Look at this Spanish beauty!

[Mike G]

Amongst the tools my Spanish son in law inherited from his grandfather was this gorgeous plane. I'm 99% certain it's a plough plane, but whilst I'm OK at getting these things to work and then at waving them around at wood, I'm no expert in old tools and their nomenclature. I'll wait for Andy T or others to tell me what it actually is.











What really struck me were the recessed locking nuts:



Despite not being used for at least 40 years, it took about 30 seconds and a little bit of wax to get all the nuts flowing beautifully.

Now, a question. How is the blade supposed to locate? There is a great wide straight hole for it to sit in, and an equally wide straight wedge to hold it......but there is nothing to locate it laterally:



It works, of course:



But see the whisps of fluff off the left hand side of the groove? They are the result of taking the blade out mid-way through planing the groove, then trying to put it back into the plane in the same location.

So what sayest the hand tool gurus? This is absolutely without doubt a bought item rather than a home made one, but I couldn't see a maker's name. It may originally have been on the brass side-plate.

 

[AndyT]

Well, I agree that it's a plough plane. One of the pleasures of looking at old tools is realising that different countries had their own traditions and solutions which worked perfectly well but didn't travel.

Continental plough planes are the opposite way round to English ones - the arms that hold the fence are anchored into the body, not the fence, so they stick out to the left instead of the right. But if you can hold your work without the arms getting in the way, that's no problem.

As for locating the blade, what does it look like? Presumably the slope of the sole where it fits is not bevelled like an English one and there's no matching groove in the iron. Do you have the proper blade? Is it full width to fit the slot and then diminished at the working end?

 

[Mike G]

.....As for locating the blade, what does it look like?.....

This is one of them, the one in the plane when I found it:



There is nothing other than flat edge against flat sole with which to locate it, and there are multiple grooves worn into the wedge where it has held different blades over the years.

 

[Pete Maddex]

English ones the blades are all the same width apart from the cutting end, you might have the wrong blade.
You could knock up some blades from O1 steel, or give it a wax and put it on show in the house.

Pete

 

[kirkpoore1]

English ones the blades are all the same width apart from the cutting end, you might have the wrong blade.
You could knock up some blades from O1 steel, or give it a wax and put it on show in the house.

Pete

I have a German Ulmia plow plane, and it's the same way. However, it does have a metal ridge in the body and a groove in each blade so that the blades stay straight. On the other hand, it's fairly new (1980's) and has a combo wood/metal body, so it may not be a good example. However, almost-all-wood plow plane from my great-great-grandfather (died 1913) is the same--the steel skate rail has a v-edge to support the blade, so a v-groove in the back of the blade would be registered there. This plane is not nearly as sophisticated as your Spanish one--the fence is held in place with wedges, not threaded rods & nuts.

Kirk

 

[NickM]

That is a lovely thing.

 

[Cabinetman]

Love the saw handle on the back, I bet that makes it really nice to use. I’m just going to dig my old one out from under the bench where it is sat for years – I know shocking. Ian

 

[Cabinetman]

No makers name on it but all the cutters 2 to 8 have I Sorby on them, unfortunately number one is missing. Must fettle it up and see how it works, I was given it years ago. Ian

 

[AndyT]

I reckon that plough was made by King & Co of Hull... I can't say why, it's just a hunch...

 

[Cabinetman]

I reckon that plough was made by King & Co of Hull... I can't say why, it's just a hunch...

Well that’s entirely possible Andy as Hull is just over the river from here, quite ornate shapes on it which look quite strange to my eyes nowadays.

 

[AndyT]

There is also a bit of a clue on the end of the plane!

Digital photos are great for revealing things we don't notice in real life. On quite a few wip threads, I thought my work was quite good, but seeing macro photos on a big screen proved it was barely ok. I'd never have known without the photos.

 

[Cabinetman]

Haha, well spotted, and it proved your hunch was right!