I'm no expert, but I've read that of the old Roman weapons caches that were
found were bronze cast offs that were obsoleted by early steel.

Maybe we found the beech ones as relics because they kept the better birch ones?

LOL joking 



> On Jul 28, 2015, at 3:46 PM, Claudio DeLorenzi  wrote:
> 
> For a historical perspective (hey, I am a history buff) the ancient Romans
> used beech for their planes.  Roman planes, I am sure were made of beech-
> at least the ones that have been found in various places.  Yes, 2000 plus
> year old planes, some of which still had some wood remants!
> 
>  I know that some ancient Roman relic planes have been recovered from
> Egypt which had  beech still present that was identified positively.    I
> know that they found some in Germany not too long ago (maybe around 2001 or
> so), and of course there was a famous hoard that was found in a well near
> Reading in England of (I can't remember exactly) maybe 60 or 70 tools in
> the 1890's?  Plus there have been several old Roman ship wrecks with
> perfectly preserved wood (wood does not rot under constant conditions of
> moisture, esp if the oxygen levels are low- witness old Greek and Roman era
> wharves and sea walls and bridge foundations that still have intact
> pilings, although all the above water stuff is long gone)
>  During my various visits to Europe for business, I have done some museum
> and tourist things, viewing several different sculptures, funerary markers,
> paintings, frescos, and even mosaics showing various Roman tools, including
> wood planes. It is remarkable how similar they are to modern planes, except
> that they used a transverse iron rivet across the escapement rather then
> the typical sidewall groove for wedging the single blade (I don't think any
> planes used a double iron until the early 1800's).  They tended to have a
> York pitch (ie more than the typical 45 degrees, if I recall correctly).  I
> recall seeing a relic that really reminded me of a mitre plane, with iron
> walls and wood infil.
> 
> So we have at least a 2000 year history of beech use for planes, and if
> there was something better, I think you can safely bet we would probably
> know about it by now!  I am not sure, but I think the Romans were following
> the Greeks, who also used beech for their planes, but I am not sure about
> that.
> Cheers from sweltering Waterloo
> Claudio
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> 
> To change your subscription options:
> http://old
tools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> 
> To read the FAQ:
> http://swingleydev.com/archi
ve/faq.html
> 
> OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/ot/">http://swingleydev.com/ot/
> 
> OldTools@s...
> http://old
tools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools