Roman Plane (Iron) Reconstruction?

[Adam Oswalt]

Has anyone on here done (or know of someone who has) a reconstruction of a Roman (or Roman period) plane? I ask becuase I think I'm going to attempt a reconstruction over the summer if I have time, and I would like to look at some reconstructions first for inspiration. I think for the body I want to copy the smaller "arrow shaft" plane from Vimose, but I'm looking at the irons from Newstead since, IIRC, there wasn't any irons associated with either plane at Vimose. I'm also aware of the concave-soled "shaft" plane found at Illerup, but I've never read any detailed description of the find, only that it was found, so I'm not entirely sure that the plane was complete when found. I guess what I'm looking for specifically regarding irons is information on the shape/metal content. I think that the overall design/shape of my iron is going to be dictated by the anticipated shape of the plane body, rather than the body being dictated by the iron, which is, I believe, the accepted way of designing a plane.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially regarding irons, but pictures of reconstructions (or links to said pictures) would also be immensely valuable.

Adam

BTW, the irons found at Newstead look incredibly fascinating, especially the smaller welded piece. Have these been published in detail (i.e. construction/metal content)?

[Marcus Velius Avitus]

Here are some images:

http://museum.warrington.gov.uk/News/Sup...useum.aspx
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/16644
(www.dartmouth.edu/~rogerulrich/tools_woodworking.html) - For some reason this link isn't working when I try to link it so just cut and paste it into your browser.

You would probably want to make the iron first and build the rest of the plane around it. I still beleive this is the easiest way to make a hand plane. I have only made one reproduction and it was an 18th Century-styled one.

[Stewart Would]

Hello Adam.

I just stumbled across your enquiry and have signed up to Roman Army.com to respond. Two years ago, I made a working re-construction of the Vimose plane . Amongst my varied projects on that Lumberjocks site,you'll also find my take on the Goodmanham Plane and one of the De Meerns. There's the Sarre Saxon one too. If I can be of any further help, please let me know.