Plane chatter

A Puzzling Match Pair

Leon Kashishian has a match pair made by B. Sheneman & Bro. (Philadelphia, 1856-- 60), which appears to be, at first glance, a stairbuilders' match pair. On a closer look, however, some discordant features are seen.

A common design for stair treads provides a groove in the under surface, placed somewhat back from the rounded forward edge. The riser (vertical face under the tread) has a tongue cut in its upper edge, to fit this groove. The stairbuilders' groove plane is characterized by a deeper fence (to ensure contact with the rounded front edge of the tread) and an iron placement well away from the fence.

The first difficulty noted by Leon in naming this pair is the presence of a picker iron in the groove plane. A nicker iron is useful in cutting across the grain, but this is not the case in a stair tread.

A sketch (heel views) of the planes is seen in Figure 1. The bodies of the pair (ignoring the tongue iron) appear to be designed for a mismatched tongue (7/16 inch) and groove (3/8 inch). The present iron in the tongue plane projects beyond the sole by 1/16 inch, which would provide a better fit, but it is difficult to see why Sheneman would make the plane this way. The riser should be force-fit into the tread to avoid squeaks, and it seems risky to depend on the iron placement for a tight fit.

A final problem is the depth of the fence. It would barely serve for a bullnose tread, 5/8 inch thick, and would not be long enough for a tread of this thickness with an ogee nosing.

Leon and this column would be glad to hear of any ideas that occur to you on alternate applications for the pair.

A Different Chamfer Plane

The plane of the photograph (Figure 2) was obviously not made commercially. The stock, 6 1/2 inches long, is of laminated construction and of assorted woods. The sides are held to the core pieces with wood screws (which resulted in a split to the nose of the core). The iron was cut down from a chisel made by Samuel Hearnshaw (Sheffield). The tool is hardly a top-shelf collector's item. In spite of its crude appearance, it bears two owners' names (E. Pinnock and N. Harvison) and shows evidence of much careful use.

After a bit of puzzling about how the plane was used, it seemed that the fence was meant to be held to the face of the work piece, holding the stock of the plane at a 45 degree angle. This was awkward unless the work was held with its width vertical.

In spite of this unusual method of use, the tool performed well in cutting a chamfer. Have you seen a similar tool, or have you an alternate reading of its purpose?

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Our thanks to Dan Newton, of Winfield, Pennsylvania. He reports that he has used planes like Trevor Robinson's pair, sketched in the September column. He used them to groove house siding, and found that the joint they produced helped the siding to remain flatter.

Yet another adjustable tongue and groove pair is reported by Eric Gannicott. His were made by Routledge-Birmingham, England. The appearance matches the Marples pair pictured in the December issue. Both were marked on the heel 3/8, 5/8, 7/8. Amazingly, the three sets of irons remained with the pair, and are sized in accord with the heel markings being stock thicknesses.

"Plane Chatter" by J. M. Whelan is a regular feature in The Chronicle. Send your comments to Jack at 38 Colony Court, Murray Hill, NJ 07974, or E-mail .

Copyright Early American Industries Association Mar 2003
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