Plough planes

This is a very early plough marked Darbey, and is most likely to be George Darbey of Birmingham. The mark is in a plain border, and finishes with a full stop. I have noticed these features on a lot of early maker’s marks. Notice that there are no wedge stems to the arms, which rely on pure friction to hold them in place.

 Plough plane by James Hastie of London

Plough plane with the mark, T P. This has been attributed to Thomas Phillipson of London. Note the unusual shape of the arms, and the stop shamfering to the wooden depth stop.

Early example of a plough by John Cogdell of London

This plane has all the features of an 18^th century plane, but unfortunately no one has yet been able to determine the working dates or location for the maker.

 According to Goodman there are numerous reports of planes by Wignall.

Like the plough by Commins of Exeter the skate has a slight radius.  

18^th Century plough by James Commins of Exeter.

 This plough is and a rare survivor, in that it has never had stem wedges fitted.

We will probably never know how many of these early ploughs started out relying on a pure friction fit for the stems. Also worth noting on this example is that the single iron skate has a slight radius to it witch is probably original, and not a later modification

This 18^th century plough by William Wheeler of Thatcham is in remarkably good condition.  I love the decorated ends of the fence arms. Also note the double gouge cuts to the chamfer termination. In the fillister section there is a plane by the same maker, and it is interesting to note that both planes have curious hatching marks to the front edge of the stock. Was this some form of holding device Wheeler used while forming the plane body?

This is a fine bridal plough by George Holbrook of Bristol.

  The working dates for Holbrook are between 1799- 1822. I have read else ware that there is some question as to why bridal ploughs have a detachable handle. Having used ploughs on many occasions, the reason becomes obvious. On a conventional plough, the rear stem protrudes out of the body, providing a convenient hand hold.

 However, on the bridal plough, the stem is permanently fixed, hence the need of the additional handle.

This is an early plough by William Cogdell, who was apprenticed to Robert Wooding in 1721. The plane has a one piece, wrought iron, riveted skate, and wooden depth stop.

This is an intresting plough by Moody. I am not sure if it is from the Worcester period, or the later Birmingham period.

 It has some unusual features, note that the front stem wedge is at the top, rather than the side, and runs through the wooden depth stop.

 The one piece skate is held on by crude hand cut screws rather than the usual rivets.

 A passion of mine is 18th century ploughs, and fillisters.

This is a favorite from the collection . It is by William Loveage of London.