Review By: I.Ball
Category: Old Wooden Planes
Manufacturer: Various
Tool Type: Wooden Planes
Plane Type: Toothing
A wooden toothing plane is similar in design to a
wooden smoothing plane
with the difference being the special blade (and wedge) are set vertically
or almost vertically on the toothing plane.
The
plane iron
in a toothing plane is a specialist plane blade with a serrated cutting edge.
When looking at a toothing plane blade, the blade has a series of fine
'V' shaped grooves running partially up the blade from the cutting edge.
The blade is held firmly in place with the use of a wooden wedge.
The toothing plane works by scratching the surface of the work to leave
a series of grooves in the workpiece.
The toothing plane is particularly useful for creating a surface which
gives a better bond when the surface is glued with another surface which
usually is veneer. The reason being the glue is bedded into the grooves
which creates a much stronger grip.
The planing action of the toothing plane produces a series of strings
of shavings being taken due to the serrated edge.
The toothing plane is a versatile tool which can be used on really tough
grain, with the grain, against the grain and across the grain.
Wooden toothing planes were produced by many British plane makers in the 18th, 19th and first part of the 20th century. These old toothing planes are still popular today and feature quite often in woodworkers workshops.
Below is a list of some of the old toothing plane manufacturers:
- Fairclough & Co
- Nelson
- Stothert
- William Marples
From my observations, many of the toothing planes which surface today don't have
a manufacturer's mark.
This could indicate either the manufacturer's name has been
removed by an owner of the plane or the plane could have been made by an individual
rather than a manufacturer (with the toothing iron being purchased separately).
I am currently unaware of any new makers of toothing planes, there are a few companies which make toothing plane blades to fit in certain iron planes, these toothing blade manufacturers include:
- ECE
- Kunz
- Lie Nielsen
- Ray Iles
- Veritas
The makers mark is usually found on the front nose (though sometimes
they have been removed and not to be mistaken with previous owners name
stamps). If the plane is quite mucky or you hadn't realised, this is the place
to look to try and identify who made it and if you wish to delve deeper there are a few
books out there to help identify the age / date of the plane.
The authority of these books (at the time of writing this) has to be Jane Rees 'British Planemakers - 4th Edition'.
The 'British Planemakers fom 1700 - Third Edition' is also good if you come across
a secondhand copy.
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