Object data
bronze and iron
length 30 cm × width 6.5 cm
anonymous
Two Rabbet Planes
United Kingdom, c. 1818
Provenance
...; transferred from the Rijkswerf (Navy dockyard) Rotterdam to the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, 1819;1 transferred to the museum, 1883.
Object number: NG-MC-65
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Two bronze drill shafts, one finished, the other in unfinished state. The upper part resembles an ordinary auger, with the handle omitted. The finished specimen has a small iron chisel and a plane; the chisel cuts a circle, which is then removed by the plane.
These rabbet planes were used as metal drills to make the holes in nuts for bolts, and also as augers making holes for treenails, which were much used in the new construction method developed by the British naval architect Robert Seppings (1767-1840). They were introduced in the dockyards of the Dutch Navy in 1821.2
These drills were sent to the Navy Model Room in 1819 by the Navy dockyard in Rotterdam as part of a larger collection of objects coming from the United Kingdom.3
Literature
J.C. Rijk, Handleiding tot de kennis van den scheepsbouw, s.l. 1822, p. 146, pl. IV fig. 72; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 65
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Two Rabbet Planes, United Kingdom, c. 1818', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.242790
(accessed 10 January 2025 07:20:05).