By James E. Price
Woodworking planes are merely sharp chisels firmly restrained at a prescribed pitch in a body that can be gripped in a craftsman’s hands. Most are used in a linear motion, sometimes at a skew. There is a type of traditional tool equipped with one or two cutters that rotates around a central axis, that being a hollow auger that cuts a round tenon on the end of a workpiece. Several years ago I acquired a hollow auger made from an actual skewed rabbet plane. It is the only such tool I have ever seen and I examine it often and marvel at the ingenuity of some past craftsman who was skilled in both woodworking and iron forging. That person in the past had the need for a hollow auger and had the knowledge, skills, and abilities to create one.
