Lie Nielsen Limited Edition Plane

I recently aquired a limited edition Lie Nielsen No 2, or in this case, an LN 2000 bench plane. It is cast in white bronze with rosewood handles. They have become very collectable which seems a little strange considering how relatively recently they were produced.

Here is an original Stanley Bedrock 602 from which the Lie Nielsen was copied. The metal work on the Lie Nielsen is finished to a much higher standard, although the same is not true of the handles. The original handles are from Brazilian Rosewood whilst the LN is from farmed Indian Rosewood. Now I know Rio rosewood is no longer commercially available but there are much nicer rosewoods than the Indian one which could have been used for a limited edition. The shaping of the LN is all by machine and there is a clear line between the rounded and flat parts, two minutes of hand sanding would have sorted that out, shame. There is also less room to get your fingers around the handle on the LN.

Side by side they look very similar although the LN does have a slightly thicker sole. The real difference is when you pick them up, the white bronze makes the LN 35% heavier at 1.56 kg which is nice.
The LN is unused and the Bedrock has seen very little use, which gives a clue as to their usefulness, not much! A good sized block plane is similar in size but a lot easier and more comfortable to use.

The logo on the blade of the Bedrock has the Sweetheart logo where the heart pushes up into the Stanley symbol. This was only produced in 1923 so dates the plane very specifically to that year.

The certificate for the LN states that it was 202 of a limited edition of 500 planes and that all plates and patterns used in the production of this planes were permanently altered or destroyed upon completion of plane 500. I've had strong suspicions about the veracity of limited edition artworks and prints in the past, but this time I believe the certificate tells the truth!

Wests Wood Fair, One for the Diary.

West's of East Dean near Chichester are holding a Wood Fair on 21st and 22nd June 2014. The first fair was held in 2009 to celebrate their bicentenary and was a great success with over 2,000 visitors over the two days. If you want more information http://westswoodfair.co.uk/

I'm a bit nervous of axes without using one 10' in the air!

There are lots of stands with woodland crafts. It looks like a great show especially if the weather is kind, a good family day out.

I always treat my table saw with the greatest of respect, I'm not sure I'd want to go near this 48" blade when it's fired up!

Cute Little Customer Box

Here's a couple of pictures from a customer in NC USA. As a beginner I think he should be proud!

You can see the groove for the box bottom has run straight through the pins and needs filling. I'm so used to doing stop cuts on the router table to avoid this, I'm not sure of the best way to achieve this with hand tools (scratch stock?). Can anyone help me (and Dan)?

New Work Bench

I don't make work benches very often, they are heavy and take up a lot of workshop space. I refer people to Richard Maguire, the expert bench maker http://www.rm-workbenches.co.uk/default.htm
I'm starting the top which is made up of four sections of 65 mm thick beech. I never try to glue them up all at once, preferring to work one joint at a time. I work on the joint until it is a nice tight square fit, first on the jointer and then with a hand plane. When the joint is a good fit without clamps everything runs smoothly and I know I'm introducing the minimum of stress, which greatly reduces the chances of warping.

With the two halves skimmed through the thicknesser it's time to do the last joint for the top. I run the edge on the jointer with the top side against the fence and then the other half with the underneath side against the fence. This way any deviation from 90 degrees is cancelled out and you end up with a top that requires very little flattening once it emerges from the clamps.
All went well and a nice flat top with no glue lines or added stress is the reward.

New You Tube Videos

                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBPxhIjJy7o
The You Tube videos I filmed on Friday are all now edited and available to watch. I hope you find them interesting, informative and not too boring!

Sauer and Steiner K7 Complete!

Konrad has kept me well supplied with photos of the progress of my K7 smoother and here's a selection.

He stamps his name with a hammer rather than a fly press and does a perfect job. Now is not the time to misdirect a blow or to get a double hit! (yes the voice of experience).

That's one solid lever cap.

With the mouth filed (and the blade sharp) the first test shavings.

That's a great looking shape, just makes you want to get hold of it.

And here's the wood shaped and sanded with the first coat of polish, that desert ironwood is amazing stuff!

I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Customer Projects from Scotland.

Here's a really solid looking jewellry box made from Scottish Burr elm. Dutch elm disease wiped out most of the elm trees in England but Scotland got away pretty unscathed. Elm is one of my favourite timbers when you can get it!

The box has a very nice sculpted handle and is finger jointed at the corners. Sometimes John uses dovetails, probably more often now he has one of my dovetail guides!

The hand made hinges feature more sculptured work following the grain of the wood, very nice.

Filming for You Tube.

Yes it's that time of year again, another batch of You Tube videos. When you watch them you won't appreciate the amount of time and effort it takes to produce and that's before the filming starts!

Here's the two cameraman setting up the all the equipment, once it's all ready to roll it looks more like a film studio rather than a workshop.

The workbench all set up to start a film on the use of my 90 degree magnetic guide.

Lunchtime on the go, Rob tucking into a Cornish pasty. We managed to get through all the ten films I'd planned, which was a relief! They'll be posted on You Tube by Tuesday next week, now it's all over I can't wait to see them.

Speaking of Furniture, New Book.

I like to keep abreast of new woodworking titles. This was reassuringly expensive and it didn't disappoint with 336 pages and 336 quality colour photographs. It also has 48 halftones, black and white to you and me.
Choosing 14 American masters was never going to be easy, the difficult bit is who to leave out, although I was surprised not to see Sam Maloof and George Nakashima. However both of these are well covered with separate coffee table books.
James Krenov is the first master featured (on account of his age) and a great start in my view.
Below are pieces that caught my eye.

I'm not who this chest of drawers was made by, the geometry of the design is very appealing.

This desk is very well known made by legend Jere Osgood, a wonderful thing. Where did the design for this come from?!

Judy McKie has a very distinctive style and often uses animals in her work. The bronze above is one end of a Jaguar bench.

This chest on a stand is by Hank Gilpin and I love the asymmetrical design, if you analyse it it shouldn't work and yet it does.

Richard Scott Newman made this blanket chest in 1981 long before the current trend for wobbly CNC furniture came on the scene. Wonderful stuff.

I'll leave you with some James Krenov. His attitudes divide opinion probably more than any other but he has been a strong and positive influence on my woodworking.