The largest plane in my collection is a Peugeot Freres wooden try plane which is 27 1/4 in. long (69 cm).
About Peugeot Freres
Searching the internet for information on Peugeot Freres mainly brings up information about the car company. It also brings together a connection between saw blades, edge tools, coffee grinders, bicycles and motor vehicles.
From the L’Aventure website we get a run through of the history of Peugeot Freres but no real mention of wood planes. Below is a little bit of that history:
In 1819, Fritz Peugeot developed a new cold rolling process which consisted of tempering the steel before flattening it under pressure. That same year, he won the gold medal from the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry for “the beauty of the saw, its superior quality and its low price”. He also obtained a 15-year patent for this laminated saw. In 1839, Jules Peugeot, son of Jean-Pierre Peugeot, developed a laminating process that made it possible to thin the back of the saw. Thanks to this invention, cutting became faster. Peugeot saws conquered the world. On the strength of this success, Emile Peugeot began to think about giving the brand an image in 1847. The brothers chose the lion as their emblem; it was designed by Jules Blazer, a goldsmith in Montbéliard. The choice of the lion, although it evokes the coat of arms of Franche-Comté, is above all a reference to the qualities of their saw blade: speed, suppleness and bite. The arrow connotes the saw’s speed of cutting.
Produced since 1840, the Peugeot coffee grinder is the best illustration of the Marque’s know-how, the alliance between steel from Hérimoncourt and wood from Belchamp. As a countertop or tabletop object, its production quickly reached nearly 400,000 pieces per year. Thanks to the mastery of its manufacture, it was modified to grind cereals and sugar, and miniaturised to grind pepper.
https://laventure-association.com/en/live-aventure-peugeot/the-peugeot-story/
From the Patriot Woodworker website with a contribution by John Moody, I found information which covered more on the toolmaking.
Jean Pierre Peugeot and his brother Jean Frederic converted a grain mill into an iron factory and began producing saw blades, clock springs, umbrellas, coffee grinders and other tools. In 1832 the company started to produce tools for carpenters and turners. But like a lot of families, a disagreement between the seven cousins caused the company to divide in 1842. Part of the company was called Peugeot Freres and it trademark became the Lion standing over an Arrow. In 1865 this factory was handed over by Jules (1811-1899) and Emile Peugeot (1815 – 1874) to their respective sons Eugene and Armand. In 1891, they renamed the company “Les Fils de Peugeot Freres” [The Sons of Peugeot Brothers]. In the other part of the company, the four sons of Jean-Frederic Peugeot (Fritz, Charles, Jacques and Georges) along with the four Jackson brothers from England (William, John, Charles and James) came together under the name “Peugeot Aenes et Freres Jackson. This company was located at Pont de Roide, and on their plane blades used the trademark of an elephant, sometimes accompanied by the words ” Veritable Pont de Roide. John and James left the company in 1852. As with some other English steel and tool makers who worked on the Continent, the Jackson brothers had a significant influence on the steelmaking industry in France. This part of the company was renamed Peugeot Aenes sometime between 1877 and 1899, and in 1894 was renamed Peugeot et Cie. Hundreds of thousands of planes were manufactured each year, but the competition was costly, and in the 1920s, the two halves of the company came together. Chrome-plated steel and plastics came into increasing use. Starting in 1933, electric power tools were produced and hand tool production waned.
https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forums/topic/15510-peugeot-freres-wooden-scraper-plane/
Wooden Try Plane (or is it a Jointer?)
I was initially unsure whether to consider this plane a ‘Try Plane’ or a ‘Jointer’ – but looking at the blade I could see that rather than being flat, it is slightly cambered across the cutting edge. The following definition comes from Bob Rozaieski on the Fine Woodworking site:
As the try plane is for trying (or truing) surfaces after the jack plane, it’s iron is cambered, though less so than that of the jack plane, so that it does not leave plane tracks on the surface of the work, which is wider than the plane. The jointer plane, on the other hand, while resembling the try plane in appearance and length, is actually a joinery plane, not a surfacing plane like the try plane. It’s purpose is to straighten boards’ edges and especially to “make them join together” in an edge joint, hence the phrase jointing the edge. With this in mind, it makes more sense for a jointer plane to have a straight iron like other joinery planes (e.g. rabbet planes), because the iron of the jointer plane is wider than the edge being planed, and a straight iron will result in a flat edge, which is preferred for edge gluing.
My Plane
The body of the plane is made up of 2 distinct woods with a lighter coloured sole joined to the main body. From a 1938 catalogue, it seems that the 2 timbers are Cormier (Sorbus domestica – Service Tree – Jerusalem Pear – Whitty Pear – Sorb Tree) and Chene Vert (Holm Oak). I don’t know which is used for the sole and which for the body.
From the catalogue, they also used Hetre (European Beech), Charme (Ironwood) and Fruitier (Fruit Tree) for planes.
The iron on my plane has the Peugeot Freres name, 2 lions with arrow symbol & ‘ACIER CHROME A GARANTIE’ (Chrome Steel With Guarantee). The iron is tapered, from 2.1mm at the top to 4mm at the bottom.
From the 1938 catalogue again, the 2 lions indicates the best quality blade.
