The problem with a number of my infill planes is that the makers name is not marked on the body of the plane. One such plane is a cast steel bodied smoothing plane equivalent is size to a Spiers No.6 or a Norris No.4.
The only identification on this plane is on the blade (I. Sorby) and the cap iron (Thos Ibbotson). Interestingly, both Ibbotson & Sorby were eventually owned by William Marples & Sons – so maybe this plane comes from that era (i.e post 1909).
About the Plane
The sole is 7 1/2 in. long and 2 11/16 in. wide, but tapers in for the back 1/3rd.
It has a tapered blade made by I.Sorby that is 2 1/8 in. wide.
The cap iron is marked Thos Ibbotson & Co.
It has a 3/16 in. thick cast iron body, with I think rosewood overstuffed infill.
The lever cap is gunmetal.
About Thos. Ibbotson & Co
Established in 1814, Thos Ibbotson and Co initially specialized in joiners’ tools. By 1822, the firm, located on Charles Street and Paternoster Row, expanded its offerings to include edge tools, particularly joiners’ planes. The founder, Thomas Ibbotson (c.1788-1871), was also a merchant and manufacturer of table knives, including Bowie knives. He retired in 1859 and passed away at Alma Vale Cottage, Ecclesall, on January 21, 1871, at the age of 83. He was buried in Ecclesall and left an estate valued at under £3,000.
Thomas’s sons—Thomas (c.1813-1883), William (c.1818-1895), and Peter Frith (1834-1905)—became partners in the firm, which by 1871 employed a hundred workers. The company’s product range grew to include saws, files, engineers’ and machinists’ tools, hammers, garden tools, tool chests, and skates. In 1905, the assets of Ibbotson’s were acquired by William Marples & Sons Ltd. The name was later owned by Gee & Holmes.
About I.Sorby (courtesy of the Working by Hand website)
“I.SORBY” was the mark used by John (sometimes spelt Iohn) Sorby, established in 1810, and trading under his own name until circa 1814. The company is best known as a plane-iron maker, and the irons can be found on numerous independently manufactured wooden planes. They then became Sorby, Turner & Skidmore, until 1825 when Skidmore dropped out, and the company continued as Sorby & Turner.
In 1829 John Sorby died, and Turner continued the business. John Turner died in 1854, and his son Joseph Turner continued. Then in 1860 he took Joseph Naylor into partnership with him, and in 1871 Northern Tool Works was bought jointly by Taylor, Naylor, and William Marples (for his youngest son Charles). In 1875 the company traded under the name Turner, Naples, and Marples. The company changed names numerous times over the coming decades, and by 1909 it was a subsidiary of Marples ( in 1893 they were bought by Turner, Naylor and Co., which was in turn bought by Marples in 1909, however Turner, Naylor and Co. continued operations until 1963).
There is absolutely no such person named Isaac Sorby from that time. Not as the tool maker “I. SORBY” anyway. “I. SORBY” was that name/mark of John Sorby of Attercliffe (not the one from Spital Hill. Another one). At that time the name John was also spelt as the older version Iohn (hence the I) which was still quite common.
I discovered this over a decade ago when writing the book on “I. SORBY” after I had found a snippet from the Sheffield Independent newspaper regarding the sale of items after John’s death in 1829.
I wish that I had discovered it sooner as the book was almost finished at the time and thus needed a complete re-write to include a whole heap of information I was able to discover afterwards.
If you scroll down the “Working By Hand” website you will find my corrections to Mike’s post in the comments. I should contact him again to ask if he could update the name so that the misinformation about “I. SORBY” is not repeated. Likewise, if you could update your post to reflect John’s actual name then that would be great.
Regards,
Cameron.
Thanks for the information Cameron – my website has been neglected for 12 months following the loss of my wife, but will be trying to get back to regular posts. I will shortly make the corrections you have pointed out.
Regards
Geoff
By the way, the plane is a “user-made” plane. The castings (body and levercap) would’ve been bought from a dealer or directly from a foundry and then infilled and finished by the original purchaser. Can’t tell what the actual wood used is as the picture is too small. It could be a lightish coloured rosewood but it looks like a stained mahogany or walnut to me. If you could email me a larger picture then I might have a better chance at identifying it.
Date-wise I would say it was anywhere between 1880 and 1920 but – given the side profile shape – I would lean toward the earlier date, rather than the latter. So maybe 1880 to 1895. or thereabouts.
Regards,
Cameron.