# Antique Plane: Marten Doscher Split-Blade



## tworavens (Jul 8, 2013)

I recently acquired a stash of old hand tools from my grandmother's house. They belonged to my late grandfather, who passed away nearly 17 years ago now. Suffice to say, they haven't been used for quite awhile. I'll be putting up pictures of my efforts at restoring several of them, notably a craftsman smoothing plane, when I finish, but in the meantime I had a question regarding this little guy:










It's stamped on the end "Martin Doscher, New York," as shown here:










I've got it apart and I put the iron into some evaporust for the night. Tomorrow I'll see about buffing/honing the iron, but for now, does anyone out there have any idea what kind of plane this might be? The blade is split partway up, like this:










Any help at all would be lovely! Google has failed me miserably, so I've come here. Thanks!

-Josh


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

It cuts tongues on the edges of boards. The tongues
fit into grooves cut with a plough plane.


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## tworavens (Jul 8, 2013)

So I guess what I need to do now is measure the width of the groove and make myself another plane and iron that makes a groove to match it if it's going to be of any use to me…

Sweet, new project goal!

Thanks, Loren. That's kind of what I had suspected, but I just wanted to get some confirmation. Do you have any knowledge about the manufacturer? As I said, I tried to google it, but all I found was links to auctions on the 'bay…


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## Tim457 (Jan 11, 2013)

There's really just not always very much information on individual makers. It depends on how important they were, and how much got preserved about them, etc. The standard reference for American plane makers is Pollak's book. If you don't wan't to buy it for one plane you may be able to find it through your library. But often the listing is very minimal.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I agree with all of the above but its to bad you didn't have the matched set. its pretty easy to find these either the tongue or the groove. the real jackpot is the matched set.

Making one will get you a set of users though. T&G planes are fun to use.


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## Tbolt (May 2, 2013)

Marten Doscher planes are rated as frequently found in Pollak's book. Your plane was made between 1879 & 1888. Doscher received a patent in 1888 and marked his planes with his name and the patent date of Oct. 2nd, 1888 from then on. If your plane had been marked with that, it would be worth much more. If you want more lnfo, PM and I'll fill you in.


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