out how it's done on a 20' long curved beam.

Not a very good drawing, but it gives you an idea of what it is and no one seems to be able to figure it out .

View attachment 129759


Oh, I forgot ! To make your plane work, you need to flip the iron over.

What a lovely moulding, and here we are with all our modern tools and we would struggle to do it, so I wondered how would I try to do it now,,maybe router a slot followed up by some sort of bearing guided ball cutter,,then finishing off with the beveled front edges,,would that be possible?
Steve.

 

[Adam W.]

I'll try and find some more drawings tomorrow, as it's a very ornate way to decorate a beam. Unless anyone has a copy of C. Hewett - English Historic Carpentry to hand.

 

[Inspector]

Beautiful type of timber construction and I could see it taking a lot of skill and effort to make it by hand. If making it today I would use three pieces and glue them together. The glue joint inside each hollow. Not traditional for sure but makable with modern machines or more easily with traditional hand tools.

Pete (the cheater )