The Perfect Plane (Old Street Tool, Inc. is back on track...)

For years Bill Clark and Larry Williams, founders of “Old Street Tool, Inc”, couldn't take any further orders from customers wanting to buy what I believe are the best side escapement planes on Earth. This was caused by having so many orders they just weren't able to keep up with the demand. But over the past few weeks, they've caught up and are now back on track and taking orders again.

If you like side escapement planes (moulding planes) and you would like to have one or a complete set of them, make sure you get in the cue. Trust me!! They are worth it. No, I don’t get any commission or freebies for doing this.

A little bit of history from their website tells us that Bill Clark and Larry Williams first became interested in making needed planes for their own professional woodworking efforts. In 1996 they purchased the metal working equipment needed to make plane makers' floats (more on floats in a future blog) for their own use and also offered the floats for sale on the Internet. Selling floats was intended to help offset the cost of the equipment.

Float sales soon brought requests for planes, which led to the establishment of Clark & Williams, plane makers. The Clark & Williams smooth plane reintroduced high cutting angles to woodworkers. Their success with York and middle pitch planes soon had other manufacturers offering planes of similar traditional pitches.

Click on the picture to watch the video

Clark & Williams is one of only two contemporary plane makers listed in “A Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planes”, the single comprehensive text on American wooden plane makers. They are the only one listed producing traditional planes with traditional construction.

In fourteen years, Clark & Williams produced thousands of planes with over 300 currently in use in the Conservation and Historic Trades Departments of Colonial Williamsburg.

In late 2010 the partnership of Clark & Williams was amicably dissolved when Bill moved from Eureka Springs to take care of family obligations. Don and Larry reorganized the business as Old Street Tool, Inc. and continue to make traditional wooden planes in the 18th Century British style.

In their website you can find all their range of wooden planes and they have a good selection of videos available for purchase designed to teach you how to make them and use them.

Cheers, Gaston