# Most unique woodworking tool? Ideas welcome. Here is mine...



## PaulSellers (May 13, 2011)

I thought this might be quite fun as a forum post where people can post their own ideas of unique tools.

Please remember it is unique that we are looking for not rare.

Here is mine.

*What kind of plane creates this?*



It was advertised on eBay a while back as a toothing plane. You can see that it's not. These planes were fairly common in joiner's tool boxes at one time , but as their use became redundant, they gradually disappeared from most woodworker's tool box, yet at one time this plane was an essential piece of equipment.





To add further to the bemusement, this plane had nothing to do with the finished wood but the shaving itself. This is the only plane developed to actually produce a shaving as the end result. All other planes were developed to remove wood and form something in the main body of wood being planed.





The plane was called a spill or taper plane and was used to make spills which were tight cones of wood formed by each swiping stroke of the plane. The angle of the blade in relation to the sole compresses the shaving and unites the long edge in a continuous spiral that can be glued and used to make a perfect wooden straw.



I believe this is the only plane designed to produce a shaving as the finished product. That's why I think it is quite unique.

Here is a video of it in use.






http://www.youtube.com/subscribe_widget?p=paulsellerswoodwork


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## Dcase (Jul 7, 2010)

Those shavings are very neat.

Lee Valley/Veritas makes a metal spill plane and has them for sale on their site. This is the description they give

"Before matches became widely available in the 1860s, long, coiled wood shavings known as spills were used to transfer a flame from one location to another, such as from a fireplace to a candle, lantern or stove. Typically made using a special inverted plane, spills burn more slowly and consistently than paper, and also double as a convenient tinder material. We based the design of our spill plane on an 1850s Edward Preston spill plane in our collection."

I am not sure what I think the most unique tool I have seen is. I will have to give some thought and share later. This should be a good topic though.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

Spills are pretty useful in my house since I purn wood for heat. if you don't want to use a match to transfer fire they work great (of course since I prep my wood by hand I alsways have plenty of tinder for the fire without resorting to spills)


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## Danpaddles (Jan 26, 2012)

Louver Groover- without a doubt.

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/tls/2878743537.html


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

This is a unique and cherished tool in my shop. 30 years ago my brother was a nuclear pipe welder at a federal submarine yard. He made this there and came home with it one day. The blade is submarine hull steel, Nickel Cobalt. I've never been able to sharpen it and it's never really gotten dull. I had a diamond stone but quickly stopped using it as the diamond dust was being stripped off the stone. It has nostalgic and useful meaning to me.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I always thought it would be cool to have a spill plane.

My last unique project


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

Don - This is where you should post the Cooper.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

At Andy's request.


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## NJWiliam (May 16, 2011)

Frank Klausz's twist lock marking gauge.
I watched him using it at the recent woodworking show, very intuitive and clever.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

My double blade purfling cutter used in guitar/violin building. Look it up.
Then, there are my golf clubs which haven't been used in almost 10 years. Wanna buy a lefty set?
Bill


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## jjw5858 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well I certainly can say most times when anyone comes into my shop they always ask….what's this do?...lol Although not my own design I do get many questions on the German Springpole Lathe from Roys last book. It's always a fascinating conversation piece…and usually gets people that have never worked wood really interested and wanting to learn more. When I show them spindels and how it works I always get an impressed or entertained reaction.










Then there are my attempts at some other old tools with my own unique design ideas applied to them, these two bow saws…usually that gets a few questions as well…even other woodworkers that are not as into older handtools usually really get a kick out of it.


















Great post and thanks for sharing,

Joe


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I never did get a firm answer as to what this was.


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## DocBailey (Dec 9, 2011)

Don,
That appears to be one of hundreds of variants of auto body/sheet metal-working hammers.
See for example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GOOD-VINTAGE-AUTO-BODY-HAMMER-BLACKSMITH-TINSMITH-HVAC-MECHANIC-METAL-TOOL-USA-/120871111782?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c247acc66&vxp=mtr#ht_797wt_1163


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## toeachhisown (Eddie) (Mar 30, 2011)

Paul i got a order in for you book and dvd look forward to learning from you


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## JGM0658 (Aug 16, 2011)

Welcome back Mr. Sellers, while I might disagree with you on some things I always enjoy your posts and techniques.

The only unusual tool I have is the Bridge City Tools Jointmaker pro…but on the subject of spill planes, I believe cigar smokers also prefer to light the cigars with spills, since (they say, although it does not make sense to me) a shaving of wood won't contaminate the "flavor" of the cigar as a match or lighter would do.


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