Griffiths of Norwich, beech, boxwood & brass Moving Fillister Wood Plane

Griffiths of Norwich was a well known and respected 19th century British hand tool manufacturer that operated from around 1802 until 1958.

Its founder, John Griffiths began making planes in London in the late 1700s before relocating to the city of Norwich ,where he and his successors quickly garnered a reputation for producing high quality tradition alwoodworking planes. 

Cheaper models were made of Beech, wood with iron screws and fittings, with the higher quality planes also featuring an integrated hard Boxwood foot to eliminate wear as well as solid brass knobs, fittings and screws rather than rust prone iron.

A specialised woodworking hand plane, the Fillister is used to cut highly accurate and precise rabbets (or rebates) - which are recessed steps or rectangular-shaped cuts along the edge or face of timber panels and beams.

Unlike a standard ‘Rabbet Plane’ which usually consists of just a body and a blade fitted flush to its side, the moving fillister plane has three key features that make it vastly more accurate and versatile.

An adjustable fence - With its large twin steel screws set in their recessed brass slides and made of the harder boxwood, the guides allow the plane to be set at a distance from the edge of the timber to control the width of the rabbet.

A depth stop - The large brass knob at the front of the plane can be rotated clockwise or anticlockwise to set the depth the smaller blade can cut.

As the knob is turned, the 'T 'shaped brass foot descends to set the depth of cut on the smaller blade.

A nicker (or spur) - A small, scoring blade set to slice wood fibres ahead of the main iron blade designed to prevent wood tearing when cutting across the grain.

Twin blades - for a smoother shave:

Whilst the smaller ‘nicker’ blade’s initial cutting depth can be set by its boxwood sliding wedge, the brass adjusting knob enables far more accurate depth setting and edge trimming.

At one end of the Plane, you can see an owner’s name stamped into the timber surface of 'S. Hall' which was common practice given the price of such quality woodworking planes of the era. 

The other end bears a very faint stamp that is almost indecipherable but it believed to be that of a retail an early colonial retail store. Given that this Griffith plane was discovered in the Ballarat Gold Field region this would certainly follow.

With the marks and staining of over a century of craftwork, research appears to place this Griffiths Plane in a circa of 1890s - 1920s.

What an ideal gift for a traditional wood worker or simply as a beautifully designed display piece on a hallway entrance table or mantlepiece celebrating a slowly disappearing era of artisan craftsmanship.

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