I just got the reject notice from Reader’s Gallery in the print side of FWW (understandably) on this and thought I’d post it somewhere, and Hand Tools seemed like as good a place as any.
I found two of these Wilkro Razor Planers, unused in boxes with instructions, while cleaning out my brother’s garage this past Winter. As the box says, “Converts the safety razor blade into a handy planer.” They were made by the Craft Master Tool Co. in Cleveland, OH and from the address on the box (Cleveland 23, Ohio) they predate the 5-digit zip code which would go back to sometime in the ’50s. Unfortunately, the safety razor is pretty much a thing of the past, so finding blades for these is a problem (I’ve been resharpening the 5 or so I have left, but I’m hear to tell you that putting a micro bevel on a safety razor blade is real a bear).
The planer works extremely well for a hobbyist type tool, and is multifunctional. The instructions tell the story better than I can describe. I’m attaching jpegs of the instructions along with a couple shots of the planer. No threat to Lie-Nielsen, but I find them an interesting little side bar to the hand plane (finger plane) saga.
Anyway, I hope these little woodworking curios are of some interest.
Replies
Now thats a long ago memory, Both my Grandfather and Father had one of those planes. A simple pot metal tool. That tool Co. was about 3 miles from my Grandfathers house. I played with it as a Kid and used to make Kite sticks. Thanks for the memory.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Now just be careful that yours are the same sex because a Frenchman has custody of those planes progeny which he sells at shows in the UK. Called the Rabot Kid 20, it uses various razor and craft blades and has four transformations. I use it a lot as an emergency item kept in the car for odd jobs. It is very good for many small tasks including paint stripping.
The Frenchman was at the Woodworking Show in Columbus, Ohio this past winter. He was useing utility knife blades.
Jack
Mike You might try here for the blades Classic shaving
Jack
"Mike You might try here for the blades"Jack,Thanks. Interesting site. I'll bet if I poked around a little, I could find one of my old safety razors. It might be kind of fun shave with one again.Right after I found the Razor Planers, I found a five-pack of Schick blades and thought that was going to be it. I haven't used them much and probably won't, but they're interesting little pieces of the past. Mike
rabot kid 20 french
i picked up one of these planes but have no instructions and cannot find your pictures and do not speak french
john
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