|
Philip Marcou, Planemaker |
|
Written by Christopher Schwarz
|
|
Page 1 of 3 A planemaker from the Southern Hemisphere builds tools that excel on exotic woods.  The Marcou plane incorporates design features from several types of tools
to create an instrument that excels at planing woods that resist other edge tools.
From Southern Africa to Planemaking.Marcou, began woodworking at age 12 in his native Zimbabwe and became a full-time furniture maker in 1990 – a career that was launched by making 1,000 high-quality wooden coat hangers for a hotel. He eventually settled on making military-style furniture – campaign chests, Davenports and the like – as the centerpiece of his business. And his furniture work, which is on display on one of his web sites devoted to his woodworking ( collectablefurniture.co.nz), displays an obvious level of restraint, refinement and skill. Marcou says he never had to look for work while building in Zimbabwe; but as the political situation worsened (and continues to worsen now, Marcou made a change. “I thought it better to leave while I still could, and New Zealand was the only chance I had,” Marcou says in an e-mail. However, like in the United States (and other parts of the world), New Zealand has been flooded with low-cost furniture from Asia, a fact that has put many bespoke furniture shops on the auction block. Despite the dire business prospects, Marcou says he tried for two years to make his furniture business in New Zealand work. Then, for some reason, Marcou says he purchased a Veritas bevel-up smoothing plane. He was enamored with it, but he began mulling over some changes to the tool that he thought would make it more suited for his work. He put together his own handplane using a variety of metal- and woodworking machines, and since January 2006 has been making planes for a living and doing some furniture work whenever he can. He has been developing a number of unusual planes during the last 12 months. None is a clear copy of any one historical form, yet all are interesting and are carefully conceived and engineered to solve certain pesky problems in woodworking.
This fall, I asked to borrow one of his tools for a shop test – an S20A bevel-up smoothing plane. Marcou readily agreed, and for the last few months I have been decoding this tool to find its true purpose in the woodshop.
The Marcou S20A Pushes the Limits
Fact No. 1: The Marcou S20A is the heaviest smoothing plane I have ever used. At 8 lbs. 13 ounces, the Marcou is more than twice as heavy as a Lie-Nielsen No. 4 bench plane in iron. Heck the Marcou’s lever cap alone, at 1 lb. 8.5 ounces, weighs more than a Lie-Nielsen No. 60-1/2 block plane. | The lever cap of the S20A weighs as much as many block planes. Note the machined slot on the sides of the cap. These slots mate with two shallow pins embedded in the sidewalls. As a result, the lever cap attaches to the plane body at multiple points: Against a traditional cross pin, against the shallow pins, at the front of the iron and at the back. Marcou says this "feature" actually was the result of an error on a batch of planes where he placed the cross pin incorrectly. He doesn't plan on making any more with this feature, but if you ask nicely... | At first I thought the adjuster was too close to my knuckles. Not so. I wish it were placed a bit higher (somehow – I don't know how). But it is fairly easy to grasp in use.
| The body is 11-3/16” long – somewhat north of a traditional smoothing plane and south of a jack plane. And its sole is 2-3/4” wide. The mass of the tool was an immediate concern of mine. You anticipate that the tool will simply wear you out after a few strokes. This is not quite the case. Because of the tool’s immense mass, you don’t have to push the tool firmly down against the work to ensure a smooth cut (even in tough woods). Lightweight wooden planes are a joy to use in domestic hardwoods, but they can require a fair amount of downward effort on your part to maintain a controlled cut. With the Marcou, its mass does most of the pushing down. You just have to push it forward. Getting the plane started in the cut requires the most effort; after that, inertia takes over and the tool isn’t difficult to push. The return stroke seemed the most fatiguing to me, even though you’re not cutting during this part of the stroke. Bottom line: The tool isn’t tiring if you use it properly. If you prepare your stock with a jointer plane prior to a smoothing plane then the stock will require only minimal attention with a smoothing plane. Long planing sessions should be fairly rare.
The mass is an advantage when planing difficult woods, such as the timbers found in New Zealand and neighboring Australia. A plane’s weight helps keep the cutter in the thick of things – not riding up and skittering over the wood. |
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >> |
"... It is a plane to visit, take down and make a few gossamer shavings before retiring for the night. It is a plane about which to say to the progeny “someday this will be yours”. It is a plane which, when acquired, will demonstrate once again that men are as romantic as women, and for that reason alone it was a bargain."
"The engineering, finish, design and feel of The Instrument speaks of its high quality, on all my receptor channels.