Just near Odense, is a massive bog called Vimose containing a considerable quantity of these war booty sacrifices. In the 1860s excavations took place there and the peaty conditions preserved a large number of wooden objects including two wooden planes, probably made by the Romans, now known as Vimose A and B. Vimose A is in remarkable condition and I am currently making a reconstruction, in boxwood, the same material as the original.

See the December 2008 issue of The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association for a paper on this and other planes from the first millennium AD.

The plane measures only about 10” long x 1.5” wide and has a sole that is hollow which indicates that it was used to make handles for spears and lances.

The replica will eventually be placed in a private museum in Yorkshire.

I am grateful to the most helpful south of England woodturner George Foweraker kindly providing the beautiful piece of boxwood when I couldn’t locate a suitable piece. Carving is pretty well new to me, but I was pleased with the way that the boxwood worked.

Here’s the progress I’ve made so far

I’m awaiting some information on the exact angle of the iron from Denmark’s National Museum before I can finish the task.

Oh, and here’s my first Roman Plane..

With trepidation and excitement, I put a piece of oak in the bench vice, ran the plane over it and was thrilled when the first shaving emerged from the mouth of the plane. It was a little bit on the coarse side but a slight adjustment resulted in oak shavings just 5 thousandths of an inch thick. The resulting surface is very smooth, although the width of the cut is narrower than what I am used to.

The plane felt really different to my modern ones due to its unusual hand grips. Three fingers fit into the rear grip and just two into the front one which is a little small for my big knuckles. The thick steel sole plate gives the plane a sturdy feel and the body contours are comfortable in the hand. Overall, I believe that the project has been really worth-while and the plane could certainly one that I could use in my workshop, as well as being a showpiece.

Contours taking shape with the grinding disc.

I used the throat cut-out to stiffen up the assembly when I riveted the cross-pin in place. I was quietly pleased with that bit of resourcefulness!

Roughing out a wedge..

Nearly there.

The sycamore infill ready to try in its soleplate.

Removing the waste for the finger-holds.

And smoothing with shop-made sanding sticks.

Here the body is beginning to be shaped.

Modified coach-bolts are utilised as the body-to-soleplate securing rivets.

This blog is where I originally touched on the subject, and here is the finished project.

My method of construction is very very different from the craftsman of 1800 years ago (!) and is perhaps unorthodox, but it suits the materials I had around as well as the limited skills I possess, especially in the metalworking field. Blacksmithing certainly isn’t in my repertoire, so I chose to fabricate the soleplate

Here, I have roughly cut the sheet steel and angle with a cutting disc in the angle grinder.

Beginning to rivet (and epoxy) the main soleplate components using the dome-headed rivets I had to hand. Countersunk ones would have been better.

Ten rivets in place. The sole plate is set against the archaeologist’s drawings of the original plane.

The soleplate marked out ready for cutting the mouth. More handfiling than I have ever done since school has brought the edges to a decent state.

Squaring up the mouth and filing the 65° angle.

You might just make out the ticket prices. Double up for US dollar equivalents.

The Preston spokeshave was £5.00; brass inlaid square £1.00; Mortise guage £1.50; log splitting wedge £2.00. I didn’t insult him by making an offer, but he did discount me on the total!

The sad news is that, on the basis that I have too many planes already, I procrastinated over a Stanley five & half – the one with fluted base. Then, thinking that at £15.00, I could use it as a door stop <g>, I went back. Of course it had gone! Ho hum.

The three antique planes shown here were my last really exciting find, although I’ve since had my share of sash cramps and other bits and pieces. They were on the grass in the dog target area, which was a good sign, and they had a decent coating of dust and surface rust. After an (outwardly half hearted) examination, I asked the price.
“£12.00 any good?”
“What about all three?”
“Yes, £12.00 for all three” What’s that- $US24.00?

I didn’t even insult him with a lower bid! Unusual nowadays that the specialist dealers hadn’t got there as the traders unloaded.

It wasn’t until I got home that I realised exactly what they were. I show them here after some light cleaning and a lashing of linseed oil.

This is a Badger Plane, believed by some to have been named after a C19 Londen Planemaker, Charles Badger. It’s a cross between a panel-raising plane and a panel plane. At first I’d thought it was just a bench plane until I noticed that the cutting iron is skewed and emerges at the side of the stock. Thus it can be used right into the corner of a rabbet. The iron, at least is by Mathieson.

The second one is a ’moving fillister’ - a rabbet plane with an adjustable fence. This appears to be quite a nice model. The undersole is adjusted by screws running in brass-lined slots & this one has three whereas I think two is more commonplace. The depth stop is adjusted by the brass thumbscrew at the top. Notice that the iron is preceded by a scriber that scores the edge of the rabbet.

Third one is a compass plane, i.e. it has a convex sole. The brass thumbscrew causes a steel insert in the toe of the plane to rise and fall. That seems to provide a little adjustment to the curvature that can be planed.

The next time (I live in hope), I’ll produce some ‘before’ pictures.

Dominic’s Woodshop

Kawika Ukulele Sander

Ray Lanham Woodcentral

Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery

Mother earth

The Woodshop

Art Herrick

Luthiers’ Friend

Nick’s drum Sander

Moritz Designs

Shop Notes

With all that information, especially the very comprehensive how-to-do-it website by Dominic upon whose sander I largely based mine, I didn’t even attempt a proper instructional blog, but here are a few pictures of the finished article.

Space is a serious problem for me, so I went for a unit I can stand on the folding workbench ‘Workmate’. I’m not sure that was too good an idea now that I realise the weight of the finished job.

eBay provided most of the hardware (all new items) at the following cost:

- Motor £33.85
- Velcro £8.24
- Rod £12.75
- Bearings £15.06
- Belt £5.12
- Switch £17.93

- Total £92.95. What’s that, about 185 US Dollars?

The wood & pulleys I had kicking around and the rise and fall arrangement was from bits in the junk box.

A work of art it isn’t, but it seems to be pretty accurate, vibration-free and quiet.

I’ll be happy to answer any questions of course.

”A MASSIVE clean-up operation is underway after 2,000 tons of timber washed up on Worthing’s beaches.
Giant mountains of wood have hit almost every beach along the town’s coastline, drawing visitors from across Sussex. Here is a video clip showing the scale of the problem, and here's a slide show.

Her crew of 20 was rescued, but around half of the timber they were transporting was lost to the sea.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is warning the public not to attempt to salvage any of the timber, although people have been seen loading wood into trucks (tut!) from beaches in Goring and East Worthing.

Don’t miss the Worthing Herald’s eight page souvenir special called “Planks for the memory”!!”

Oh, and it’s a 600 mile round trip for me. I did glance over the cliff top here on the East Yorkshire coast today just in case!

Just a close up of part of the lid after oiling:

And finally , a view of the finished article when, at last today there was a bit of brightness in the sky.

The finished box is here

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog – Stewart.