British planemakers from 1700

This book, the standard reference work on planemakers, is in two parts: a check list of makers and their marks, proceeded by a history of the planemakers and the tools they made. It shows how specialist planemakers evolved from general woodworking tradesmen in the early 1700 s and it traces the development of the wooden plane up to the author s lifetime. The history of the plane is told from several points of view: the lives of the makers; the uses fro which different planes were designed; the changing shape of planes (length, profile, wedge, chamfers); makers marks and those of owners (often of successive generations) all indicating pride in craftsmanship and ownership of an expensive possession.