sutton046

What a beautiful plane! I had been looking for another No7 Jointing plane for my group participants to use. I came across one at my local markets recently, which I snapped up for AUD $50. A good price for a "user"- but there was something about this plane which seemed odd, and I just couldn't put my finger on it at the time. There were several indicators which told me this was an old plane. Stanley bought the patents for the adjustable metal plane from Leonard Bailey in the 1860s. The name Bailey was later cast into the plane bases in front of the knob in honour of Mr Bailey. The name Stanley does not appear anywhere on the plane, except for on the plane iron. The iron (blade) lettering says it was made in Australia by Stanley. The Stanley Works in Australia was located in the southern state, Tasmania. DATING THE PLANE. By digging around on the internet across a range of sites, I was able to put together a few clues as to the age of the plane. While I can't claim to...

A recent Saturday was a big day but a great day. I had been lined up to run two workshops with a whole bunch of Earthcarers , in the big shed at Perth City Farm . There were 20 places in the morning session, making Kitchen Chopping Boards, and 20 places in the afternoon session, Carving Wooden Spoons - and all 40 places had been filled ahead of the event. I don't usually work with groups that big, and pulling together the extra benches, tools and materials was a huge job. Aah, but we created some wonderful stuff!  Peg warms up the morning group as they gather with anticipation. Earthcarers are keen recyclers, and the purpose of the program was four fold: To help the participants learn about trees, understand about wood, and appreciate the importance of wood as a low-energy renewable recyclable sustainable carbon-sequestering material. To help the participants understand the potential of "waste" wood and its usability. To empower the participants with some basic skills to...