Welcome To Norris Planes

David R Russell, a colossus among collectors of antique woodworking tools, has died aged 82.

It is with sadness that I hear of David’s recent passing on March 21, 2018. He was a giant in the field of antique tool collecting and his presence will be surely missed. For more on David, click here to go to our dedicated David R. Russell page.



Norris A5 Smoothing Plane

I’ve been meaning to do this website for a long, long time — in fact I first started working on this site way back in 2008! I’m always on the internet because of my work and its probably safe to say that I practically live my life on it. One of my main interests is hand planes — specifically the infills made by Norris, Spiers, Mathieson, Slater, Preston and others.

It occurred to me that while there was quite a bit of information about Thomas Norris and his planes on the internet, most of it was scattered far and wide, and I could never find the information I wanted right when I needed it. So I thought “Why not just collect as much as I can find, add it to the stuff that I already know and have collected over the years, and put it in one place?” That way, whenever I need to find out something for myself, quickly and easily, all I had to do was come here and look it up. The added bonus to this is that everyone else who wants to know about Norris Planes can also benefit from what i’ve done here. It’s a win-win situation.

In other words, this website has been set up to help owners and collectors of Norris Planes to identify and learn more about the planes in their possession. Here you will find reprints of old catalogues, brochures and advertisements for Norris Planes, various articles, drawings and information on Norris Planes and thousands and thousands of pictures of Norris Planes in all their glory and from all angles. Why so many pictures you ask? Why not? Wherever possible I’ve tried to put upwards of 200 or so images for each handplane because this helps to identify many aspects of the planes from a wider selection of examples. This is not always possible with some models, of course; models such as the Number 10 mitre plane, the Number 12 dovetailed thumb plane or the Number 21 iron smoothing plane for instance. These planes are scarce, and obtaining photographs of them is difficult to say the least. Suffice to say that if you have any images of some of the rarer planes then I would like to hear from you, if possible. Of course if you allow me to use them but want to remain anonymous then I completely understand that as well. I’ve been a maker and repairer of infill planes for over twenty years and I’ve seen a lot of rare planes in that time, so keeping discreet is all part of the process. My reputation as a restorer would be harmed if secrets were told.

As mentioned, I’ve used a lot of images for this site — approximately 3305 images in the galleries alone! A number of these images I can no longer remember who or where they came from. I do know that many of them have come from eBay and have been collected by me over the past 10 or 15 years. Collectors and woodworkers such as Darryl Hutchinson, Karl Holtey, Konrad Sauer, Jim Bode, Bill & Sarah Carter, Sonia Kay Baker, Gil Rogers, Patrick Leach, Joel Moskowitz, Geoff Entwistle, John Economaki, Ian Dalziel, Wayne Anderson, Brian Buckner, James Austin, Hans Brunner, Paul Blanche, Ray Iles, Gary Littlewood, Derek Cohen, Steve from Dharma Antiques in Bournemouth, Michelle Bailey and others – many of which are sellers on eBay – have also given me permission over the years to use their pictures.

I’m also especially thankful for the images supplied to me by John Adamson, the publisher of David R. Russell’s excellent volume “Antique Woodworking Tools“. To me, this selfless act demonstrates all that is truly great in the tool collecting world, and that it is the information itself that is important after all, regardless of any monetary gain that might be made. However having said that, if you haven’t already got a copy of that book then I strongly recommend you buy one when you can. It really is a fine book for collectors, filled with sumptuous images (taken by James Austin) and loads of great information.

I am thankful for the generosity of these dealers, writers, users and collectors. However, if I have used some of your images and you’re not happy about it, please let me know via my contact form and I’ll sort it out.

C.R. Miller.
Planemaker and Norris aficionado.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email