Up until now I've never know enough about these planes to buy one or even give them a second look at the car book sales, but with what I've been reading lately I decided to look out for one and maybe try it out if I found a good one.
Rummaging around in boxes of old tools this morning I found one that looked quite good. The blade was in good condition, the wedge fitted tightly and the whole thing looked well made, the sole for the moulding even having a different timber fitted nicely in the sole of the plane.
It was £2 so I decided to risk it. It looked nice even if it didn't work very well!
Its stamped with the Hibernia Marple's & Sons Sheffield shamrock logo, I'm not great at dating tools but I guess that puts it somewhere from the 1937 (when they started using the shamrock) to when they stopped making wooden planes (anyone know more?)
When I got back from the car boot the first thing I did was to go down to the shed and take the plane apart to look at the blade, it was quite sharp and pretty much ready to go.
So I put the plane back together and adjusted it with a few taps to take a small cut. Pushing it along, two handed, felt great and with two strokes I had created some fine shavings and this lovely little bead.
The trouble is now I want to buy some more moulding planes, I think it will be nicer than using a router on a small project. Just need to do a little more research so I know what to look out for (recommendations of books will be appreciated).
Watch this space!
