Seeing - part I

Several months ago a friend of mine stopped by with his typical ‘goodie’ bag. Some of it was for sale, some was just for show & tell, and some was part of the ongoing lending routine (for which I am very grateful). This plane was one of the ‘lenders’. There were 2 reasons he brought this plane. First was because of the very unusual marking on the lever cap (which we were both pretty excited about).




The other, closely related reason, was to get my thoughts on who might have made it. I had an opinion on the maker question immediately. He had concluded the same thing. We compared notes about why we concluded the same name - it was an interesting exercise. What was most interesting is that we were both looking at the form of the plane - the lines, the shapes and the design details. We used that information to identify the maker (as opposed to a great big SPIERS or NORRIS stamped in the lever cap).

I have been thinking about this issue for a very long time - what details distinguish one makers work from another? I have talked about this topic with a few other planemakers over the years and it is always fascinating and informative, and is something very near and dear to our hearts.

I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too fast here (as tempting as it is), so I would like to get some feedback from anyone who is interested. I have taken several photos of this plane from a few different angles to offer as much detail as I can. I would love to hear from you as to who you think made this plane, and most importantly - what details of this plane did you use to help identify it (or were you considering when identifying the maker)?

I should also mention, that as far as I know - this plane has not been positively identified or attributed to a known maker, so there is no right or wrong answer here. Depending on the interest in this topic, I am willing to venture further out on the plane design limb.






















So... who do you think made it?

The below two photos have been added as per Peter McBride’s request.

End of summer report

It is hard to believe it is September already.

We had a good (and busy) summer this year - here are some of the highlights.

I had the great pleasure of attending the Lie Nielsen 30th anniversary open house on July 15th and 16th. I took a somewhat indirect route - Maine via New Jersey. I know - sounds kinda weird, but it was a perfect trip. I flew to New Jersey and connected with my friend Raney Nelson of Daedtoolworks and we drove to Maine together. We stayed at a wonderful B&B - Blue Skye Farm with fellow toolmakers, Ron Brese, Tico Vogt, Jameel Abraham, Father John and Huna and Peter Follansbee for good measure. The setting was wonderful, the food was fantastic and every evening we sat around enjoying each others company. It was marvelous.

This was the first time I have been to Lie Nielsen, and I was very impressed. Everything was well organized and everyone at Lie Nielsen was extremely helpful and generous in helping us get settled in. They took great care of the demonstrators and I am sure all the people who attended received the same level of attention. From the wood fired pizza, to the lobster bake, to the tour of the facilities - we were all well taken care of. My deepest thanks and congratulations to Thomas Lie-Nielsen and the rest of the fine folks at Lie-Nielsen. This trip was a highlight of my summer.

Another highlight was an opportunity to work with my friend Noriko Maeda. Noriko is a Japanese calligrapher of the finest order. I have gotten to know Noriko over the last several years and jumped at the chance to collaborate on a project with her. She has an exhibit at the Warm Springs Gallery in Charlottesville, VA. Part of the exhibit includes a series of 6 lamps. Noriko explored the word Asobu, which means “to play like a child”. She produced the paper shades and I had the honor of creating playful bases for them. It was a wonderful project that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The shop has been a busy place too. I have been working on some planes with very striking and unusual infill material. Here are 3 of them.

First up is a Snakewood filled XSNo.4. This was my first experience with Snakewood and it was a real pleasure. It is a strange wood beyond its appearance. The wood itself is very brittle and I can imagine would produce some horrific slivers. It works beautifully and the end result is quite spectacular. The customer and I had a really tough time deciding between a bronze lever cap or a stainless steel one. We were both on the fence about it and could not make a call. I threatened to let Riley decide.



Riley chose bronze.







It was the right call.











The bronze really highlights the lighter tones in the snakewood and helps connect the infill to the metal. I think a stainless steel lever cap would have left the infill somewhat disconnected.

This next plane is a Desert Ironwood burl filled SNo.4. I have worked with Desert Ironwood before, but this was a particularly nice piece. The lever cap for this plane was a no-brainer.













And last, but certainly not least, is a Black & White ebony filled SNo.4L smoother. The “L” in the name is because this plane is 1/2" an inch longer than the standard SNo.4. It has the same blade width, but is just a bit longer - 7".



I have had this Black and White Ebony for years and have been dying to try it out in a plane. These photos were taken after the 8th coat of french polish was applied. It is amazing how the color has changed as the french polish has built up and as the wood has been exposed to light. My understanding of Black and White Ebony is that the cream colored sections will darken a bit in time, but will retain most of the light color.

Working this material was really fun. It works just like Madagascar Ebony but without the annoying coal dust everywhere and has a softness like English Boxwood.






For some reason, I looked at the clock on July 10th at around 8:20 and was immediately struck by the fact that exactly one year ago at that moment, I was in the hospital waiting for my finger to be stitched up. It was a strange realization, and I have to admit the rest of the day felt a little odd. I was keenly aware of every activity in the shop and paid extra special attention to being safe. I breathed a sigh of relief as I crawled into bed that night - injury free.

August 16th - the much anticipated opening of the Lee Valley store in Waterloo. I have a running list of Lee Valley items on the chalkboard in the shop, and I held off on ordering in anticipation of picking them up in person at the new store. The store opened at 9am and I figured I would geek out and see how close to the front of the line I could get. Riley and I were the 4th people in line. Rob Lee was there to keep us company as we waited (he capped Riley’s Timbit quota at 10 - I re-negotiated it down to 8). I have been back several times already - it is so great (and dangerous) to have a Lee Valley store less than 10 minutes from home!

The grand opening of the Waterloo store is being held the week of September 19th and there are a few of us that will be demonstrating at the store. I will be joining Dan Barrett of D.L. Barrett & Sons and Chris Schwarz from Lost Art Press for demonstrations and seminars on Thursday the 22nd, friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th.

The following week, Joe Steiner and I will be driving to Cincinnati for the 2011 Woodworking in America conference. Last years conference was an amazing experience and I cannot imagine this year will be any different. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and please stop in and say hello if you are going to be attending.

I am working on the first 2 K13’s right now - one infilled with African Blackwood and the other infilled with some incredible Desert Ironwood. I should be posting photos shortly.