I inherited about 30 molding planes from my grandmother when she passed a few years ago. They originally belonged to my great great uncle, who was a carpenter in around the 1880's. One of the planes was a Francis Nicholson dedicated molding plane which had a perfect profile for baseboards (perhaps that's what it was for originally? Who knows.) Made all the trim for my son's room with it, and it worked perfectly. Amazing how well that thing held up over literal centuries. Very satisfying feeling to restore and use such an old tool. Something about creating new pieces from a 200+ year old tool, made by the first plane maker in the colonies is just so awesome. Anyways, just thought I'd share my old molding plane story. Great video. Thanks Btw, I know a lot of collectors will be mad that I restored and used a perfect condition F. Nicholson. Too bad! It belonged to my family for generations, and I have no interest in making money off of it. It will never be for sale and has no monetary value to me. It's a tool, and a family heirloom and I'm going to use it for it's intended purpose.
I appreciate your video. I've inherited some old ones and know that at least one is a Chelor. Some are unmarked, I'll be looking at them closer now with a new set of eyes. Great reference list too. Thanks, definitely subscribed.
thank you awesome video! I live in SE Mass where alot of these makers worked and you never know what you will find antiquing on the weekend around here.
My dad gave me the large toolbox that was made by my great grandfather in about 1860, it's got a perhaps full set of moulding planes in it? Not sure. I'll have to pop out tomorrow and see if there are any makers marks on them
Thank you for these videos, recently inherited 40 planes but a few have me stumped. Every see one with a leather running down the inside of the throat and mouth? No maker's mark but styling seems around early 1800s.
Thanks for the excellent overview! I hope you’ll continue to produce these very worthwhile and much-needed videos on antique wooden planes. Btw, can you give me some idea of your source material that helped you with this background info? Thanks again!
Glad you like it! This was definitely a resource-intensive video. Here are my sources: - A Guide to American Wooden Planes 4th ed. - Goodman's British Planemakers 4th ed. - Early Planemakers of London (Don and Anne Wing, 2005) - Tracking Elements of Style. Nicholson to Fuller; Chamfer Ends and Wedge Finial Reliefs, The Catalog of American Wooden Planes (no. 8) - More Notes On The Yankee Plow, Plane Talk (vol. 3 no. 1). Pretty much every issue of Plane Talk from 1978-1988 has something about 18th century styles. That's where I got a sense of how broad some of these trends were. - The Wooden Plane: Its History, Form, and Function (John M. Whelan, 1993) - Eighteenth-Century Woodworking Tools: Papers Presented at a Tool Symposium, May 19-22, 1994 (1997) - The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association has covered 18th century planemaking extensively over the years. A couple stories about planemaking styles in early America that I specifically drew on were: The Nicholson Family: Joiners and Tool-makers (vol. 36 no. 2); A Study of Planes Made by Francis and John Nicholson (vol. 38 no. 2); Francis Nicholson - Living in Wrentham (vol. 53 no. 1); Francis, John and Cesar: A Different View of their Planes (vol. 54 no. 1) - Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth-Century America (James Gaynor and Nancy Hagedorn, 1993) - See my last newsletter (woodenplanes.substack.com/p/who-invented-the-screw-arm-plow-plane) for the sourcing on screw arm plows, which include Josef Greber's Die Geschichte des Hobels and Two Early English Screw-stem Ploughs, Tools and Trades (vol. 1)
I have virtually no idea why I watched this video….but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did “freak” just a bit, when you had all those wedges out, wondering how you remembered which wedge went to which molding plane. I’m curious….I have a good collection of “made in the U.S.” Nicholson files (I’m related by marriage to the Nicholson family); they were originally made in Rhode Island. I am curious if his family is related to the Wrentham made molding planes. Great video…and a good education on early American tool manufacturers.
I numbered them very lightly with pencil 😂 As far as I know, the two Nicholsons aren't related. But I don't know much about the planemaker's family. His son John ended up in Maine but I believe his daughter Mehetabel stayed in Wrentham. I don't know past that.
Thank you - that was really interesting. I would love to see more about the early screw fastened ploughs. I know you’re focussed on original antique planes but a plough plane with wood hardware for the fence and depth stop would be a good place for amateurs plane makers to start without complex metalwork to worry about.
Roxton Pond in Quebec was a hotbed of Canadian planemaking: S. Dalpé, 1858-1895 A. Monty, 1869-1930 P. Nicol, 1881-1890 S. F. Willard 1888-1891 W. S. Bullock (Roxton Tool and Mill Co.), 1906-1907
Yes. Some early colonial American planemakers used birch but by the 1800s all makers had essentially switch to beach for their basic bench/molding/plow planes. All of it would have been quarter sawn.
How do you store your planes? Im thinking of making a plane rack similar to those for metal planes but never seen one for wooden ones. Is there a reason for this?
I'm actually in the process of building a new workshop and I'll be making a plane till for some of my bench planes. I'll do a video on the build. Probably middle of this year?
Ebay is a great place for selling planes, either individually or as group. If you have a large collection that has rare and collectable planes, you could reach out to an auction house like Brown Tool Auction. Or if your family were craftsmen in a specific area, there may be a local tool museum that would be interested. Let me know if I can answer any question you have about specific planes. And thank you so much for watching!
Back when a proper carpenter was expected to make two doors per day, from rough lumber. Of course, these planes were used on riven wood - with the grain parallel to the surface. Try pushing one of these through wood prepared on a series of circular saws...nightmare!
The best way to figure out the age is to look for a maker's name stamp on the front of the plane. Books like A Guide to American Wooden Planes and Goodman's British Planemakers have the bios/dates for thousands of plane makers. If you list the names here, I'll let you know what I know about them.
Does anyone here recognize the maker mark AA with a colonial pattern around it? No other markings, no town or province, just the AA with a fancy boarder.
There's no Hailer in Goodman's British Planemakers, the Directory of American Toolmakers, or the Guide to Makers of American Wooden Planes. It's likely an owners mark.
If you like wooden plane videos, you'll love this newsletter: workingwoodenplanes.com No sales, no AI slop. Just good stories about planes.
Great tutorial on a subject dear to my heart.
I restored a wooden plane of my father-in-law from the 60s, and I can see how this can become a full obsession!
Awesome! So much I didn't know.
I inherited about 30 molding planes from my grandmother when she passed a few years ago. They originally belonged to my great great uncle, who was a carpenter in around the 1880's. One of the planes was a Francis Nicholson dedicated molding plane which had a perfect profile for baseboards (perhaps that's what it was for originally? Who knows.) Made all the trim for my son's room with it, and it worked perfectly. Amazing how well that thing held up over literal centuries.
Very satisfying feeling to restore and use such an old tool. Something about creating new pieces from a 200+ year old tool, made by the first plane maker in the colonies is just so awesome.
Anyways, just thought I'd share my old molding plane story. Great video. Thanks
Btw, I know a lot of collectors will be mad that I restored and used a perfect condition F. Nicholson. Too bad! It belonged to my family for generations, and I have no interest in making money off of it. It will never be for sale and has no monetary value to me. It's a tool, and a family heirloom and I'm going to use it for it's intended purpose.
I would have not messed with it!
Sounds like a good plan to me! Clean it up enough to use, sharpen, and use it. Just don't modify it or turn it into a lamp or something.
Use for coach’s
, ships furniture cabinetry and molding for buildings
I appreciate your video. I've inherited some old ones and know that at least one is a Chelor. Some are unmarked, I'll be looking at them closer now with a new set of eyes. Great reference list too.
Thanks,
definitely subscribed.
Take very good care of that Chelor! That is a very special (and expensive) piece of American history. Thanks for watching!
thank you awesome video! I live in SE Mass where alot of these makers worked and you never know what you will find antiquing on the weekend around here.
Cool video. Thanks for doing this. I could nerd out on planes all day. Haha
My dad gave me the large toolbox that was made by my great grandfather in about 1860, it's got a perhaps full set of moulding planes in it? Not sure. I'll have to pop out tomorrow and see if there are any makers marks on them
Thank you for these videos, recently inherited 40 planes but a few have me stumped. Every see one with a leather running down the inside of the throat and mouth? No maker's mark but styling seems around early 1800s.
Thanks for the excellent overview! I hope you’ll continue to produce these very worthwhile and much-needed videos on antique wooden planes. Btw, can you give me some idea of your source material that helped you with this background info? Thanks again!
Agree regarding the source of information, would most appreciative to gain this knowledge for my use.
Glad you like it! This was definitely a resource-intensive video. Here are my sources:
- A Guide to American Wooden Planes 4th ed.
- Goodman's British Planemakers 4th ed.
- Early Planemakers of London (Don and Anne Wing, 2005)
- Tracking Elements of Style. Nicholson to Fuller; Chamfer Ends and Wedge Finial Reliefs, The Catalog of American Wooden Planes (no. 8)
- More Notes On The Yankee Plow, Plane Talk (vol. 3 no. 1). Pretty much every issue of Plane Talk from 1978-1988 has something about 18th century styles. That's where I got a sense of how broad some of these trends were.
- The Wooden Plane: Its History, Form, and Function (John M. Whelan, 1993)
- Eighteenth-Century Woodworking Tools: Papers Presented at a Tool Symposium, May 19-22, 1994 (1997)
- The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association has covered 18th century planemaking extensively over the years. A couple stories about planemaking styles in early America that I specifically drew on were: The Nicholson Family: Joiners and Tool-makers (vol. 36 no. 2); A Study of Planes Made by Francis and John Nicholson (vol. 38 no. 2); Francis Nicholson - Living in Wrentham (vol. 53 no. 1); Francis, John and Cesar: A Different View of their Planes (vol. 54 no. 1)
- Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth-Century America (James Gaynor and Nancy Hagedorn, 1993)
- See my last newsletter (woodenplanes.substack.com/p/who-invented-the-screw-arm-plow-plane) for the sourcing on screw arm plows, which include Josef Greber's Die Geschichte des Hobels and Two Early English Screw-stem Ploughs, Tools and Trades (vol. 1)
@@tombaker3794 I listed them in the previous comment. Hope it helps!
A good book on the subject is "goodmans british planemakers since the 1700's"
I have virtually no idea why I watched this video….but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did “freak” just a bit, when you had all those wedges out, wondering how you remembered which wedge went to which molding plane. I’m curious….I have a good collection of “made in the U.S.” Nicholson files (I’m related by marriage to the Nicholson family); they were originally made in Rhode Island. I am curious if his family is related to the Wrentham made molding planes. Great video…and a good education on early American tool manufacturers.
I numbered them very lightly with pencil 😂 As far as I know, the two Nicholsons aren't related. But I don't know much about the planemaker's family. His son John ended up in Maine but I believe his daughter Mehetabel stayed in Wrentham. I don't know past that.
@@WoodenPlanes “You da’ man!” Thank you for taking the time to reply. Again, that was a fascinating video.
Thank you - that was really interesting. I would love to see more about the early screw fastened ploughs. I know you’re focussed on original antique planes but a plough plane with wood hardware for the fence and depth stop would be a good place for amateurs plane makers to start without complex metalwork to worry about.
Thanks! I did a newsletter on screw arm plows that you might be interested in: woodenplanes.substack.com/p/who-invented-the-screw-arm-plow-plane
Nice talk. Thanks I have three planes. JC Bacon Tool Co. , H Barker and Roxton. Pond. Interesting
Roxton Pond in Quebec was a hotbed of Canadian planemaking:
S. Dalpé, 1858-1895
A. Monty, 1869-1930
P. Nicol, 1881-1890
S. F. Willard 1888-1891
W. S. Bullock (Roxton Tool and Mill Co.), 1906-1907
Often those early moulding planes without makers marks where cut down to the standardised size of the 19th century so they would fit into their boxes.
Very interesting. Did the planes generally all use the same cut of wood, quarter sawn or other?
Yes. Some early colonial American planemakers used birch but by the 1800s all makers had essentially switch to beach for their basic bench/molding/plow planes. All of it would have been quarter sawn.
Man this should be required reading for anyone getting into planes
It was copied from Graham Blackburns videos and books without giving him credit
How do you store your planes? Im thinking of making a plane rack similar to those for metal planes but never seen one for wooden ones. Is there a reason for this?
I'm actually in the process of building a new workshop and I'll be making a plane till for some of my bench planes. I'll do a video on the build. Probably middle of this year?
I’m going to give Graham Blackburn credit for your video because he’s the one that you copied your info from without giving him credit.
I watched your video an education , got many thru may family what should do with them? Im older now . If you can respond it would be nice.
Ebay is a great place for selling planes, either individually or as group. If you have a large collection that has rare and collectable planes, you could reach out to an auction house like Brown Tool Auction. Or if your family were craftsmen in a specific area, there may be a local tool museum that would be interested. Let me know if I can answer any question you have about specific planes. And thank you so much for watching!
Back when a proper carpenter was expected to make two doors per day, from rough lumber.
Of course, these planes were used on riven wood - with the grain parallel to the surface. Try pushing one of these through wood prepared on a series of circular saws...nightmare!
After watching this I hauled out my wooden planes and found one that I think is 1700's. It is stamped J. Janssen.
You’re correct! J. Janssen was active 1790-1800. Not sure where in the US he was located.
Rex Krueger sent me.
Me too
How can you tell the date on the plane. I have a bunch of old ones, but don't know how to tell the dates or how old they are. Can you help me.
The best way to figure out the age is to look for a maker's name stamp on the front of the plane. Books like A Guide to American Wooden Planes and Goodman's British Planemakers have the bios/dates for thousands of plane makers. If you list the names here, I'll let you know what I know about them.
Does anyone here recognize the maker mark AA with a colonial pattern around it? No other markings, no town or province, just the AA with a fancy boarder.
Has anybody heard of G. F. hailer?
There's no Hailer in Goodman's British Planemakers, the Directory of American Toolmakers, or the Guide to Makers of American Wooden Planes. It's likely an owners mark.
Why would you make a video you know nothing about?
Every other sentence is maybe or probably or I’m guessing. SMH