Antique British Metal Planes & Infill Planes at The Best Things

Infill Planes

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Infill & Other British Metal Planes

British Metal Planes, commonly referred to as infill planes, represent the pinnacle of refinement in cabinetmaking planes. These planes came into vogue during a time when industrialization allowed products of remarkable precision to be made for a wide market, but at the same time fine hand work was still being done. Infill planes proliferated in the second half of the nineteenth century. While production lingered on until the early 1950s in a few isolated cases, The Great War really sounded the death knell for this type of tool. Today, these tools are avidly sought by both users and collectors. Their elegant lines and unequaled performance stimulating interest in both groups. When perusing the planes in this section, it must be remembered that the very nature of these planes meant that production would be relatively small. Today, the supply of good examples is very limited. We do sell quite a few Norris and Spiers planes, but it must be borne in mind that these planes are far too scarce to maintain a constant stock of good planes at a reasonable price. Planes by lesser known makers, while often of similar quality, are typically much easier to acquire, simply due to their lessor fame.

In our New Tools Section you will find a complete selection of parallel irons for infill planes custom made for us by Ron Hock.

A Discussion of Infill Planes

Explanation of Our Condition Grading System

Frequently Asked Vintage Tool Questions

BM130629 Norris, London A nice 14 1/2" Norris A1 panel plane with about 80% of the original Norris marked iron remaining. The iron has fitting marks on it. This plane has the thin adjuster knob with th e1913 patent dates, telling us that it was probably made in between 1919 and 1922. The hold down screw is the transitional style, where it has lost the decorative cusp, but is still hand turned and has a slight dome to the top. It is beatifully engraved on both sides, "Charles W. Shillito". Not stamped on, engraved. The rosewood is beautiful and retains much of it is original finish. The sole is very clean with only some light staining towards each end. The sides are clean and were probably rubbed down with super fine steel wool, but not in a bad way. Genuine ;A1s, not the post-war pigs, are hard to find, and even harder to find are ones good enough for us to sell. This is a good one that I would be proud to own. For the connoisseur. G++ $2995

BM130622 Geoff Entwistle The late Geoff Entwistle was a friend of mine, and many other tool collectors. His work was, and is, widely admired, and he was revered by those who knew him. At one time, we (TBT) had the priviledge to represent him in the US market, but sadly Geoff became ill and no longer wanted to spend as much time making planes. Here, we have on offer a miniature A7 Norris made by Geoff. Geoff did not particularly like making miniature planes, and this is one of only a few that I know of. I don't know of any others of this style. The plane is signed internally, but externally he marked it Norris, London, on the plane and the blade. There is a tiny pin head spot of discoloration on one side. Otherwise, the plane is as new. This is a rare opportunity to own a miniture by Entwistle. The plane's sole measures 4" long and 9/16" wide. Fine+ $2495

BM130597 Edward Preston A little used handled, dovetailed steel, smoothing plane. Full original 2 1/4" Preston marked iron. Lovely rosewood with great color and much original finish. Here is the kicker, and I am duly ashamed of this. I dropped this plane and broke the handle right off at the base. It has been repaired by John Porritt, the best living tool restorer that I know of, and you will not notice the break. Since it was a clean break, it fit back together perfectly. The steel rod that is in the handle was cleaned up and put back in, and plugged up again, just as it was originally. You will have to look very hard to see the glue line. John's work is routinely sold at auction without any mention. Still, I am ashamed at my carelessness in dropping the plane. It is still one of the nicest Preston's that I have had. G++ $495

BM130589 Lever Cap Lever caps for infill planes were adverstised in period catalogs, offered to craftsmen who wanted to build their own plane. Plane body castings were also offered. I blelieve that this lever cap is one that was sold in this way. It is marked 2 1/8 on the back, cast into the metal. I have never seen a size cast into the lever cap on a commercial plane. On the front, it has writting, which I believe to be an old price, 2 shillings and ? pence. (2/?) The sides have never been fitted to a plane, so my guess would be that it was never used. What clouds that idea is that the screws, one on each side, show evidence of having been used. The slots have slight deformation of the type that a screw driver would have caused. It is slight, but they do not look new to me. The lever cap certainly looks new and has wonderful color and form. Fine Sold

BM120936 G. Musgrave, Lincoln, Patent Metal This is a Norris #28 chariot plane that was made for the Lincoln tool shop of Musgrave. I have been in the shop right there on the river in Lincoln. The front and rear of this plane show very light pitting, bu tthe sides and sole have been lapped smooth. In the process the mouth has been opened a bit. This is a very common practice by British dealers and many of the British planes that we see in auctions have been lapped. The blade is also marked Musgrave and has plenty of length left in it, but it is worn down to near the top of the wedge. To make it easier to adjust, a use has relieved the rear of the wedge a bit (Undercut the bottom of the wedge near the top). The finish on the rosewood wedge has been "freshened" up with shellac. The brass bridge has a pleasing patina. In short, this will make a great user and is the chance to buy a Norris chariot for very short money. Our consignor has just authorized a significant price reduction on this plane, making it even more of a bargain. G+ Sold

BM130493 Craftsman Made A most unusual and attractive miniature panel plane. This plane is 9 1/2" long with a 2" wide blade, the size of a smoothing plane, but made in the form of a panel plane. The wood is nicely colored mahogany. The body is dovetailed, very atypical of craftsman made British planes. The tote has a small chip from the right side of the spur, but otherwise the wood is in lovely condition. The lever cap has a rich dark patina and has never been polished. The sole of this plane has been lapped and the former owner was using it, with one of our Hock irons. I have put an old iron back in it, because it looks better, but you will get both irons. The Hock iron fits a bit better if you want to use it, but the old iron will work fine too, just not as tight a mouth opening. A rate this to be a very unusual and special plane. G+ $585

BM121139 Unmarked This is a gunmetal, steel soled, smoothing plane, that I believe may be an early Norris. It has the early style Norris hold down screw and the lever cap is consistent with a Norris style. I don't have an early Norris smoother of this model at hand to compare the side profile. The plane originally was an unhandled smoother with ebony infill. Sombody has added an aluminum handle. The work was superbly well done, but is clearly not what a collector wants to see. The front bun is somewhat flat on top and may have been flattened at some point, or it may have been made this way. The sides retain about 50% original lacquer, although they are covered with light tool box rash. The sole has been cleaned and retains light pitting. As a user, this plane will be superb. It has a good tight mouth and a great feel. However, the modification has had a dramatic impact on the asking price. G+ $695

BM121225 Robert Towell, London A dovetailed iron rebate plane, 7/8" sole, 9" long. Most of the Robert Towell rebates that I see are just worn to death, a testament to their importance to their owner's. This one has been very well cared for and is not heavily worn. It has about 25% remaining of what appears to be the original iron. It is certainly the proper type of iron, but since Towell did not mark irons with fitting numbers, I have no way of proving that it is original. It is not marked. If Towell used a marked iron, in my experience it is always I&H Sorby. Anything else raises red flags. The sides of this plane still clearly show the grain of the wrought iron use to fabricate it. This is lost on planes that have been rusty and then cleaned. In short, it is an uncommon example in an uncommon size. G++ $495

BM120110 Craftsman Made A particularly attractive Scottish craftsman finished smoothing plane. This plane is not without issues, but the form is so lovely that I can overlook them. It has a cove molded front casting and the bun is molding on all four sides. The rear fill is nicely formed, with an ovolo molding around the perimeter. The iron body is in nice condition the heart and shield lever cap has great color and nice form, and is dead genuine. I know of a foundry in Norfolk that has cast a lot of heart and shield lever caps, and I see them showing up all the time on planes that have been given that litte something extra by a British dealer. Now for the issues. The front bun has had a piece of ivory from an old piano key inlaid into, presumably to cover damage around a strike button. The finish on the wood has that look of being cleaned with a solvent and then repolished. There was a pathetic effort to make the ivory in the front blend in with some kind of colored varnish. The right -hand lever cap screw has broken and has only part of its head remaining, which is not an issue except that you would not be able to easily remove it. I don't know why you would want to. If you want to us the plane, you might want to put a thicker iron in it. With this iron the mouth is pretty open and the lever cap screw is down further than intended. Having said all that, I have seen lesser examples bring more money in the UK. G+ $485

BM91034 Norris, London A Norris number 51 adjustable smoothing plane with about 70-80% of the original Norris marked iron remaining. This plane has most of the bright lacquer left on the hold down screw and a very pleasant light patina overall. This is another very nice example from that wonderful Norris collection that we have been selling. There are two minor faults. Really one. There are several obtrusive owner's marks on the top of the front bun. Not really a fault but it is a but much. The tote has a glued crack in the front part, that is not the tote itself, but the closed part that goes in front of the hand. This is a common flaw, in just this place, but I don't know why. The original paint is about 80%. Most of the examples that I see turning up in this country are repainted. This is a really nice honest example at what I think is a moderate price. G++ $865

BM90159 Unmarked This plane is one of those times when a tool collector becomes a sleuth. The plane is not marked, but is too well made to likely be a craftsman made plane. It is dovetailed, and the dovetailing is done as a first class maker would do it. You don't see craftman made planes that are dovetailed very often, and they are never dovetailed this well. The plane is beautifully made mitre plane, but with an unusual form. The front bun looks like a Norris front bun of the period. The period, I peg as 1893-1898 because the blade, which looks original to the plane, bears the mark of Ryan, Euston Rd. which would date to this period. The bridge looks like a London mitre plane bridge by a maker like Smith or Gabriel. Since these are earlier makers, it even occurred to me that this was an earlier plane that has been refilled later. It looks too undisturbed to give that theory credence. I just don't know but I would not be surprised to hear that this plane was a special order from a major maker like Norris. Ryan was a dealer for Norris. Whatever the story, this is a fantastic mitre plane in wonderful as found condition. G++ $1195

Hock Parallel Irons for Infill Planes
We have a full selection of Hock irons custom made to our specifications in standard and A2 steel. These are all listed in the new tools section. Hock Blades