15-1/2" A1ss panel

A short post - just to show some photos of a very recent plane.







A quick kiln update. It is currently running and water is being removed. It is a dehumidification process by way of a household dehumidifier. I will check the moisture content in a few days and report back. There are a few pieces of Ebony in the kiln right now and I am most curious to check the results. If it works - my shop will turn into a flurry of Ebony and stainless steel parts.

A Scottish visitor with California plates

I first met Stuart Page at The festival of the Tree last August. He was there for the full 3 days and spent a good portion of his time bouncing between Rob Cosman, John Lloyd and myself. He was very enthusiastic, full of great questions and insight - we all loved having him around our respective booths.

Many months ago, Stuart contacted me to let me know he was planning a 3 month travelling tour of North American furniture makers and toolmakers and was wondering if he could stop in for a visit. It was great to hear from him again and I was quite excited to have him over.

On June 23rd - Stuart arrived in Los Angeles. He has been keeping a blog - curiously named, One hairy arm goes west. One of his first stops was to see Sam Maloof - and I am very envious of that visit. Sam is on that very short list of people I would dearly like to meet (along with Harrison Ford and Maynard James Keenan). And after Stuarts description of their time together - I am all the more green.

He arrived on Tuesday afternoon (July 23rd) around 3. I was on the main floor working away on an A1ss panel plane (more on that in another entry). He had just driven from Calgary... and to use his words - was a little “road worn”.

Stuart was very direct about his intentions the minute he walked in to the shop. He did not want to get in the way of my regular schedule and workday... but was hoping for a “fly on the wall” approach. I was pleased (and a little relieved) to hear this - and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.

At one point, Stuart offered to help in the shop with things that are challenging for someone to do on their own. Hmmmm... a shop helper....?

I need to back up a bit. I have two amazing sets of planes that I am itching to start into... but I am waiting for the last few % of moisture to come out of the Ebony. Quite frankly - I am really tired of waiting... so I started thinking about building a kiln. In the June 2006 of Woodwork magazine (No. 99), Ejler Hjorn-Westh wrote a wonderful article about building a kiln for under $500. This seemed like the perfect project for Stuart and I. I handed him the article and he just smiled... perfect.

Hmmm... where to put it?

We walked around the shop to find an empty spot for a 20"x 20"x 7' item. The best location was the first one we discussed - above one of the 48"to 60" shorts storage areas.

I had some scrap plywood from previous adventures - but we needed two 4'x8' sheets of plywood. I figured I would treat Stuart to the full North American experience and introduce him to the often understaffed “Orange Box”. I shouldn't complain... they did cut the two sheets to size for us.

Anyway - a few hours later - we had a kiln. Here are a few photos.



It tucked in perfectly above the shorts storage - and I didn't even have to move the phone or the furnace switch!



Here it is with the door open.



The baffle is a 1/4" piece of peg board.



The opening on the right is the dry air return to keep the air circulating.

I will be drying a test piece of Ebony to see how it goes. I will certainly post the results - regardless of how it turns out.

Thanks again Stuart for all your help with the kiln and keeping me company between piening, lapping and shaping.

Oh, and the one hairy arm... it really is ONE hairy arm... the other is pretty clean shaven.

Never a dull moment

When Jill and I decided that we would take the plunge and pursue this road less traveled - I was worried that full time planemaking would get boring and heaven forbid... monotonous. In the beginning, the excitement and challenge of building infill planes was incredible - the thrill of actually being able to do it was more than enough. Some of that “thrill of learning” has dissipated over the years, but I am happy to report that I still love making them. And these last two A5’s perfectly illustrate why.




The first plane is stuffed with English Boxwood. This is the second Boxwood filled plane I have made - the first was an XSNo.4. As far as I am concerned - English (or Turkish) Boxwood deserves to be placed alongside Brazilian Rosewood as far as workability and joy to use. I have a deeper appreciation as to why it is so prized by turners. Working with the Boxwood was such a fun departure from all the dark woods - I felt like I was building a brand new model.



The sole and sides are 01 tool steel, the blade is 2-1/4" wide high carbon steel and the bed angle is 50 degrees.



The second plane is also special because it has specs that I have not combined before. It is a really small A5 compared to all the others I have made. It is also extremely comfortable in the hand. The infill is Brazilian Rosewood, the sides and sole are 01 tool steel.




What was “new” is the 47.5 degree bed angle coupled with a 7-1/2" long sole. Until this plane, all the 47.5 degree bedded smoother had a 7-7/8" sole. I have made a lot of A5's with 7-1/2" long soles - but they have all had a york pitch. The york pitch raised the blade just enough to allow for the handle to be pushed in closer to the lever cap. This in turn allows the sole to be shortened. This may seem a bit over the top -but when you are trying to fit a handle to a persons hand size - every 1/16" matters!

I just beat the 4 year anniversary...

... of starting the kitchen (by 2 weeks!). I guess technically - it is not quite done - the pulls are not finished - but... it feels pretty great to have it to this point. The above photo is made up of 3 shots spliced together in photoshop - it was the only way I could get the whole thing in.

The doors themselves went together quite well - and were easier and faster than the drawers. I used a Zona saw to cut the shoulders for the hinge mortises - and a small router plane to clean them out. I was a little worried about cutting the mortises in the cabinets, but it worked quite well. I am still a little bitter that I did not have the foresight to pre-cut mortises for knife hinges like I used in the mudroom cabinets... but I will get over it. These are oil rubbed bronze hinges and worked quite well with the walnut (and the future African Blackwood pulls).



I need to thank Jim Shaver for reminding me of a great technique for keeping doors closed. I used 3/8" rare earth magnets buried in the bottom of the door rail and another in the face frame. They are epoxied in and covered with a piece of walnut veneer (planed flush with an XSNo.4 of course:). It worked perfectly.




In hindsight, there are a few things I have learned.

Firstly - building your own kitchen cabinets is not for the faint of heart. I underestimated the size of this project by at least 200%. It was totally worthwhile, I learned a tremendous amount and I would do it again (if I had to), but I was nuts to think I could do it in a year.

2. Taking the time to find quarter sawn wood for door frames is the right thing to do. In the grand scheme of the project and the immense time it requires - the extra expense of quarter sawn is a drop in the bucket, and you will thank yourself repeatedly because everything is so stable and is visually harmonious.



3. Hand cutting the dovetails in the drawers is extremely time consuming... but worth it if for no other reason than the the learning experience. It took several months of “spare time” to get them done, but my confidence in cutting them has really improved and has positive implications for a lot of other woodworking skills. And - they just look wicked.

4. Door panels that are 7/16" thick are flexible enough to be persuaded into a frame.

5. Air dried walnut is a wonderful wood to work.

6. Sanding sucks. There were a few places where I was not able to plane a surface so I hauled out my ROS. It was a perfect reminder of why I make planes.




The doors around the sink window have beveled glass in them to mirror the side lites of our front door (see below). The doors worked out very well - but the beveled glass on the top 4 doors is a little tough to see given the dark interiors.



The kitchen island was made several years ago - it was installed Christmas day 2005. The boxed dishwasher was the island with a tablecloth thrown over it. What prompted the island construction was a phone call from Sears (where we bought the dishwasher). They were calling to suggest that we might want to consider extending our coverage because the one year warranty was about to expire. Jill just laughed and told them we would pass - the dishwasher was still in the box.

I have been “working” too.

When we were in Erie last weekend, someone commented on their recent visit to this site and wanted to confirm that I was in fact still making planes. I assured them I was, but the comment has been rolling around in my head ever since. When we got home, I checked the site and sure enough... there has not been a “planemaking” post for quite a long time. Here is what has been going on in the last two months.



Front to back; A Brazilian Rosewood filled A5, an English boxwood filled A5*, an Ebony filled A6, an Ebony filled A1 panel, a Brazilian Rosewood filled No.4, a Brazilian Rosewood filled A5, a Brazilian Rosewood filled A1 and a Brazilian Rosewood filled A2 jointer.

A shot from the other side.



And some detail shots.



This is a family of 4 planes infilled with Brazilian Rosewood from a single plank. The No.4 is bedded at 52.5 degrees and has a 2" wide blade. The A5 is a York pitch with a 2-1/4" wide blade and the 14-3/4" long A1 and 22-1/2" A2 are bedded at 47.5 degrees. This is going to be a fantastic set of planes to use.




* This is second boxwood filled plane I have made. The first was an XSNo.4 I made last years and I have been dying to make another ever since. Boxwood is a real treat to work with - it cuts like hard butter. I also want to thank Bill Carter for generously supplying the piece for the handle. Finding genuine boxwood is really tough, let alone something large enough to make a handle with.



This past Friday, I shaped this Brazilian Rosewood handle. Above is a shot I took when I started shaping, and the black streak came alive. To me - this is what dreams are made of! Below is a photo of the handle fully shaped, sanded and ready to have the adjuster fit.



The two Ebony filled planes are at the tail end of the french polishing process - they each have 9 coats at this point and are looking magnificent.

Next update - the kitchen doors!

Christmas in Erie PA

This past weekend, Jill and the boys and I traveled to Erie PA for the Mid-West Tool Collectors meeting. It was a short drive for a change - only 4 hours each way.

The usual suspects were there - Jim Leamy, Paul Hamler, Patrick Leach, Don Rosebrook and Martin Donnelly to name a few. I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Roy Underhill. He gave a talk on Saturday night. Early in the show he was walking around in the tool display and demo area and I had to do a triple take to make sure it was him - he was not wearing his hat.

Paul Hamler is just finishing up what I believe is his last set of miniature planes - a Sandusky Center wheel plow. There were several different configurations - Ebony with ivory arms, Rosewood with ivory arms and even a few solid ivory versions. It was a little overwhelming trying to keep track of them all - and when Paul sent me this photo a week ago - I missed “it”.



On Saturday morning, Riley walked over to me at my bench and handed me a small bubble wrapped package. He said “Happy Fathers Day dad”. As I unwrapped it - I found myself holding a very small African Blackwood bodied, left-handed Center wheel plow. Riley answered my question even before I had a chance to ask it - “I got it for a buck”.

I knew something was up, and judging from the smiling faces around me - their plan had worked.

The plane is magnificent to say the least, and if it you left out familiar objects to give a sense of scale - it could pass for a full sized plane. Paul, my deepest thanks for this stunning and personal tool.

Here are a few photos of the pair of left-handed center wheel plows.






And a few shots to try to give some sense of scale. The rebate plane is 1/2" wide and 3-3/4" long.





And some detail shots as well.







That little brass thing the skate is sitting on... one of the bronze buttons I insert into an infill cap iron.

Paul was also delivering some of his scraper plane inserts and gave a talk on Friday night about its history and evolution. As a fellow toolmaker, it was very interesting to see how it evolved, the prototypes and those “aha” moments that happen at the weirdest times. The spring is the (brilliant) key to this insert - and turns it into an elegant and highly functional tool. I can’t wait to get a No.6 so I can use it.

An amazing “Dad” moment.

And I am still a little stunned.

Riley and I just came in from the shop - lesson one of hand cutting dovetails. We had finished dinner early and I looked over at the clock - 6:45. Hmmm... I wonder if there is enough time? Jill gave us her blessing so we headed out.

As we did the long walk to the shop, I realized I did not really know where to begin teaching Riley how to do this. Where do I start? Stock preparation? No... that is a lesson all on its own. How to hold a saw? No... experience is the best teacher for this. Show examples of how they look? Geeze... I was getting bogged down in the details. K.I.S.S. with emphasis on the simple.

I grabbed a scrap piece of 1x6 pine, cut it to 7" long, ripped it on the bandsaw to two equal width pieces - stock prep done. I did have a sample box that I built while at Rosewood studios several years back. We used that as reference for what through dovetails look like.

I could tell Riley was in the right headspace for doing this - he gently unpacked and admired his Wenzloff saws. I gathered the tools: the Tite-mark gauge, the 4" adjustable square, the sliding bevel and a pencil.

The first task was to define the baselines with the Tite-mark. I showed Riley how it worked, and he layed them all out. I was a little surprised that he had the sense to hold the fence firmly against the stock - I was anticipating having to gently remind him a few times.

We did not bother measuring to locate the tail lines - he just marked them wherever - and they were surprisingly well placed. Then he transferred the tail lines on the top and back down the other side. Again - he held the square correctly against the stock. This was going surprisingly well!



Next was sawing. I explained the difference between a crosscut and rip saw and marked each saws with a quick piece of masking tape (sorry Mike:) I then explained that it was easier to use a saw when you were making vertical cut as opposed to a sideways one. So Riley positioned the wood in the vice so the tail line was vertical (according to his eye) and then he started to cut. Note the index finger!



He held the saw incredibly well. We marked the waste with a Sharpie marker. He switched saws and cut off the waste. The shoulders were surprisingly strait and square.

Onto the pins. We used the tail to mark the pins and drew a big “X” on the waste. Riley grabbed the square to draw in the vertical lines... did I even need to be here???



He reached for the rip saw again, and used his own finger to help start the cut. The two shoulder kerfs were really good - now for the waste. For a second, I debated between coping or chopping the waste. We opted for chopping. Riley was a little nervous about using the chisels... but he soon got over it knowing he was going to get to use the green mallet. We chopped half way through from one side - I held the chisel. The second side went very quick and suddenly - we were done. I was preparing to break into a long speech about how they never fit the first time and would need some fine-tuning... when Riley grabbed the two pieces and pushed them together.

My jaw hit the floor - he was beaming.

The joint was a little loose - but it fit, it had square shoulders and kerfs and it was magnificent. I am not sure who was more proud at that moment.

As we walked back to the house Riley said he wanted to do a four sided one next time. I looked at the clock - 7:30.