Workshop view
I have been fascinated with antique handplanes, and people making modern reproductions of and new takes on them, for years. I have a modest collection of planes, and am taking early steps into making some of my own. Plow planes of all types, wooden planes, and infill planes are my favorites.

Here I collect notes from my projects, document in-progress planes, and offer drawings and measurements of some of the antique planes in my collection.

Featured Planes

Coachmaker's Rabbet Plane
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Small Infill Rabbet Plane

Unknown Maker • late 19th century

Cast shell; rosewood stuffing.

No maker's mark appears on the plane or blade. The curved edge of the side wall elegantly mirrors the bullnose on the top of the stuffing. This one is on my short list to replicate.

Sole
2.82" x 0.45"
Iron
0.45"
Bed Pitch
23°
STEP Model
View 3D model
Spiers Ayr Early Smooth Plane

Screw-Sided Smoothing Plane

Spiers (Ayr) • c. 1840

Dovetailed shell, rosewood infill

Sole
7 1/2"
Iron
2 1/4"
Pitch
45°
S-06 Smoothing Plane
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S-06 Smoothing Plane

A.W. Gibbs • 2026

This was my first effort at a curved-side infill smoothing plane. It is modeled closely on an old Spiers infill smoother in my collection. Many hours went into closely measuring the plane and modeling the metal parts in CAD so I could outsource rough cutting of the metal to a laser to jump start my process. Some modifications were made intentionally: the lever cap pin is removable (and thus has visible screw heads instead a pin peened flush) and I used a single 3/16" O1 iron rather than the double-iron arrangement on the original. Many other deviations I'm sure were introduced unintentionally.