If you like wooden plane videos, you'll love this newsletter: https://workingwoodenplanes.com No sales, no AI slop. Just good stories about planes.

I restored a wooden plane of my father-in-law from the 60s, and I can see how this can become a full obsession!

Abraham, the perfect name for someone who is into antique hand planes 😊

A good book on the subject is "goodmans british planemakers since the 1700's"

Thank you! We have 32 wooden planes in our museum collection. Your video really helped us determine approximate age. So great!

I moved to the USA just over 3 years ago and sold or donated my vast tool collection back in the UK over 15 years ago, I kinda found myself living on a remote island in between. Since moving here I've been trying to restock my hand tools and started to collect usable wooden planes. I hit a collection of 25 at an amazing price and since then it has become an obsession, as I'm sure most of your followers will understand.
I recently used all vintage hand tools to build my 10’ Nicholson workbench, and I've just started building the shelving and storage for my now over 50 wooden planes, some will be for display, just looking at them can be inspiring and they make me smile, but most of them will be used. Finding your channel has been a game-changer for me, every video I've watched has been inspiring. Have you thought of writing a book?

I inherited about 30 molding planes from my grandmother when she passed a few years ago. They originally belonged to my great great uncle, who was a carpenter in around the 1880's. One of the planes was a Francis Nicholson dedicated molding plane which had a perfect profile for baseboards (perhaps that's what it was for originally? Who knows.) Made all the trim for my son's room with it, and it worked perfectly. Amazing how well that thing held up over literal centuries.
Very satisfying feeling to restore and use such an old tool. Something about creating new pieces from a 200+ year old tool, made by the first plane maker in the colonies is just so awesome.

Anyways, just thought I'd share my old molding plane story. Great video. Thanks

Btw, I know a lot of collectors will be mad that I restored and used a perfect condition F. Nicholson. Too bad! It belonged to my family for generations, and I have no interest in making money off of it. It will never be for sale and has no monetary value to me. It's a tool, and a family heirloom and I'm going to use it for it's intended purpose.

Great tutorial on a subject dear to my heart.

I have about forty five of these old planes I've inherited or picked up over the years. After watching this I'll have to take the time to study them more closely. Thanks for the motivation, as well as the excellent video!  Jay. Australia.

Awesome! So much I didn't know.

thank you awesome video! I live in SE Mass where alot of these makers worked and you never know what you will find antiquing on the weekend around here.

Often those early moulding planes without makers marks where cut down to the standardised size of the 19th century so they would fit into their boxes.

Man this should be required reading for anyone getting into planes

My dad gave me the large toolbox that was made by my great grandfather in about 1860, it's got a perhaps full set of moulding planes in it? Not sure. I'll have to pop out tomorrow and see if there are any makers marks on them

Cool video. Thanks for doing this. I could nerd out on planes all day. Haha

Rex Krueger sent me.

I appreciate your video. I've inherited some old ones and know that at least one is a Chelor. Some are unmarked, I'll be looking at them closer now with a new set of eyes. Great reference list too.

Thanks,
definitely subscribed.

Thank you - that was really interesting. I would love to see more about the early screw fastened ploughs. I know you’re focussed on original antique planes but a plough plane with wood hardware for the fence and depth stop would be a good place for amateurs plane makers to start without complex metalwork to worry about.

After watching this I hauled out my wooden planes and found one that I think is 1700's.  It is stamped J. Janssen.

I have virtually no idea why I watched this video….but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I did “freak” just a bit, when you had all those wedges out, wondering how you remembered which wedge went to which molding plane.  I’m curious….I have a good collection of “made in the U.S.” Nicholson files (I’m related by marriage to the Nicholson family); they were originally made in Rhode Island.  I am curious if his family is related to the Wrentham made molding planes.  Great video…and a good education on early American tool manufacturers.