Joel's Blog

Wooden Mitre Planes - John Green c. 1800

10/15/2009

In the past few months there seem to have been a lot of interest in wooden, bevel up, mitre planes. There is a fundamental problem with bevel up wooden planes which is that the wood under the iron that forms the bed is very thin and can easily wear, break off, or bulge with wedge pressure ruining the accuracy of the plane. But bevel up wooden mitres definitely existed and were offered concurrently with metal mitre planes. The planes today are very rare and certainly as a design they reflected a dead end.

In the James Cam or Marches & Shepherd price list C. 1821-1841 three models are offered: a wooden mitre plane at 3/9, a wooden mitre plane with a "box front" (like the plane pictured above) at 6/6 and a metal mitre plane at the giant sum of 30/0. This is at a time when a good joiner made 25-30 shillings in a good week.

In the probably slightly earlier J. Wilks 1829 catalog we find the first extant written account that uses the term "mitre plane" but metal mitre planes date from an earlier time. Christopher Gabriel whose firm made some of the earliest English mitre planes that survive termed them "iron plane[s]" in his account books(1791 and 1800). At least one English mitre plane survives from the 1730's.

Wooden Mitre Planes - John Green c. 1800 5

Wooden Mitre Planes - John Green c. 1800 5

Getting back to wooden planes, Moxon recommends shooting mitre joints with a hand held "Strike-block" plane, which from the illustration in his "The Art of Joinery" is clearly a bevel down plane. You would still want a very fine mouth, and Moxon describes a plane that is longer than a typical smooth plane. A few strike block planes survive however with wooden planes survivability not only has to do with popularity but also use, and almost no sorter bench planes from the 18th century survive simply because they were used up.

What isn't proved but I certainly suspect is that the wooden mitre plane was introduced later than the metal mitre plane as a much less expensive version of the metal mitre and isn't really a descendant of the strike-block plane.

The picture above shows a 2" wooden mitre plane by John Green(a prolific company) probably from the very early 19th century. The plane has a beech body and an early replacement worn tapered iron by Ward. The most interesting feature of the plane is the boxwood plug that is used to close up the mouth. This feature which cost the extra 3 shillings mentioned above allows for a hard wearing surface (the boxwood) right in front of the iron. This also gives the ability to renew the mouth when worn. The mouth block is wedged shape and just held in by the taper pressure. The boxwood is a small piece with a knot in it from a board of very fine quality.
Wooden Mitre Planes - John Green c. 1800 6

Wooden Mitre Planes - John Green c. 1800 6

Modern makers are making wooden mitre planes today primarily for use on a shooting board. Here's one on Philly's site. While historically the design was a failure for the reasons listed above the modern version is usually of harder exotics which should work better and the modern plane will hardly ever see the hard usage of a professional user of the early 19th century. So the modern planes should give great service for many years to come.

PS - at time permits I am planning a series of blog entries on the metal mitre plane and how it evolved. This may take some time but I hope you will find the results interesting.

Join the conversation

10/15/2009 Stephen Shepherd http://www.fullchisel.com/blog

Joel,

What angle is the blade bedded?

Stephen

10/15/2009 joel http://www.toolsforworkingwood

20 degrees - which is typical for metal mitre planes also.

10/16/2009 Gary Roberts http://toolemera.com

Checking the Joseph Clark planemaker price list of 1816, I see no mention of a mitre or miter or strike block. Which surprised me as I has assumed it would be listed.

http://toolemera.com/Trade%20Catalogs/index.html

Peculiar. Unless the Picture Frame plane is actually a mitre for trimming the ends of picture frames parts?

Gary

Comments are closed.

Last

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blog's author and guests and in no way reflect the views of Tools for Working Wood.

Newer Entries...
	A Brush With Glue - 11/17/2009
	A Brief Heads Up On Pricing - 11/13/2009
	We are hosting a FESTOOL Demo Day on Wednesday November 11th - 11/05/2009
	Build a Bench Stop - That Most Useful of Sawing Accessories - 11/03/2009
	The Joiner and Cabinet Maker - It's here!!!!! - 10/30/2009
	The Closest Tool Is The Best Tool - 10/27/2009
	The 1824 Universal Receipt Book is Here!!! - 10/26/2009
	Socket vs Tanged Chisels - Which is Easier to Use For Fine Joinery? - 10/21/2009
	I'll Be Teaching Sharpening at 3rd Ward on November 19th 2009 - 10/19/2009
	Wooden Mitre Planes - John Green c. 1800 - 10/15/2009
	We Have a New Book about Hide Glue - 10/13/2009
	Robert Towell Infill Planemaker - London c. 1810-1850 - 10/08/2009
	Getting a Grip On Things - 10/05/2009
	My Scrap Maple Demo Wood Will Be At Woodworking in America 2009 Valley Forge PA OCT. 2-4 ,2009 - 09/29/2009
	Saw Vise Project - Part 2 - The Gramercy Tools 14 Inch Saw Vise - 09/23/2009
	James Krenov - A Reminiscence - 09/22/2009
	The Joiner and Cabinet Maker is Available for Pre-Order - 09/18/2009
	Home Stretch - 09/16/2009
	Tools that Inspire - Colen Clenton - 09/09/2009
	I Could Not Resist - 09/08/2009
Older Entries...

Hours: M-F 9:00-5:00, closed Sat,Sun
Our Guarantee & Return Policy
Shipping and Sales Tax Info
Privacy Policy
Holiday Calendar

Contact Us: Email: support@toolsforworkingwood.com
Phone: 800-426-4613 or 718-499-5877
Visit Us in Brooklyn: Directions to Our Showroom
© 1999-2019 toolsforworkingwood.com
Powered by 01 Inc. Coded entirely in NYC