A Peculiar Plane
Somewhere along the way I picked up this gigantic solid rosewood plane of Eastern design and unknown genesis. I vaguely recall it being in a box of Japanese planes but since I turned 65 I am uncertain of this is a true memory or a false one. It does not really matter one way or the other.
The coincidence of building my Japanese toolbox and Wilbur Pan’s presentation to DC-area woodworking guilds led me to pull it out again and give it a closer look-see. I sent the photos to Wilbur and he shares my inkling that this may be a Chinese plane, not Japanese.
The rosewood body is heavy enough that it would be like planing with a large brick. To say the very least if there were a sharp iron in the tool there would be precious little chatter.
The piece of hammered steel(?) in the plane throat is only 1/8″ thick, probable too thin to be the cutting iron. But, it is not exactly configured for functioning as a chip breaker, either.
I asked a friend from China to interpret the pictograms but she was unable to decipher them so I have no idea what information is contained there.
I may just wind up buying a piece of 1/4″ tool steel 4″ x 6″ and grinding my own cutting iron, but am still scratching my head over this peculiar tool.
If you have any ideas about it let me know.
According to my wife, 廣東 probably indicates Canton, the province. 潮州 is a place in Canton, so much of it is a location. The rest is unintelligible.
I know a seller locally from the PNW tool collectors meeting that had something similar. He said it was an apothecary plane for shredding ingredients. Hope that helps.
Wow, that is intriguing. I guess the next time I need to chop up some exotic plant for herbal remedies I am all set! Thanks for the feedback and info.