One of the planes that came from my father is the little aluminium Masonite Chamfer Plane. I can actually remember my father using this when working with masonite at our home in Melbourne.
First, some information about the brand:
Masonite Corporation (Australia), later (1955) Masonite Holdings Limited, was the first hardboard plant in Australia, established in 1938. The company’s factory in Raymond Terrace, NSW, produced Masonite, a wood-fiber building board widely used in construction and furniture. From some information on the Bunnings website, it seems that masonite products in Australia are now sourced from South Africa.
.Masonite itself is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-moulded wood and paper fibres. The manufacturing was a process formulated and patented by American inventor William H. Mason.
And the Plane Itself:
The Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia website has the manufacturer of this plane listed as “Masonite Corporation Pty Limited – for” which I take to mean that the Masonite Corporation outsourced the making of the plane to a generic manufacturer (possibly a jobbing foundry) but maintained the sales and distribution to themselves.
The plane is approximately 6 inches long with a polished inverted ‘V’ base. The blade sits across the peak of the inverted “V” and can be adjusted to change the depth and angle. That adjustment is by loosening a screw and manually positioning the blade.
My plane is of Australian origin, but there is a Masonite branded US version that was made from wood by the Kimball Mfg. Co. that was obviously designed separately but still works the same way.
