A remarkably versatile yet essentially simple and cheaply constructed machine tool, the planer is able, in a limited space, to handle large components that would otherwise require the services of a huge, expensive and heavy milling machine. Indeed, so adaptable is it, that even very old ones, fitted with powered milling heads on the bridge and uprights (when they are known as a plano-miller), can still be found working in shipyards and other places dealing with large and awkwardly-shaped components. For the amateur the benefits of the shaper were also recognised and from around 1870 to 1920 a number of miniature versions were manufactured; even today these are still sought-after machines, very handy as a working tool and, of course, as an interesting and mechanically delightful artefact. Four of these little bench-mounted T.Taylor planers - one powered the others hand-operated -  have surface in recent years; two reside in the United States and two in England (if you have a T.Taylor machine tool of any description the writer would be interested to hear from you). It appears that the planer was fitted with an automatic indexing feed to drive the cutter head across the table, a ratchet-and-pawl mechanism being used to shift the head slightly after each stroke of the table.
Although numbers of these machines are by known makers including (in the UK)  Melhuish, Milnes, Senior (and Firth), Selig, Hesketh Walker, Brittain, and Britannia many others remain unrecognised. If you have a similar machine, please do get in touch.