An axe becomes as good as its smith. The motto belongs to one of the finest axe making companies in the world, Gränsfors Bruks. Gränsfors was originally founded in Sweden in 1902, but went through a major philosophical shift in 1989 under the direction of CEO Gabriel Branby and skilled craftsman-designer Hans Erik Perrson. They […]
I received a question recently relating to the restoration of an old plane. We’ll focus on the iron bodied bench planes for now. There are times when we find, or are given, an old plane that we’d like to put back into use. How the plane was stored will directly affect the condition and magnitude […]
I know that mid-January is a little late to be making my New Years Resolutions, but I had to think for a bit about these ones. Woodworking is still a very new craft for me, and I want to advance my skills, but not set goals that are unrealistic. Here is a first shot at […]
Our sincere thanks to all of you who entered our Lie-Nielsen hand tool giveaway that just ended. More than 500,000 entries were submitted through Dec. 31, 2010. Congratulations to Chris Benner of Lebanon, Ohio, the lucky winner of the five Lie-Nielsen hand planes and set of 5 Lie-Nielsen bevel-edge chisels. Chris is the proprietor of […]
This month in the January Wood News I wrote about a few of “My Favorite Things” in the Down to Earth Workshop. Some of these things are not necessarily the things you might imagine – my band saw and my No. 4 smoothing plane are critical components to the shop, but my electric cup warmer […]
I think I finally have in my head what Chuck Brock is talking about when he refers to hard lines and soft lines. A hard line is what you end up seeing when a flat meets a round for instance, and you make sure that the junction line between the two surfaces is well defined and visible.
I have a lot of customers who want to discuss which one of our planes will ultimately leave the best final finish on flat wood. Most of them are anticipating the comparison of our Low Angle Block plane v. our Low Angle Jack plane v. our 4 1/2. Many are surprised when I bring out […]