of the plane, as
shown in Thomas Worrall's drawing, proved a transitional device that
preserved the ancient shape of the tool and slowed the introduction of
bench planes made entirely of iron. (Wash drawing from U.S. Patent
Office, June 23, 1857, Record Group 241, the National Archives.)]

[Illustration: Figure 61.--1865: NOT ALL MULTIPURPOSE INNOVATIONS
resulted from the use of new materials. Daniel D. Whitker patented a
combination saw and rabbet plane little different from one illustrated
by Andre-Jacob Roubo in his _L'Art du menuisier_ in 1769. (Wash drawing
from U.S. Patent Office, October 4, 1865, Record Group 241, the National
Archives.)]

In sum, these ideas produced a major break with the traditional shape of
the bench plane. William Foster in 1843 (pat. 3,355), Birdsill Holly in
1852 (pat. 9,094), and W.S. Loughborough in 1859 (pat. 23,928) are
particularly good examples of the radical departure from the wooden
block. And, in the period after the Civil War, C.G. Miller (discussed on
p. 213 and in fig. 63), B.A. Blandin (fig. 64), and Russell Phillips
(pat. 106,868) patented multipurpose metallic bench planes of excellent
design. It should be pointed out that the patentees mentioned above
represent only a few of the great number that tried to improve the
plane. Only the trend of change is suggested by the descriptions and
illustrations presented here. The cumulative effect awaited a showcase,
and the planemakers found it at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 held
in Philadelphia.

[Illustration: Figure 62.--ABOUT 1865: THE PROGRESS OF AN IDEA from an
18th-century encyclopedia through an American patentee to commercial
reality can be seen in this flier advertising Whitker's saw-rabbet.
(Smithsonian Institution Library. Smithsonian photo 56629.)]

The impact of these new planes at the Exhibition caused some
retrospection among the judges:

The planes manufactured in Great Britain and in other countries
fifty years ago were formed of best beech-wood; the plane irons
were of steel and iron welded together; the jointer plane, about 21
inches long, was a bulky tool; the jack and hand planes were of the
same materials. Very little change has been made upon the plane in
Great Britain, unless in the superior workmanship and higher
quality of the plane iron.[19]

The solid wood-block plane, varying from country to country only in the
structure of its handles and body decoration, h