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An Unusual Rebate Plane Worth Investigating

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While conducting a plane-tuning seminar on Wednesday with toolmaker extraordinaire Chris Vesper, I got the opportunity to pick through his tool collection. I had no idea he was a tool collector. He is. And he has devoted about one-third of his living space to his collection.

His collection of plane irons (and chipbreakers) is remarkable. I could have spent a week examining them. But the tool in his collection that blew my mind was a Lancashire rebate plane he had sharpened and tuned up.

This is a user-made plane. Words and photos really don’t do it justice.

In essence, it is a cast brass rebate plane with a skewed cutter (snecked!). Instead of having a fence below the cutter (like a moving fillister plane), this plane has a sole that extends above the cutter and cutting surface.

This remarkable feature allows you to do several things:

  1. Cut rabbets of any width by dropping into a gauge line. The more you plane, the more stable the tool becomes. So you can really bear down and remove some meat once you get the tool started.
  2. Easily alter the floor of a rabbet with a little wrist twist. This allows you to clean up rabbets with ease.
  3. The tote encourages you to push the sole into the corner of the rabbet and to remain square.
  4. The escapement/lever cap of the tool throws the shavings onto the bench and not into your hand.
  5. The brass sole gives you a sharp arris that lets you start in a gauge line.

Vesper was kind enough to let me try the plane out on some King William Pine. I used one of his marking gauges to lay out the rabbet. And within a couple strokes I was a rabbeting fool.

I surmise that this is a tough tool to make. It has a skew cutter, an unusual sole and a wild (but very comfortable tote). So I wouldn’t hold my breath in hopes that someone would make it for the modern market.

But if you see one, drop your small children and watermelons and grab the tool. Buy it. You won’t regret it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Japanese Tool Chest: Measured Drawings

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Though I use mostly Western tools in my work, I have a deep respect for the craftsmanship and design of Japanese tools. In fact, before good Western tools became widely available, I had lots of Japanese saws, chisels and knives in my tool chest.

So this weekend I was thrilled to spend hours poring over the vintage Japanese tools offered by Tetsuro Izumitani during a hand tool event at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking. Izumitani is a former furniture maker who now brings vintage Japanese tools to Australia to sell.

He offers items that I’ve only read about or seen in books – incredible saws and hundreds of Japanese chisels of all shapes. I picked his brain for almost an hour on chisels as he showed me what to look for in a quality Japanese tool, from the file marks to the forge-welded laminations.

But the best part was an item that wasn’t for sale.

Underneath the selling tables was an old Japanese tool chest that Izumitani had brought back from Japan. It was simple, of course, but striking in its form, utility and hardware. He graciously allowed me to measure it and take photographs. (Apologies for the crappy photos. The sun was high and the shadows were driving me nuts.)

After the show I went back to my hotel and made a SketchUp drawing of the chest, which you can download here.

The woodworkers who were with me said it was made from “Oregon pine,” which is most likely another name for Douglas fir. The joinery is all nails and finger joints. It’s beguiling enough that I definitely want to build a few – once I can find a good source for the dome-head nails.

I think that building the chest would be an excellent one- or two-day class that would introduce people to basic saw, plane and chisel skills.

— Christopher Schwarz

Products from Hoke’s Tool Co.

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Chris Vesper of Vesper Tools is setting up his booth for the woodworking show being held this weekend at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking in Australia. He cleans off his immaculate glass display case. He removes two massive shoulder planes he made years ago (no, they are not for sale). And he places three boxes and bottle on the table.

“We have some new products,” he says. “Here, take a look.”

I did. Wow.

Check out the Hoke’s Tool Co. here at the Institute of Backyard Studies.

— Christopher Schwarz

Rust Hunting in Australia

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I always enjoy tool sales, such as those put on at the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association, but after years of attending them, surprises at these shows are few and far between.

So it was quite a rush to attend a tool meet put on by the Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia this morning. There were so many tools and brands that I’ve never seen before. I stayed until they started packing up the boxes to leave.

What’s different? Plenty.

  1. Common Stanley stuff was pretty expensive. While you could still find garden-variety bench planes for $50 or so, the 19th-century Stanley planes were crazy expensive – like $250 for a Type 8 No. 7.
  2. Some expensive stuff in the U.S. was cheap in Australia. I saw a Millers Falls No. 42 coping saw for $2. Tons of Swedish Eskiluna chisels for almost nothing. Sweet combination squares (in Imperial measurements) for less than $20.
  3. Used Japanese tools. Thanks to Australia’s somewhat closer proximity to Japan, they actually get a fair amount of used Japanese tools imported into the country. I saw many beautiful Japanese chisels for $15 each. I didn’t dare buy one because I don’t know any of the names.
  4. Infills, infills, infills. They were everywhere. I saw Norris, Mathison and a bunch of other lesser makers. There was an unused shell casting ($55). Lots of shoulder planes and bullnose planes, many in gunmetal. Two panel planes. And infill mallets ($55 each).
  5. Buttloads of cross-peen hammers. I think I saw 50 or 200, I can’t remember. Most were going for about $20.
  6. Very few moulding planes. Unlike U.S. shows, there were hardly any moulding planes. I saw one beat-up beader. One hollow. A few wacky profiles.

In any case, it was great fun poking through all the piles of rust. I could have stayed for another three hours and still not seen everything I wanted to pick up and play with.

I did buy one small item – a wooden architect’s triangle made from boxwood and very cleverly joined.

— Christopher Schwarz

Megan Fitzpatrick’s Next Halloween Costume

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From “The Cabinet of Arts, or General Instructor in Arts, Science, Trade, Practical Machinery, and the Means of Preserving Human Life, and Political Economy, Embracing a Variety of Useful Subjects” by Hewson Clarke, Esq. and John Dougall (London, 1817). Hat tip to Jeff Burks. See the full book here – it’s only a little longer than the title itself.