Welcome to “The Duplex” Plane website – the ONLY place where you will find information on the block planes manufactured by Joseph Wolsterholme & Sons, of Sheffield and Holborn, England.

Firstly, let me dispel any doubts that you may have or myths you may have heard. “The Duplex” plane was NEVER EVER manufactured by ANY OTHER firm other than Joseph Wolstenholme & Sons. They were NEVER made by Marples. They were NEVER made by Preston. They were NEVER made by Wingfield & Rowbotham. They were ONLY made by JWS and sold by other firms, including William Marples & Sons, Robert Marples & Sons, Thomas Turner & Co., Edward Preston & Sons, Lockwood Brothers, Richard Melhuish Ltd. and many others. The fact that these planes are included in those manufacturer’s catalogues is not proof that those firms actually made the planes – only that they sold them. This is a common practice of tool companies of the 19th and 20th century, as it is even today.

Now I know that there will be skeptics out there – especially amongst collectors – but I will illustrate, via this website and my upcoming book, why my claims are so. They are not the ravings of a hand tool nut job (well, they might be actually? Who am I to judge?) but the result of years of carefully researched and documented evidence collected over time.

So please browse the pages of this website and learn about a long forgotten company and the wonderfully simple little block planes they created and sold for almost thirty years.