You are bidding on one Birmingham Plame Manufacturing Company wood block plane as pictured. There are some condition issues so please keep reading down to the condition paragraphs.
The plane body is unmarked.
The iron is marked ".......RMINGHAM PLANE MFG CO" with "CONN" in the middle and much of the the mark is faint.
Overall length of the plane is about 6-1/16".
Width of the iron near the sharp edge is about 1-3/4", and overall length is about 3-7/8".
The Birmingham Plane Company was granted a number of patents for planes. This plane was covered by patent 413,329, granted to Solon Rust on October 22, 1889, and it was for the notches on the back side of the iron. Please see Roger Smith's book Patented Transitional and Metallic Planes in America (PTAMPIA) Volume 1 pages 186 to 193 for much more information about Birmingham planes.
Birmingham made an interesting variety of block planes, as well as bench planes and rabbet planes. Some of the block planes had straight sides, and some had bowed or bulbous sides with an extra grip rail on the upper sides, like this plane. Some had a simple iron sitting on a pedestal, some had a lever adjuster for the iron, and a few had an adjuster very reminescent of a Leonard Bailey adjuster for the iron. And there were different lengths and widths.
This plane is the lever adjusted plane, with the wider 1-3/4" iron as opposed to 1-5/8", and the iron with the notches on the back side is proper for this plane.
Description and condition issues:
-- The body has lost quite a bit of its japanning, especially on the horizontal inside surfaces. The sole has some areas of pitting, and the lever still has a good nib and operates properly. The casting is in good condition with no cracks or chips, except for the front knob issues below.
-- The threads in the front knob boss are in poor condition. This plane had a wood knob glued onto the front boss, and a screw glued into the threaded hole, both of which I removed. I got much of the glue off of the outside of the boss. But there is still glue inside the threaded hole and the threads appear to be very weak in some areas and virtually missing in others.
-- The iron has some pitting mostly on the front side.
-- The cap has lost much of its japanning on the front side and has some rust and a rough surface. The little screw is proper but has some pitting.
SHIPPING: 2 pounds, shipped in a padded envelope, shipped US Postal Service Ground Advantage, insurance and tracking are included. No International shipping.
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