Gathered ones:
 
       I rescued a coffin bodied smoother from an antique store and a
future life of being a decorative object yesterday.  I am struck by the
weight of this guy, and the beauty and attention to detail in its
construction.  It's in great shape, aside from being a little dirty, and
was clearly used lovingly.  I apologize for my CN* ignorance, and any
wasted bandwidth, for I have Kean and Pollak, but not Roberts, and I'm
wondering about this maker, approx. era of manufacture, and if they used
other woods than beech (I'm terrible at i.d.ing wood, and this guy's still
pretty dirty, but this sucker's much heavier than any other coffin
smoother I've hefted).  
 
       The mark is Fairclough & Co/72 Byrom St./Liverpool in three lines,
small caps, with a scalloped border around it. It has a clearly original
Robt. Sorby, tapered, double iron with both the maltese cross above and
kangaroo below.  Iron is 2 3/8" wide, plane is 8 1/4" x 3".
 
       Any info would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
 
-Lorn (*CN= Clueless Newbie)