This month's mystery item is a cooper's tool. Specifically, it's a howel plane, used to cut the shallow hollow around the inside edge of a barrel to give a smooth and level surface for the next tool in the process—a croze plane, which is used to cut a narrow groove for the barrel head.

The croze plane has a similar wide fence (i.e., wooden faceplate) that rides on the ends of the staves, but with either a sawtooth-type cutter or two nickers and a single tooth like a router plane.

This picture illustrates how a howel plane is used. As we mentioned on March's mystery item page, our plane includes a nail on the front of the fence. We presume the original user was a little heavy-handed, perhaps applying uneven pressure as he planed. That would explain the groove he wore on the leading edge of the fence. To enlarge the pic shown, click here.


If you want to learn more about handplanes, check out Garrett Hack's The Handplane Book. It's a great resource full of detailed pictures and explanations and a great addition to any library.