Dovetailed infill planes in the traditional
style of Norris, Mathieson and Spiers

Precision Infill planes taken to a new level.


  • A13 Boxwood Infill Plane - Link to Gallery page.
  • Maker of traditional dovetailed infill
    hand planes since 1988.
Although now championing my new 98 series precision hand planes, I continue to make infill planes based on the Norris, Mathieson and Spiers patterns. Please take some time to visit my Gallery or Planes pages to see examples of my work.
I must emphasize that I do not make 'reproduction antiques' – my designs, although firmly based on traditional infill patterns, incorporate subtle modifications to achieve the standards of design and finish for which I have become known. My aim is simply to make the finest hand planes money can buy.

A1 Smoothing Plane


A1 Smoothing Plane.
A1 Smoothing Plane - Work in progress.

This is an A1 14 1/2” panel plane in the Norris style, with Cocobolo infill, dovetailed steel sides and bottoms with gunmetal fittings and a 2 1/2” x 3/16” thick blade in my A2 steel.

As I now want to concentrate on my own designs I am unlikely to be making this plane again. It is a sad statement to say this but there are far too many other projects piling up. I have detailed the making of this plane before which is available in my blog.

This is a very good all round plane because it is on the larger side for smoothing but also has a good capability for jointing. The plane is an absolute joy to use.

Although I decided not to show any workshop images I had to show this one (above) as it is on the last leg home, though there is still many hours of lapping and flattening to go - it is not practical to surface grind. The dovetails and rivets are being flushed off in a vertical mill.

A1 Smoothing Plane - Detail of front bun. A1 Smoothing Plane - Adjuster detail. This picture (right) shows the adjuster and blade bed. Also showing the lever cap retaining spigots and the captive recess in the lever cap. This allows for approximately two complete turns before the lever cap can be removed. This is a great improvement to the original infill A1 Smoothing Plane - Detail of rear handle. planes where the lever caps were permanently captive.

It is because of these innovations I have been inspired to design my own planes.

Price - £6,150 + vat if applicable + delivery outside of UK.