Overstuffed Cast Iron Panel Plane

A chunky old panel plane from the earliest days of infill bench planes. Overstuffed with dark-toned Cuban mahogany, this cast iron bench plane has overtones of early Scottish design (note the heel and toe.)

Indeed it could be argued that this was the type of casting a young Stewart Spiers may have picked up from the big city and then finished off by infilling and cleaning up, before selling it to one of his early customers (and thus launching his planemaking empire.) Not that this plane has any hallmarks of Spier’s work, of course, only that it is a nice early example of an infill panel plane.

It’s also quite a wide plane, featuring a 2-5/8″ cutting iron and a surprisingly fine mouth. The length of the plane is 13″ overall.

A nice, heavy plane from an unknown maker.

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