The picture to the right shows an original Norris A13 (reproduced with permission of David Stanley).
I have seen a poor quality copy of my A13 design - any plagiarism borne out of my
revisions has missed the true Norris A13 and No.13.
My advice to those wanting a good quality lower
cost plane would be to avoid these copies, save money and consider a Lie Nielsen or Veritas, who are
excellent value for money and whom I have no hesitation in recommending.
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The A13 smoother is another classic plane. The A13 was originally only made by Norris,
and in fact was produced in two variants - the A13 with an adjuster and the No.13 without.
Not many A13s were made, an original A13 is considered a rarity by collectors.
The original Norris pattern was an iron casting and not dovetailed. When Norris did use
dovetails it was always using steel - he did not make any brass sided planes (except for
the gunmetal castings). The front bun was square with some small rounds and the whole plane
was a bit dull and not interesting to look at. This may account for the fact that it was
passed over by many collectors, although I saw that with a few modifications the plane had
some potential.
The original A13 did have some nice contours but in my version I have enhanced them a little.
As with all my Norris style planes I have made various upgrades and in view of these changes
I do feel that I should have re-numbered the plane. My version of the A13 is my best selling plane.
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