More Favourite Planes.

As my last post on favourite planes was popular, here's some more! Above is a beautifully shaped Norris No2 which dates from around 1900 -1910. It has an open handle which is very comfortable particularly for the larger hands of today's woodworkers as well as a pretty saricens head screw and original Ward iron.
This pre dates the adjuster mechanism which made Norris's name but comes from an era where makers were trying to outdo each other on quality not price, and it shows. The mouth is a tight as a gnats whisker!

Here is another under rated Norris an, A50. These were half the price of the A5 when new and that is still the case now. As a user plane the iron sits on the metal casting instead of the wooden infill which gives a more reliable support for the blade. This plane was made during the first world war and has a Hearnshaw blade which most unusually is stamped Norris London on the rear. In times of shortage it is highly probable this is the original blade. It has a larger than normal handle and is very comfortable.

I showed this little HNT Gordon plane in a group shot on a recent post. With the blade at a steep 60 degrees it is great for planing small areas of nasty grain, although it hasn't had much use, I couldn't resist buying it just for that wonderful Rio Rosewood.

Here's my favourite Bill Carter plane a 1 1/2" thumb plane with boxwood infill, this gets a lot of use and is a real pleasure to use. When I bought it there was no front bun which I believe was copying an old Mathieson or Spiers model so I added a boxwood infill which I aged using Bill's techniques (see his website). Bill wasn't too pleased I had adapted one of his planes but I don't think I've done a bad job and it helped me to appreciate the work involved in over stuffing an infill (I don't think he really minded!)
Below is my Holtey No 10, this handles wood no other plane can touch, it's a real understated beauty.