- plainest of all
This next Dutch plane has very little carving on it, just around the mouth. In Dutch, these planes are called gerfschaaf. Gerrit van Sterre’s Four Centuries of Dutch Planes and Planemakers says there is no simple translation for the term gerfschaaf. This one is about 6″ long on its sole, and about 2 1/2″ high at the rear end. the widest part of the sole, at the mouth of the plane, is just over 2.” As Gary Roberts pointed out in a comment yesterday, it is extremely difficult to assign dates to planes like this, they continued to be made in the same traditional style for over 200 years at least.
- plain Dutch plane
Here’s a slightly better shot, showing the carving around the mouth. The wood is beech.
This next plane is dated 1732. It is about 2 1/2″ wide; by about 7″ long. The body is only 1 1/2″ high at the toe. It is beveled downwards near the heel of the plane (can’t really see it in this shot.)
- 1732 plane
One more, this plane has a heavily chamfered body, with a sculpted horn, or tote. the tote is definitely let into the body, whether with a sliding dovetail or not you can’t tell from this picture, sorry Kari.
When the Heritage Plantation deaccessioned these tools, I think they were sold through David Stanley Auctions in the UK. When I have time, I like to browse their website, a nice chance to see tools that I never get to see in the local antique shop… like this one on their “tools we’ve sold” page…
http://www.davidstanley.com/index.html
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 
The only plane I “need” to make is a try plane, otherwise, I’m like you and need another one like a hole in the head. But, they are so much fun to make, especially when you add a bit of flair to the design. (Planes with bling, if you will.)
I suppose if the tote on the horn plane were dadoed (not dovetailed) into the body and also dropped into a shallow mortise, it would withstand heavy pushing, but a sliding dovetail would be better. I might just do that even if it’s not historically accurate.
So far I’ve got a couple metal bodied planes, and one asian make rosewood bodied wooden plane.
I’ve only started learning to use them recently, but I’m quite hooked. Once I got a decent sharpen on the blades, they were quite fun to use.
I’ve been thinking of making a Krenov style plane for a while, but have been intimidated by it. After seeing these planes though, it’s a little tempting to think about it again. I love the carved decoration on these, and the fluid shapes are quite interesting.
Thanks for sharing the pictures, fantastic stuff.
badger
thanks for chiming in. Just dive in & make some planes. I am not that good at them, but you learn a lot about how & why a plane works by making one. or two or three…
Peter; Seems like you havr a bunch of wooden bench planes. Suggest you gather every plane stock and plane relic you have and see how many have the ray plane running down perpendicular to the sole
.Jennie
Jennie = I have been looking at them, so far they read like a lot of quartersawn stock; close to radial, but sometimes off by several (or more) degrees. Easy to see when the plane is beech, harder in some other woods. I think some of the German ones are hornbeam? does that sound right?