Bill Carter Miniature Boxwood & Gunmetal Mitre Plane
Filed under: Carter, Mitre Planes
Tagged: Box Mitre, Dovetailed, Gunmetal, Mitre Plane, Snecked Iron, Steel
Description
Another small mitre plane from Bill Carter of Leicester in England. This time it is a dovetailed box mitre plane -- a style of infill plane that Bill is well known for and one that he's rather partial to. Early on in his planemaking career Bill started using the brass backs of old tenon saws to make his planes and this is something that he still practices today.
Often the brass saw backs still retain the original sawmaker's marks stamped on them, which makes for an interesting effect, and possibly an intriguing mystery for future collectors. However most of Bill Carter's planes are also well marked with his own stamp (or stamps. Bill has many variations) and his method of marking is well documented nowadays, so hopefully there won't be too much confusion in the future.
Bill is a prolific maker, having made well over a thousand planes since he started making them in the 1980's. This particular box mitre features a fixed "cupid's bow" steel bridge which is stamped "CARTER, EST 1997, LONDON". The infill and wedge, which also features a cupid's bow design, are made from boxwood -- boxwood being a favourite infill of choice for Bill. I'm not sure exactly what the "EST 1997" stamp refers to here, so I might ask Bill about it and then edit this page afterwards.
One of Bill's trademarks is to turn ordinary cutting irons into snecked irons by adding an extra piece to the end and then riveting it to the blade. This allows the user to adjust the iron easier by giving the snecked part a few light taps until the desired depth of cut is achieved.
The dovetails are straight dovetails (Bill is renown for doing several variations of dovetail, including cupid's bow dovetails) and the plane has probably been given an aged treatment using various chemicals to darken the brass and the boxwood. The mouth is nice and tight and has been made using a tongue and groove joint.
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