Do you Buy before you Try ?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been surprised at how many new hand tool manufacturers are popping up on the Internet and all of the well known manufacturers are offering new and exciting product. This is nice but I’m sometimes weary…it either takes someone with a bucket of dough or a trusting consumer to buy tools on the Internet without first trying them out, unless it’s from an extremely well known tool maker or you’ve at least done some homework and read some reviews from reliable voices.
I know I don’t have a bucket full of dough but I can say there are a few hand tool manufacturers I feel quite confident in. I see a new product in a nice little picture, I read a few details that the manufacturer obviously wrote themselves and with that I reach for some plastic and wait for the mail truck.
Looking at some recent articles showing the rise in the hand tool market I know I’m not alone on this. So all that said what does it take to do that?
I’m just curious if there’s a lot of people out there who would never think on buying a hand tool that they’ve never once put their hands on…I suppose in a perfect world I’d be able to get to all of the wood shows and special hand tool events, try out all of the new tools before I commit, but my reality is something quite different than that. I try to develop a relationship with manufacturers and when they offer new product I go further than just reading a short paragraph on a web-site. I’ll contact them and make conversation, discuss the company history and see how the new product came to be. I’ve found almost every hand tool manufacturer I’ve contacted with questions or concerns to be absolutely forthcoming with information and assistance. If they’re not I’ll go somewhere else right? That is my job isn’t it ? My duty as a member of society to go elsewhere when I get bad service…let people know of my bad experiences as well as the good ones of course!
The good ones thankfully out way the bad and as a woodworker in 2009 I feel fortunate to be living and working through this exciting time. Whether you realise it or not we’re watching a section of history unfold in the hand tool market alone. This renaissance will be looked back upon the way we look back on our vintage Stanley’s and the like. My Lie Nielsen such and such will probably be worth more when my grand kids hock it on ‘What-Ever-Bay’ in a hundred years….
I digress…
Wooden bodied moulding planes, panel and back saws, specialty tools and educational platforms-it’s going to be an interesting few months with so many new and exciting things happening in my wood shop. I’ll fill you in on the details as they unfold. Stay tuned…
Oh yeah, the picture at the top has nothing to do with the article; I just thought it was a nice shot of our first born- Sally, the Unplugged Watchdog is our nine year old Beagle. She spends just about every waking hour with me in my wood shop. Maybe I should use this photo for my tool chest for sale advertisements? What a disgusting thought.

Cheers!

Following the ‘Signs’

This morning, while edge planing a piece of Cherry I decided it would be a good time to demonstrate a trick I frequently do to determine the ‘flatness’ of the surface being worked. In the next photograph I’ve just taken a few through shavings down the reference edge. Please note that the stock is simply sitting on my bench top; it isn’t ‘dogged-down’ or clamped in any way. This will insure I’m not pinching the work, creating a bump or hollow over it’s length. I do have it resting up against a thin, scrap piece of plywood secured across the width of my work bench as well as having my bench dogs raised slightly along the front edge to keep the piece from moving about. With this method there’s no danger of transforming the profile of this important, reference edge in any way while I’m working it.

This is important and should be noted.

I arrived at this point after the larger ‘work’ or ‘reference’ surface was first determined and flattened. This first face surface being the most important, it will be our ‘reference’ surface to which all of our other lay-out will be referenced from. Some woodworkers when using the term ‘face side’ are usually referring to the outside ’show surface’ which can get a bit confusing…so to be clear-the work surface is actually my inside ‘reference face’ while dimensioning and laying out.
Now the trick I mentioned is a simple visual solution that clearly determines what your surface edge really looks like. Winding sticks and straight edges are great tools and visual aids showing you how straight and square you’re work really is; even a light rub with your finger tips can assist the eyes in determining this narrow, ’surface flattening’. But to be absolutely sure the reference edge is flat you’ll need some hard evidence…these are the shavings lying before you.If you look closely at the photos you’ll see the shavings I’m taking-these are only possible with a depth of cut in the neighborhood of one thousandth of an inch and taking a full, through shaving you’ll begin to see the signs. This type of shaving can only be obtained after you’ve flattened and tuned the sole of your bench plane as well as working with a plane iron that is razor sharp!
Lying there before me is a kind of road map…this clearly shows where there are still dips or hollows in the surface. In the next photo you’ll see how I’m getting closer to a truly flat edge. Again, the ‘map’ in the edge grain is unequaled in its ability to clearly demonstrate the progress. Simply take a fresh shaving and carefully unroll it. I’ve laid it on my steel flat edge to make it easier for you to see. With each pass these small ‘holes’ in the shavings get smaller. Another shaving and I’m almost there. The small ‘holes’ or ‘tears’ in the edge grain shaving mark any low or hollow spots in the surface. I can plane ‘around’ these valleys and bring things closer together. In the bottom photo you can see the three passes it took: from right, my first pass with two big sections that are obviously low. The middle shaving in the photo represents the next pass bringing the surfaces closer together; and finally the left shaving being my third pass is almost complete. I’ll follow with one or two stopped shavings to uniformly ‘hollow’ the length of the edge slightly and finish off with one or two more through shavings calling this side done.

My steel straight edge, winding sticks and engineers square together will tell the story of square and straight but for these tiny surface hollows, in the thousandth of an inch range, this road-map trick is something you should try. It can be difficult to see with the naked eye any slight valleys and a finger tip touch can only get you so far…this method of watching these signs will give you the confidence to move on with the dimensioning process of the lumber being worked. I should also mention the technique of ‘hollowing’ the edge along it’s length is a technique best demonstrated by David Charlesworth. His DVD on hand planing techniques available through Lie Nilesen Toolworks is extremely imformative and should be viewed by all using hand planes in the workshop.

Cheers!

Making the Best a Little Bit Better…

In my shop I have a wide selection of hand planes, from vintage Stanley’s to the modern designed, and Canadian made Veritas. I’m the proud owner of a James Krenov smoothing plane and also have an assortment of vintage wooden bodied bench planes and special purpose tools. I’ve acquired all of these tools slowly over the years but have to say that the planes I reach for the most while working wood and find to be much higher quality than all of the others mentioned are my Lie Nielsen hand planes. A league all their own comes to mind…
Right out of the package these tools perform exceptionally well but I’m going to demonstrate a few simple procedures that will make these ‘near perfect’ tools even better. The tips and techniques I’m going to describe are all methods used by English cabinetmaker and wood working teacher David Charlesworth; his hand plane tuning and technique videos are worth every cent. It’s funny to think that people go out and spend thousands of dollars on education but for the price of a handful of DVD’s, three books and some time spent in the shop you can get a kind of private lesson from this woodworking master. I had David’s books for the past while and finally got around to picking up his videos…better late than never, you’re never to old to learn a few new skills. Although I’ve been working with hand tools for awhile now there are some great tips and techniques in these books and videos that every wood worker should see. I set up a small monitor at the end of my workbench and make my way through the videos…pausing and playing, stopping and re-watching. This is a great way to learn at your own pace and I honestly can’t say enough about his videos….extremely informative!
Lie Nielsen bench planes come with a blade ground at a 25° bevel; this is where I’ll start to make my adjustments. Following the advice of Charlesworth, I’ll regrind the bevel closer to 23°. I use a JET slow speed wet sharpener for all of my grinding applications; it’s a good tool that is reasonably priced, easy to set up and dependable. It came with a wide assortment of jigs for different sharpening applications but I tend to only use the one to hold my irons and chisels exclusively. The rest of them I don’t bother much with.

After a few minutes on the grinder establishing the new bevel, it’s back to my work bench to get set up to flatten the sole of the plane. ‘Flatten the sole?’ you may be asking yourself…Why should you bother if the tool was manufactured to such high standards?
Even with an exceptionally well made tool like the Lie Nielsen line, there is always a chance that when in use and the plane body is under tension with the cutting iron, chip breaker and lever cap installed in working position, the bottom of the plane could be slightly out of true. This simple process will insure accuracy and enable me to take the finest wood shavings. Starting with a dead flat surface, in my case a piece of safety glass I’ll lay a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on it. From here I’ll take a felt tip marker and

draw out some grid lines over the bottom of the plane. A few passes and you’ll quickly be able to see just how flat the plane really is…keep taking passes until the bottom is completely clean. I’ll usually do a second round of lines just to make sure things are as flat as they should be. I follow this same procedure for all of my Lie Nielsen hand planes, fine tuning them all at once is a nice way to spend the day and will really pay off when I’m back in the shop next.
In the next shot you can clearly see what the sole of my 140, skew angle block plane while under tension of the iron and lever cap, looks like after a few passes on the 220 grit sandpaper…a bit more work and I’m there.

Notice the area around and just behind the mouth in the first shot…these are the areas you want to make sure are dead flat. A fine shaving is impossible to achieve if these areas are not touching your surface to be planed.
Again I’ll repeat these steps for my shoulder planes, side rabbet planes, block plane and bench planes.

When flattening the sole of my shoulder planes it’s a good idea to use a small square to make sure you’re keeping things square; the nature of the shoulder plane in use would not be good if you unintentionally sanded it out of square…something you could easily do with this technique…be careful!
Once I’ve flattened the soles on the 220 grit sandpaper I’ll take some super fine steel wool and a bit of metal polish and give the soles a good going over. This will make all of the tiny scratches left behind by the sandpaper very minute and give the planes a slick sole that makes it a breeze to move across the surface being planed. Seeing as I’m doing this hand plane ‘Spring Cleaning Session’ I’ll go over the sides and lever caps as well, making them shine like a new dime. Any small surface rust, tarnish and grim will be history. From here I’ll focus again on the irons. With the newly ground bevels completed, I’ll hone a second bevel on my water stones to approximately 33°. Then a third tiny bevel to finish at 35°. This again is a Charlesworth technique that will give you a razor sharp iron capable of taking the finest shavings.

Before using the stones though, it’s a good idea to use the safety glass and sandpaper method to flatten them as well. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to hollow them while honing.
Once the cutting bevel is prepared it’s time to flatten the back of the iron…these planes have been with me for a few years now so they don’t require much honing. I made sure when I first purchased them that I spent enough time on each iron insuring a flat back. The one thing I will do is perform “the ruler trick”. Again a Charlesworth technique to create a tiny back-bevel on the irons flat side. This may sound strange at first but I promise you the edge created will scare you.
Again, here in this article I’m not getting into all of the details of the process but am trying to say that a few hours spent with some sandpaper on glass, a Charlesworth DVD or two and a few of the finest planes on the market today will indeed take your wood working to the next level…guaranteed!
Cheers.

Help is Closer than you Think…

This past week I’ve been watching some new DVD’s I recently ordered from Lie Nielsen Toolworks. I’d like to share some thoughts specifically on Don McConnell’s Traditional Molding Techniques: The Basics

If you’ve ever wanted to replicate an heirloom molding perhaps from an antique furniture piece or architectural application, or better yet adding a custom profile to one of your own original designs by way of dedicated hand planes; this production is an absolute must see.
Beautifully filmed at Lie Nielsen Toolworks in Warren, Maine, this instructional DVD offers an incredibly informative lesson in molding making techniques.
As far as the production goes, if you’re already familiar with the Lie-Nielsen DVD’s you’ll notice that the picture quality, editing production and use of clear and easy to understand animations brings the ‘wood working how-to video’ to another level indeed…the soundtrack also serves it’s purpose well creating a welcoming atmosphere to absorb the information.
Don McConnells instruction, pace and execution is seamless, professional and inspiring. It enables us to look well into the working hands of an experienced craftsman and answers the questions most asked when producing this type of work.

I’ve been gearing up to build an exterior, ‘Heritage Door’ for a clients home here in the city. It has an elaborate mix of applied moldings and will be an exciting project to finish off my Spring production schedule. The house is situated in Historic Cabbage Town, a protected neighborhood where you can stroll through beautiful tree lined streets and take in some amazing examples of house design, architecture and historic reference.
Wood working education is everywhere around us whether you choose to take a moment to stop and notice; from the instructional DVD to written pages in books or these living examples in museums and like my clients home here in Toronto, a designated neighborhood perfectly preserved for anyone to stop, look and consider the hows and the whys of wood working technique, design and application.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot…Wood Working Blogs aren’t a bad place to Graze the Brain either!
Cheers.

Two Planes go Head to Head
These days, when you open up your favorite Woodworking Magazines you see an incredible amount of hand tools coming back into style by manufacturers from literally all over the world. While this indeed is a good thing for hand tool users and collectors, the amount of choices the amateur woodworker can have may be a little overwhelming. In this article I’m going to compare two of my favourite Smoothing planes, a Lie-Nielson No. 4, and a James Krenov custom smoother.

Tale of the Tapes

Lie-Nielson No. 4, Bronze Body
Length: 9 1/2″
Width: 2″
Weight: 4 lbs ., 10 oz.
Blade Thickness: 1/8″
Manufactured in Maine.

James Krenov Custom Smoother
Length: 8 1/2″
Width: 2 1/8″
Weight: 2 lbs., 4 oz.
Blade Thickness: 3/32″
Manufactured in California.

The first thing to mention when comparing these two planes is the obvious, one is an admittedly ‘rough around the edges’ wooden bodied plane and the other is a shiny and sleek looking, Bronze bodied plane based on a Stanley, Bedrock design. The Krenov has no front Knob or rear Tote, so using a plane with this style may take a little getting used to. The Lie-Nielson has a comfortable pistol grip tote, familiar to most of our Western style hand planes.
Both would be considered in the high end of quality in today’s hand tool market and are quite compatible in price. So what’s the difference and which one is for you?
Let’s take a closer look.

Lie-Nielson No. 4
Let’s start off by saying Lie-Nielson Tool works Inc. manufactures precision made, top-quality hand tools in Warren, Maine. They are quality through and through. Right out of the box these tools are hard to beat, high quality castings, beautifully shaped and finished Cherry handles and totes. The blades are A-2 cryogenically treated Tool Steel, hardened to Rockwell 60-62 and double tempered; they may need only a small amount of honing before use. The No. 4 is a Bench plane that is basically a re-designed Bedrock. The Bedrock was Stanley’s top of the line planes, the biggest difference being in the frog assembly. The frog has a long bed that mates along the sole for a better supported iron with noticeably less chatter. Another advantage of this set-up is the ease at which you can adjust the throat opening. Two screws set behind the rear tote allows you to easily open or close the throat. No more fussing with the Lever Cap, loosening the iron and chip breaker, turning screws, putting things back together just to find it’s not quite right.
The No. 4 is available in Bronze or Iron, I purchased the bronze version for the extra added weight. Not too mention, it looks pretty cool as well…Lie-Nielson also offers a Corrugated bottom version as well as a High-Angle frog upgrade.For smoothing hard reversing grain such as Birds Eye Maple, this plane works like a dream. Never any fussing, no surprises, just reliable performance every time. The No. 4 is in my opinion, the ultimate in Bedrock style hand planes and retails for $300.00 American. I think it’s worth every cent.

James Krenov Custom Smoother
Now we’ll go to the other end of the spectrum except however in performance. This plane is exactly what it’s supposed to be. A simply made wooden bodied hand plane with minimal parts and not much else in the way of bells or whistles. Rough edges and dull finish, this plane may look as though an amateur woodworker cut it out using a dull steak knife. Funny how looks can be deceiving? As soon as you pick up this plane you realise those rough edges aren’t so rough after all;perfectly shaped to meet the irregular hills and valleys of your hand. It is admittedly a little strange at first, the force is a downward pressure, with your hands lying in a more flattened but natural state. After using it for a few minutes you realize this downward pressure lends itself to optimum control. Fine adjustments are effortless with small movements and changes in your body weight. A much more organic movement you’ll quickly discover small nuances in the grain of the wood. You’ll be able to ‘feel’ the grain down through the plane body. The mechanical motion of the Lie-Nielson plane, while safe and predictable goes by the way side once you feel the difference in a wooden plane. You no longer will plane in that straight line; this plane allows you to explore with a rhythm and motion never experienced in hand planing. Circular motions, cross-grain fielding, and reversing exotic grains will become like silk. To adjust the blade a small hammer is used and sighting down the sole from the back, hold the plane upside down and gently tap the Iron until it just comes out of the throat. Another tap on the wedge and your ready to go. To retract the blade a repeated tap on the heel and that’s all there is to it. Perhaps a little over-simplified but with a little practice, this will become second nature. The Krenov came with a Ron Hock blade and chip breaker. Hock tools is a small company in Fort Bragg, California. Starting in 1981, they’ve been making high quality steel for James Krenov and his students in the Fine Woodworking Program at College of the Redwoods. Now available world wide, they are some of the best plane irons available. I’ve recently fitted all of my old Stanley hand planes with Hock Chip breakers and Irons.

And the Winner Is…

So there you have it, the East meeting the West in hand plane technology. Which is better? I think that depends on the piece of wood or project you’re dealing with. I tend to use the Lie-Nielson for larger areas and the Krenov for more delicate pieces. If I’m making a piece like a kitchen cabinet for someone and using a lot of figured Cherry, then I’ll grab the Lie-Nielson; if on the other hand I’m shaping a small box out of figured Maple, perhaps a Christmas gift for a friend, then I’ll always reach for the Krenov. Funny how simply holding a certain tool will change your thinking and/or working perspectives. One may inspire while the other offers a sense of security. Now, if I had to choose only one…?

RECENT COMMENTS:

Tom,
Great website and nice comments about the two smoothers. I think you may have put into words the best explanation I’ve read about how these planes actully feel in use, niceley done.

Dave

March 4, 2008 8:24 AM