Metal Violinmaking Planes 
3 Signed Violinmaker’s Planes With Ivory Wedges
With ivory wedges held in place by steel pins, these nicely proportioned violin “finger” planes have been cast from bronze. Similar in design to the violin planes made by Herdim, these planes have all been marked with “TH” inside a diamond shaped border.
The ivory wedges are simple affairs. Not as refined as some wedges found [...]
Otner Botner Whale-Shaped Finger Plane
These fanciful solid brass whale-shaped instrument maker’s finger planes show up from time to time on eBay and auction houses. Made in the early 1980’s by Otner Botner in Rhode island, they’re eagerly snapped up whenever they appear on the market.
This Otner Botner plane is in excellent shape and in fine working order (although the [...]
Hammacher Schlemmer & Co. Violinmaker’s Plane
Here we feature a beautiful, near mint condition violinmaker’s plane by Hammacher Schlemmer & Co. Made from nickel-plated brass, this 2-3/8″ long handled violin plane, with an 11/16″ wide iron, has hardly been used. The attractively turned ivory knob is around 1-5/16″ in diameter.
Founded in 1848, Hammacher Schlemmer was, and still is, an established New [...]
Ibex Violin Makers Planes
Ibex violin makers planes have been somewhat of a standard for modern luthiers. Originally designed by guitar maker Irving Sloane, these planes are cast in silicon bronze and feature either a flat or a curved bottom design for the precise shaping that is needed when making violins, lutes, guitars or other stringed instruments.
The particular planes [...]