It must be about four years since I first had a vague idea of reproducing this Roman plane from around the second century AD. The original has an ivory infill body, and is remarkably complete. I gained permission from the curator of the Guildhall Museum in Beverley, East Yorkshire, England, to take some measurements and photographs when the plane was removed from its environmentally controlled cabinet for its periodic inspection.
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.
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.
14 comments so far
WayneC
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5685 posts in 582 days
posted 124 days ago
Very interesting. I will be watching this one as you make progress.
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
Grumpy
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5628 posts in 335 days
posted 124 days ago
Some amazing history there Stewart. Thanks for sharing. I am amazed it had a metal sole, was it bronze?.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
YorkshireStewart
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637 posts in 386 days
posted 124 days ago
I’ll try to upload some more details today Wayne. It’s actually iron Grumpy. There are several Roman planes in existence with iron soles, but I believe this is the most complete.
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.
WayneC
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5685 posts in 582 days
posted 124 days ago
Thanks sir.
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
Grumpy
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5628 posts in 335 days
posted 124 days ago
Of course, makes a lot of sense.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
Scott Bryan
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9072 posts in 306 days
posted 124 days ago
Thanks for the post, Yorkie. This is going to be a nice reproduction when you are finished with it.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
WayneC
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5685 posts in 582 days
posted 124 days ago
Are you going to share it with the musem?
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
teenagewoodworker
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2031 posts in 252 days
posted 124 days ago
this is very cool! i think that my history teacher would love to see this!
YorkshireStewart
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637 posts in 386 days
posted 124 days ago
Wayne – The curators are visiting me next week to see the tool in action. They’re really interested & I might end up presenting it to them when I’ve had time to enjoy it.
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.
rikkor
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7632 posts in 359 days
posted 124 days ago
Stewart, you always have the most interesting projects.
-- Maplewood, MN
GaryK
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8483 posts in 473 days
posted 124 days ago
This should be good!
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
SteveKorz
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1335 posts in 198 days
posted 123 days ago
Wow Stewart, this is fantastic…
-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Kipster
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1069 posts in 237 days
posted 102 days ago
This has been the best history lesson I have had the pleasure to read since joining LJ’s
Thanks for the post.
-- Kip Northern Illinois ( If you don't know where your goin any road will take you there) George Harrison
YorkshireStewart
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637 posts in 386 days
posted 101 days ago
Thanks Kip (and everyone) for your comments.
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.