B63-540. SMOOTHING PLANE. Bailey Split Frame. One of the earliest versions of Leonard Bailey's legendary initial foray into plane manufacturing. It has the hump shaped split, coiled spring under the front knob, and slide-in lever cap. Looks like one of the planes that were hand made by Bailey in 1856 or 1857 while he was still employed as a piano case maker, although it doesn't appear to have assembly numbers. Identical in construction to the plane shown in Figure 42 of PTAMPIA I, except that the brass adjusting screw is a paddle type thumbscrew (see Figure 44). And if that's not rare enough, it's a No. 3 size with 8-1/2" sole and 1-3/4" D.R. Barton double iron that's probably a replacement. Rosewood tote and knob, the tote has chips from the end but otherwise fine, japanning nearly intact. The plane design that started it all, in very clean condition; destined to be the centerpiece of any advanced collection. Good+ 4000-8000