1780\'s Harris & Rotton 10\" wood rabbet molding plane Bath England VR very rare For Sale

You are offerding on one Harris & Rotton wood rabbet molding plane as pictured.

It is marked with\"HARRIS & ROTTON\" and with owner initials that are either \"W O\" or \"W G\"on the front end, and with the same owner initials on the back end.

The iron is marked \"R HILDICK\".

Overall length is about 9-15/16\" (ok, that\'s close to the 10\" I called it in the title!) .

Width of the body is about 1\", and width of the iron, which is not skewed, is about 1-1/16\".

John Harris made planes in Bath, England, both in business by himself and with three different partners as Harris & Paris, then Harris & Rotton, and then Harris & Stothert. He was partners with John Rotton of Birmingham from 1782 until early in 1784. Please see the book Goodman\'s British Planemakers 4th Edition (or the 3rd Edition) for more information about Harris, and the description of Harris written by an employee is well worth reading. BPM4 guesses that he was making planes as early as 1750 or certainly by 1760, and was the earliest plane maker in Bath.

The 4th Edition no longer gives rarity ratings (an unfortunate move in my opinion), but the 3rd Edition has rarity ratings. It rates the Harris imprint as UC or uncommon, neither edition shows or rates a Harris & Paris mark, rates the Harris & Stothert imprint as R or rare, and rates the Harris & Rotton (this plane!) imprint as VR or very rare. Very rare is described as probably less than 50 examples are known.

Rare and very rare are so overused on , but this is a case where very rare really is very rare!

R Hildick is listed in British Plane Makers 3rd Edition as making irons for many of the makers in business as the same time as this plane was made.

Condition is fair to good, showing wear from use, more on the right side than on the left. There is wear at the front end, some lengthwise scratches on the lower right side, some chips along the lower corners, wear around the wedge finial, and the throat has been opened up. There are no cracks extending back from the sharp corners of the throat opening. The iron has quite a bit of rust and pitting, but mostly up away from the sharp edge.

The iron and the wedge both appear to be original to the plane.

If you collect 18th century British moulders, this has to be one of the toughest marks to find!

SHIPPING: 2 pounds when boxed, shipped USPS Ground advantage which is slower but less expensive, insurance is included. No International shipping.

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ETHICS IN DESCRIPTIONS: I also buy for my collecting on , and I have been burned too many times by misleading (duh did I forget to mention .......) descriptions, and sales with pictures only of the left side because the right side was trashed. Life is much simpler for me if I disclose what I know or see about an item before you offer, and especially before you receive it in the mail. I come from the handshake school of doing business, and hopefully you are like me and understand what that means. What goes around, comes around.

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USPS POSTAGE RATE INCREASE AS OF January. Every year the US Postal Service raises rates in mid to late January, and this year is no exception.

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: I no longer ship Internationally.

sales: I won’t end an sale listing early to sell it to you directly. As a buyer, I really dislike going back at the end of an sale to offer, only to discover that the seller had ended the sale early. So I won’t do that for you, or to you.

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I hope someday I will meet some of you as we trudge the happy road of tool collecting!