Dovetailed Mitre Plane By Robert Towell Of London

A crisp and well looked after box mitre plane by Robert Towell of London. Towell was one of the earliest commercial metal planemakers and worked from around 1820 onwards. Most planes made by Towell (that I know about anyway) have either been box mitres or rabbets.

The brazilian rosewood infill and wedge are equally nice and clean, with variegated colours and figuring. As the infill — most notably the front infill — sits below the level of the wrought iron sides I guess you could say that it is “understuffed” rather than overstuffed. This is not an uncommon feature of box mitres though. Furthermore, the front infill has a nice decorative little step on the top face, and an equally decorative moulding to the rear. The plane is 10-1/2″ long and 3″ wide, with a 2-1/2″ wide, non-original, cutting iron.

While there is very little information in “British Planemakers From 1700 – Third Edition” about this maker (the book states that the writers have only noted one known mitre plane by Towell) it is obvious that quite a few mitres have shown up since that book was published. So many, in fact, that I was surprised by the lack of information when I went to get a definitive working date for Towell.

Not that it matters as such, as there is often a plethora of new information as soon as any new book is released. No one publication can hope to have everything on a particular subject. In that regard books (as well as websites — this one included) should always be seen as a “starting point” for gathering information.

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