Need help with strange wooden body plane

[ncrebel]

Hi, everyone
A few days ago I went to a antique fair and bought a strange looking plane, it's a bit dusty and its 16 in long and 2 in wide.
No marks on the front or back that I can see. Plane blade is rusty and marked William Ash & Co, Warranted Cast Steel, and the chip breaker is marked WM ASH & Co CAST STEEL.
The mark on the blade is good kind of, I mean kind of, because when the guy holding stamp in his hand to mark the blade, was holding it tilted, so the mark is deeper on right, and not so deep on the left
I found 1 listings for William Ash, Sheffield, England----Ash, William and Company { Late Roberts and Ash } manufacturers of all kinds of edge tools, brace and bits, skates, saws, plantation tools &c. Norfolk Lane, Sheffield in 1825.

I cant find the history of the company marks, so I cant tell if this a early mark or late mark or if its rare.
Its in good condition over all, I thought I let you guys see it and see you thought before I give it a cleaning.

 

[Notgrownup]

Pretty cool old plane.

 

[RTM]

Ash was known as a blade maker more so than a plane maker. Your plane should be stamped on the toe or heel, use a low angle flashlight to attempt to find it. Occasionally stamped on top. Real question on usability is how tight the mouth is with the blade set correctly. As the wood wears away, the mouth gets wider, and sometimes gargantuan. There are cures for that if all else is good.

Most wooden planes you will be lucky to pin down to a decade or three. In US planes, most stopped mfd with Sargent in the 1920ish era. UK & European planes are harder. Your Ash blade may also be a transplant, so don’t sweat that too much.

Take more pics of the mouth with blade installed correct
Y, then clean it up and use it. Those old woodies often had great w mass.

 

[Dave455]

Just for the avoidance of confusion, the term “cast steel” doesn’t mean that the blade was cast. That would result in an unusable blade!

Rather it means that the blade was forged from “cast steel”. That’s an old word for “crucible steel” which is steel that was smelted in a sealed crucible so it remains free of impurities.

The cutting qualities of crucible steel, often smelted in small batches to obtain exactly the properties desired, rival or even exceed, many more modern steels!

That phraseology alone, denotes considerable age.

 

[ncrebel]

Ash was known as a blade maker more so than a plane maker. Your plane should be stamped on the toe or heel, use a low angle flashlight to attempt to find it. Occasionally stamped on top. Real question on usability is how tight the mouth is with the blade set correctly. As the wood wears away, the mouth gets wider, and sometimes gargantuan. There are cures for that if all else is good.

Most wooden planes you will be lucky to pin down to a decade or three. In US planes, most stopped mfd with Sargent in the 1920ish era. UK & European planes are harder. Your Ash blade may also be a transplant, so don’t sweat that too much.

Take more pics of the mouth with blade installed correct
Y, then clean it up and use it. Those old woodies often had great w mass.

Thanks RTM, The mouth of the plane is very tight, hardly any signs of wear, body is good .No marks on the toe or heel. Not sure if I am going to keep and add to my collection, or sell or use, But I am not doing anything until I learn more about it.
I have in my collection 2 UK jack planes and a UK skew Jack, but never ever have seen a UK made plane that's 2 in wide

 

[ncrebel]

Just for the avoidance of confusion, the term “cast steel” doesn’t mean that the blade was cast. That would result in an unusable blade!

Rather it means that the blade was forged from “cast steel”. That’s an old word for “crucible steel” which is steel that was smelted in a sealed crucible so it remains free of impurities.

The cutting qualities of crucible steel, often smelted in small batches to obtain exactly the properties desired, rival or even exceed, many more modern steels!

That phraseology alone, denotes considerable age.

Thanks Dave, I already knew what Cast Steel means, its on alot of my planes

 

[RivennHewn]

Razee style


Here’s a little write up on their history

Chop It Like It’s Hot: Why the Razee Plane is Straight Fire!

Discover the unique Razee hand plane, designed for better control and precision in woodworking. Perfect for beginners and pros alike!

old-time-tools.beehiiv.com

 

[ncrebel]

Razee style


Here’s a little write up on their history

Chop It Like It’s Hot: Why the Razee Plane is Straight Fire!

Discover the unique Razee hand plane, designed for better control and precision in woodworking. Perfect for beginners and pros alike!

old-time-tools.beehiiv.com

I have 2 Razee planes, 1 in my collection was used on ships, still has the original black coating on it for water proofing or weather proofing, its one of my lucky finds.

 

[crguy]

Thanks RTM, The mouth of the plane is very tight, hardly any signs of wear, body is good .No marks on the toe or heel. Not sure if I am going to keep and add to my collection, or sell or use, But I am not doing anything until I learn more about it.
I have in my collection 2 UK jack planes and a UK skew Jack, but never ever have seen a UK made plane that's 2 in wide

With no marks on the end of the plane to show who made it, you're not going to learn more about it. It's just an old plane with no collectible value.

 

[RTM]

I've got a couple of unknown makers that I think are European, fore and jointer size, a few known horned smoothers and scrubs, and an English coffin, then German double miter that took our European correspondent to ID quickly.

They all have generally worked good, so easy to keep for the price.

 

[ararat]

Probably 1880's- 1890's for the iron based on the term "Cast Steel". Could be older or younger than the plane.

 

[Dave455]

Thanks Dave, I already knew what Cast Steel means, its on alot of my planes

I thought you would!

But might help some!

Sounds like you have an impressive selection…!

 

[ncrebel]

I thought you would!

But might help some!

Sounds like you have an impressive selection…!

I do, they all have stories to tell, if you know what to look for, I have smoothing plane that is super rare, some people might not think so, but I do. The plane was made by small company in London, just a small 2 story building, I even found a photo with owner standing outside online.
What makes the plane so rare?? during WW2 the Luftwaffe dropped a bomb on the shop during one of the air raids, It was set on fire, but the fire department could do nothing, because the water pipes were busted by the bomb.