Sauer and Steiner Plane.

Six years ago I met Konrad Sauer at the Westonbirt wood show and he was kind enough to let me try some of his fine planes. I must have looked interested enough as he gave me one of his catalogues, which as you can see has been well thumbed!
Amongst the planes he had on display was a small infill, made for his son, which felt really nice in the hand. This must have impressed others as he started producing them fairly soon after.

I continued to lust after his planes until I saw this one on his blog http://sauerandsteiner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/black-white-ebony-with-bronze-or-steel.html
The infill is stunning black and white ebony and I had to have it.

It arrived last week and it is perfectly made. The dovetails are invisible, the wood is flawlessly finished and the lever cap requires the minimum of pressure to hold the blade firmly and evenly.
It also works rather well!

The high carbon Hock iron came properly prepared and razor sharp and I'm glad he has stuck with these fine blades. I use them in my planes as well.

Th rounded rear and low iron make it very comfortable and a pleasure to use (as you can see).

Woodworkers sometimes get carried away with the shavings, rather than the surface it leaves. Here you can see some curly walnut which was brought to a fine finish straight from the plane.

Just to give a sense of scale here it is next to a full size smoother.
It may have taken me 6 years to get round to the purchase but it was well worth the wait.