Gerd Fritsche from Sigmarszell near Lindau is an engineer and machinist. But he loves working with wood. He has built numerous pieces of furniture in his house himself. But now, he says, there is no more room for new furniture. That's why he started building planes, he says.
Around the turn of the millennium, he discovered English planes from before the Second World War. They immediately excited him: beautifully shaped wooden handles, a metal housing that is neither cast nor welded, but riveted. What a feat of craftsmanship, he thought appreciatively at the time, and decided to build his own English-style plane.
Since then, he has built hundreds of planes. In 18 different variations. From the plain plane to the ledge plane to the 75 cm. long robber's bench. Many have handles made of valuable woods. While the plane sole is always made of steel, and the plane flap of bronze, most of his tools have brass side parts. The play of colors between the different materials is what makes Fritsche's planes so visually appealing. True to his motto that people much prefer to work with beautiful tools than with ordinary ones.
Fritsche now sells his planes all over the world. His customers are restorers, musical instrument makers or hobby carpenters who value excellent tools.
They are available either ready-built or as a kit. But this is only something for skilled craftsmen, because riveting together the plane sole and side parts is no child's play. It takes him a whole working day just to do this. He files the tines of the steel sole and the dovetails of the brass side parts until they not only fit snugly into each other, but also create tiny wedge-shaped gaps. He then uses hammer blows to deform the metal until all the crevices are closed again and a solid case is formed. He then files this until no more traces of the hammer blows can be seen.
It takes him more than five days to build a new plane. Mostly on behalf of a customer. If he sends along a template of his hand, he can even get a custom-made handle made of the wood of his choice.
28 сен 2020
