One of the planes I inherited was a nice little early infill plane. It is 6 5/8 in. long with a 1 3/4 in. wide blade.
The sole and sides are a single cast piece.
A point of difference to my other infill planes is the wooden wedge holding the blade in place. All my others have brass lever caps. This use of a simple wedge probably dates the plane as an early infill before the designs became a bit more sophisticated.
The blade itself was made by Thomas Turner and is fitted with a chip breaker.
The wedge is held in place by a wooden crosspiece.
As far as I can tell there is no makers identification on the plane. There are the initials W.T. stamped on the front, back of the body and on the front of the wedge. There is an 8-pointed star in the same positions and also repeated 3 times on the body underneath the blade.
My father had it identified as being made by J T Moon – which I must assume be what he was told when he bought it. But I doubt this is true as it only seems that J T Moon & his son Thomas Moon specialized in mitre planes. Also the wedge holder in these was typically brass not wood.
It is known that from around 1860 there were suppliers of raw or machined castings that the user could then turn into a finished plane. My guess is that his plane may have come via that route. Maybe the 8 pointed star is the original maker/user.