The first customer set of KS shoulder planes

When I injured my shoulder last Decemeber, I was 96% of the way through a set of KS shoulder planes. I was on a roll, I was totally in the zone and it all came to a grinding halt. All that remained were the chamfers on the smallest size - the KS.5.

I walked past that plane for months, wondering and waiting for the day that I could get back to working on it. I knew I wasn’t ready most of the time, but there was a moment where frustration (and my shoulder) started to feel like the time was getting close.

There were 2 issues I was wrestling with. The first is that chamfers do not leave much margin for error - mistakes at the chamfer stage are catastrophic. The other issue is working steel is much harder than working with bronze.

I started working on a customers plane - a bronze sided XSNo.4 (the one in the previous post). This gave me the confidence to know that I was well enough to do the chamfering, so I slowly started into it. It went very well, and in a few days, was applying the first coat of french polish - an exciting stage of any plane build.

I was also really worried that the chamfers on the last plane would not match the first 4. I knew my pace and method of work had changed significantly and wasn’t sure if that would factor in or not. I am thankful that pace and strength didn’t seem to change anything. It was a real thrill to be able to unite the full set of completed planes.

This set is infilled with quarter sawn Desert Ironwood - a stunning material that has become very popular. I will post some photos of these along side my own African Blackwood prototype set for comparison. There is a link under pricing (to the right) that gives the specs as well as some photos of the Blackwood set.

 

The top view shows the effects of scaling the set. 

A very special XSNo.4 and modifying the bucket list

A little over a month ago I took a deep breath and started working on a new plane for a very patient customer. All of my customers have been incredibly patient as I recover from my shoulder injury - it has been much appreciated.

This plane was a perfect one to work on - the bronze sides are a lot easier to work than steel, and it is not so big or heavy that my weak shoulder will be stressed from the weight.

I started working for 20 minutes a day, and stopped regardless of how my shoulder felt. It seemed like such an insignificant amount of time, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get things done in 20 minute windows. It also allowed me to spend some time setting up my camera and filming video clips of the process - you can find them on my instagram feed.

My shoulder specialist felt that this was a sound approach to getting back to work and said that if I feel fine the day after my 20 minute workout - that I could continue with another 20 minutes. If there was pain from the previous day, take a day off. I needed to take one day off between piening - something that was a serious concern. The pronation of my left hand is still very poor, so controlling a ballpien hammer and striking a very small target gave me serious stomach acid.

It went very slowly, and the rhythm was off, but I was able to do it - I was very relieved.

I have been able to increase the time up to about an hour to and hour and a half depending on how intense the work is. It still feels depressingly slow, but it is improving which is ultimately all I can hope for.

There is more to the story of this plane, but I will reveal the final chapter once it has safely arrived to its new owner.

I have had a life-long love of Porsche’s, but my experience with them has been extremely limited. I was the passenger in one a few years ago... that was the first time I sat in one.  

Two weekends ago, I was in Amana Iowa attending HandWorks - the finest handtool woodworking event there is. A friend drove up in his 1970’s Targa and handed me a small box - pictured above.

I suspect the look on my face was priceless when I realized what it was. His reply was simple and incredible, ‘I wanted to get you started on your first part’. I was floored. Incredibly thoughtful and generous beyond words. That hood emblem turned out to be a bit of a warm up - striking something from my bucket-list - driving a 911.

Two other friends had recently acquired 911’s and were eager for me to see them - and the offer of driving one was extended. To say I was excited was a gross understatement... I was rather delirious... but also nervous that all the hype I had created since I was 15 couldn’t possibly live up. 

Boy, was I wrong. I had heard lots of people use the expression, ‘it corners like it is on rails’... I had always thought this was just a figure of speech... to make the point that they handle really well. Turns out - it does drive like it is on rails. Real rails. The owner of the car sat beside me and coached me along - which was really, really valuable and insightful... his most common 2 phrases were, ‘now let it out!’, and ‘you’re holding back aren’t you?’ It took me a while to unlearn driving our stick-shift Volkswagen Tiguan and drive this 1983 911 like it was meant to be driven... and I suspect I still had a long way to go.  Going 60 miles an hour in second around corners was not something I was used to - it was incredible. The sound, the vibrations you can feel through your body, the feedback - it was all amazing and unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

The first outing was about 1/2 long, and my heart was still racing when the other 911 pulled in. The keys were exchanged, and I was asked if I wanted to take that one out. A couple of slow-motion eye blinks and were were off again. I was a little more calm this time and (I think) drove a little more comfortably. Still cautious - but I wasn’t freaking out as much. We came back 1/2 hour later and I felt completely exhausted mentally - but in that really good way. I had just removed something that had been on my bucket list for decades... and it exceeded all my expectations.  The trouble is... I am now officially ruined, and as I removed one thing off the bucket list... I fear I have added something... find a 911.

(These are the two 911’s I had the pleasure of driving)

I had shipped a crate of Brazilian Rosewood sticks to Jameel Abraham to make available at HandWorks. Quite a few of them sold, but there were a few remaining which Jameel has generously offered to distribute as required. The sticks are 1-1/6" square and 20" long. These were cut in 1966 by C.F. Martin as ‘off-cuts’ from cutting acoustic guitar backs and sides. My best guess is they were cut for the pool cue industry.

 

These sticks are $40 USD each and if you are interested, let me know and I can make arrangements to get them to you. All the CITIES export/import paperwork is available as well, so if you are a toolmaker or knife maker and want to use these in your product, you will have what you need to legally re-export them.  konrad@sauerandsteiner.com