In my last blog post, I wrote about the five wooden planes I picked up for just $10. I thought I’d already uncovered the main story with that batch—but it turns out there were more surprises hiding in the shavings.
Two of the planes turned out to be a matched pair: tongue and groove planes. The tongue plane was easy to identify—clearly stamped R. NELSON. The groove plane, however, gave me more of a puzzle. Its maker’s mark had been over-stamped by a former owner, obscuring the name.
Now, here’s a little side note (and a small grumble) from the collector’s corner: nothing frustrates me more than when an owner decides to stamp their name directly over the maker’s mark. I understand the practical mindset—they just wanted a working tool, and who made it was irrelevant. But for collectors like me, that tiny detail is a doorway into the plane’s history, its origin, and sometimes even its journey through time.
This particular groove plane had several owner’s stamps. One was T. GALE, the great-grandfather of the seller I bought the planes from—his stamp was neatly placed in open space and posed no problem. Another was T.P., clearly from an earlier owner. But the troublesome one was T. PRICE, planted right over the maker’s mark. Were T.P. and T. PRICE the same person with two different stamps? Or perhaps related—successor, predecessor, or even father and son?
After much tilting, squinting, and experimenting with light from different angles, I finally made out R. NELSON beneath the T. PRICE stamp.
Goodman’s British Planemakers, 4th Edition lists a Richard Nelson who, at one stage, used a mark identical to the one I found. He worked from sometime before 1817 until 1852, likely apprenticed to his father (also a planemaker) before setting up shop on his own. The two shared premises from at least 1817 to 1822. Based on the sequence of marks shown in Goodman’s (though without exact dates), I’d estimate these planes were made between 1817 and 1828.
Match Planes – A Quick Definition
A pair like mine is generally referred to as match planes, because they’re designed to work together to cut a tongue and groove joint. As Red Rose Reproductions explains:
“Match planes, or tongue and groove planes, are made in pairs with one plane cutting the groove and the other the tongue for making the tongue and groove joint. Both planes are fenced and the work pieces, when referenced from the same stock face, will line up flush when put together. The tongue plane is a standard side escapement plane and employs an iron with a slot in it the width of the finished tongue. The groove plane however is actually a type of fixed plow plane with a metal keel. Because of the narrow profile this is necessary for strength, as wood simply would not have enough strength or ability to hold up under normal use.”
— Red Rose Reproductions
My pair cuts a 1/8-inch tongue and groove, and like the others from the same haul, they’re in remarkable condition for their age—no cracks, no worm holes, and no significant damage. For tools that could be nearly 200 years old, that’s quite something.
If this $10 bargain keeps revealing stories like this, I might just have to call it the gift that keeps on giving.