Recent purchases

I've been having a great run of old-tool luck lately.  I bought a number of great things at an auction last weekend, including the miter jack you see below, and the sweet solid boxwood plow plane. I won a great little Greenslade smoothing plane on eBay, and today I bought the Varvill badger plane, as well as the two Casey large ogee molders. Rather than prattle on, I'll just show you the pictures.

Solid boxwood plow, 18th Century smooth, small smooth, badger plane, two ogee molders


User made miter jack.  A real beauty!

J & L Denison solid boxwood plow

Casey Grecian ogee, Casey ogee

Badger plane

Badger plane mouth

Greenslade 6" coffin smooth.  I love this small size.

English Made!
The true treasure of this group is what I believe to be an 18th Century smoothing plane.  The round top iron made by I Smith, and the broad chamfers along the toe and the top of the body are all classic 18th century plane characteristics.  The body appears to be user made, as there is no user stamp, and the grain is oriented incorrectly, not something I would suspect a professional plane maker to do.

A special plane

I Smith iron
The iron is laminated and appears to be wrought iron.  This one is special.  Does anyone have any information on I. Smith? I don't see him listed in Goodman's book.


Best,

Zach

3 comments:

  1. Nice haul! I don't have any info on your 18th century smoother, but it sure is cool. I REALLY like the old single iron planes. That boxwood plough and the mitre jack are really sweet too. Heck, they're ALL nice. Hope they give you years of good service. Well, except for that last one. You may wanna just display that one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The "I" sometimes represented a "J" in this period just like an "f" respresented an "s."

    I have Goodman's 3rd edition and the only Smiths listed are Joseph Smith (1810 - no city) and John Smith & Son of Sheffield.

    Hope it helps.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zach, the "I" in the 18th century may be read today as a "J" - I believe. Does that make a difference in what you can find? What sources have you used while searching for the maker of the iron? (It might be worth putting a note in the EAIA Chronicle, for one thing).

    ReplyDelete