Whitmore No 4 Plane

sooty · 13 Jul 2008

Had 3 planes & 3 spokeshaves given me last night my mate had chucked them on one side ready to take to the local tip.
One of the planes has the name Whitmore wrote on it. anyone heard of them?

One is diddy its like a wooden block plane but its only about 2 1/2" long by 1 inch wide my mate seemed to think it was for trimming veneer?

The other one is incomplete but it has the blade and a (I think you call it a breaker plate) fits at back of blade, but there is no plate that fits over these two and clips in place? so I may keep this one for spares?

The Whitmoor looks pretty good so I built an electrolytic tank exactly the same as in seaco's thread and started de-rusting Im hoping to get a decent plane out of the Whitmore

jonbikebod · 14 Jul 2008

Hi Sooty,
I am pretty sure I have one of these but will need to check the name when I get home. If it is the same name then I know mine was bought in the late seventies (by a family member) and was an English made but cheaper alternative to a Stanley. Mine is a #4 size but the castings are poor so properly flattening the sole would take forever and leave it too thin. I ended up fitting it with the old Veritas scraper attachment which doesn’t rely on a tight mouth. Mine has stained beech handles.
I was aware of a number of Sheffield made planes in the late seventies that were cheaper than the Stanleys and Records, another was Acorn. This type of plane was probably in part responsible for the cost-cutting on the main brands that hit a new low at around this point.
Jon.

sooty · 14 Jul 2008

Mine is a #4 also just checked the sole with a straight edge and its way out?
But the incomplete one dont know the name is a #4 and the sole seems perfectly flat so I will try and make 1 good one out of two.

jonbikebod · 15 Jul 2008

Hi Sooty,
Well worth seeing if you can make one good one from the parts but you will probably find the way the frog references to the sole differs from make to make.
As there have been so many #4 planes made over that last 140 years it is worth looking out a good quality example to invest your time and effort in (unless there is some strong sentimental attachment to the plane in question). It takes the same or more effort to renovate beech wood handles as it does rosewood for example.
What are the spokeshaves like?
Jon.

sooty · 15 Jul 2008

What are the spokeshaves like?

The spokeshaves look like rubbish, no names on them they look like the ones they sell on the market for a couple of quid