Comments on: Plow Planes: Metal vs. Wood

By: dave brown

dave brown — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:17:53 +0000

Wow, those barrett & sons plow planes are awesome. Of course, my favorite is the Mathieson Bridle. There right up there with Sauer & Steiner. Currently unobtainium for me.

If I ever came home with one of those the cops would be at my door in under a fortnight — looking for my wife.

The Mathieson would be on my tombstone. :g

By: David

David — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:54:46 +0000

Chris – Not all wooden plows eject shavings on the bench. There was a lot of variation in design in the "golden age" of the plow (the late 19th century), and some of the designs ejected shavings on the left side of the plane (typically, these are sash fillisters, not plows, but I’ve also seen plows that do this), some on the right. Incidentally, I’ve found that most wooden plows that eject shavings on the left side of the plane actually do a very good job of getting them to curl upward and outward (and not bunch against your hand or get trapped by the plane). I’m not sure why, but it may have more to do with the design of Stanely metal plows than with metal vs. wooden planes.

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:34:56 +0000

Andrew,

It’s my favorite metal plow. I’ve written a lot about it.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/cSchwarz/z_art/vSmallPlow/sPlow-1.asp

You can read more about the D.L. Barrett here.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/cSchwarz/barrettSons/barrettSons-1.asp

Chris

By: Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:27:04 +0000

I have been considering the Veritas small plow, how does it compare?

By: Ace Karner

Ace Karner — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:33:21 +0000

I have a plow plane problem, I have a Stanley 45, two 46′s, a 47 and a 55. I also have a Record 43 and two wooden planes, an all boxwood Benson and Crannell, and a beach Ohio Tool Company with a closed tote. I manage to use them all once in a while, and I’m always keeping my eyes open for another. I shudder to think of all the planes irons I have should I ever decide to hone them all. LOL

By: Tony Lees

Tony Lees — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:19:22 +0000

I’ll never see a wooden plow again without thinking of this and laughing out loud: "Fences can be fantastic or one step above semi-adjustable firewood."

A few years ago I bought a tool box full of tools from someone who’s grandfather had done his carpentry apprenticeship with the railways at the beginning of the 20th century. It was still packed with all the tools and arranged as it had been by his grandfather. He plonked a smaller box on top of the tool box and said that I could also have this plane for an extra NZ$50. And there it was – a pristine SW Stanley 55 with all it’s cutters. I felt obliged to tell him that it was actually worth a bit more, but he said: "I know, I looked on the internet. But I get the feeling you’ll give it a good home." I’ve been feeling a little guilty ever since because I’ve never really made very good friends with that plane. I console myself with the fact that the plane was pristine while the rest of the tools weren’t. He either bought it at the end of his working life, or never made friends with it any better than I have.

What amazed me even more though was the array of tools he had in that tool box. When I worked as a carpenter I had several plastic toolboxes, and the plane family was represented by 2 block planes. He on the other hand had an array of planes and a whole host of tools that we would now only associate with furniture making – all wrapped in a big, dovetailed box, with smaller dovetailed trays. Things have changed a little over the years.