The Superior Works: A Better Mousetrap?

Many tried. Very, very, very many did. But all, ultimately, failed. And what was the quest? To build the perfect bench plane. Seems like a simple task as bench planes, the most commonly used plane by the carpenter, joiner, and cabinetmaker, are not that complex. Just a body and a means to secure an iron in place is really all that's needed, but the fertile imagination of the 19th century mind, where no object escaped improvements, innovation, and imagination, sought to take the ordinary and attempt make it extraordinary. What follows, then, are several such attempts, all of which proved to be genetic dead ends during the handplane's evolution.

The source of much of the manufactures' name and patent dates is from Roger Smith's pioneer works, Patented and Transitional Metallic Planes in Americe, volumes I and II. If you're at all fascinated by the planes that follow, the two books are a must for your library.

Guest Appearances By (in no particular order):

Louis Rodier - The Squiggly Plane.
Oliver Hayworth - The Fawcet Handle Meets Plane Plane.
Benjamin Blandin - The Unkown Planemaker Who Ripped Off Bailey.
Joseph Look - No Pitch Plane For the Tone Deaf?
C.C.Harlow - The Sure To Make Flatsolers Angry Plane.
Arthur Goldsborough - Another Bad Idea From Washington, DC Plane.
William Steers - The Let's Do Our Fair Share of Rainforest Destruction Plane.
Leonard Bailey - The Man of a Million Plane Ideas.
Cyrus H. Hardy - The Built-in Hangholes Plane.
Birdsill Holly - The What's Funnier, His Name or Plane Plane.

<MANY MORE TO COME - STAY TUNED>

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