Razor planes

[John Musselwhite]

Hi Allan (and the List)...

Sorry it's taken so long to reply to your message about the razor planes I
mentioned a while back, but here is what I found and it isn't much...

They are made by Samvas SA (In Germany I would think) and are called the
Rali Hobby handplanes. There are two models in two sizes from what I can see
- 220 mm and 105 mm by about 50 mm (guesstimate) . One model has a folded
metal sole and is quite light, and the other has a laminated steel sole and
is a bit heavier. The handles are made of molded plastic and they generally
have a rather cheap appearance but the dealer swears by them (of course).
The shop also told me they were called a hobby plane because a professional
won't use anything that doesn't plug in, but I'm not so sure...

The cutters are interchangeable of rapid or carbide steel, and are
disposable at a cost of from $5 to $7 depending on the quantity. The models
cost $115.50 and $79.50 CDN depending on the size... the fellow wasn't clear
on that. The brochure doesn't have much info on it other than what I've
mentioned. The cutter (it's too small to be an iron!) is reversable and is
quite thin compared to a regular iron. It is supposed to be extremely sharp,
though, and looks much like a large exacto knife blade.

I imagine the plane would be carried by some larger tool sellers. The place
I saw them is called the European Sharpening Shop here in Calgary, a large
shop which can sharpen any kind of blade except for replaceable ones such as
the Rali uses.

Sorry I can't be of more help. I was hoping they'd have a brochure with some
more detail on it, but they didn't...

If you find them, let me know what you think...

        John
John Musselwhite, RPT               Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com       john.musselwhite@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca