Cutting Bits from Chunks

A previous post featured a large Maccasar Ebony billet that I acquired. Even though this piece is estimated to have been drying for at least 17 years past experience has taught me that it's a good idea to give billets of this type adequate time to acclimate to a new environment prior to processing. Of course the other possibly explanation to why I haven't decided to cut up this piece of exceptional timber is just that. In billet form it is a very formidable looking piece of wood and part of me did not want to alter it just yet. So I've admired it for several weeks and now it's time to cut it into usable pieces for plane making.

There is also another reason I've waited. It's early summer here and for that reason the average daily humidity is higher than it is during the colder months. These are much better conditions for breaking up a billet. Freshly exposed surfaces react much more favorably to an atmosphere that is not extremely dry and this gives the material a chance to react to it's new exposure without having the moisture sucked away from the surface much too quickly.

Past experience has also shown me that it is best to begin the process of breaking down log segments and billets by cutting pieces off the length in increments of 11". If there are checks on the end of the piece then the first piece will probably need to be just a bit longer than 11". This billet was 4.75" thick 6.5" wide and 53" long. Maccassar Ebony has very high specific gravity, yep it will sink in water just like a rock. This also means this piece was quite heavy. It was all I could manage just to hold it on the table of the bandsaw and feed it thru the first cut off it's length. I suffered thru the first cut knowing that every subsequent cut would make the piece lighter. Now that I had my first section cut from the length of the billet it was time to start re-sawing.

At first I thought I would probably need to change to a wider bandsaw blade than the 1/4" wide blade that I normally have on the bandsaw for general shaping of curved surfaces. After all I was about to attempt to re-saw thru 6.5" inches of very dense material. I instead decided to give it try with the 1/4" blade before going thru the trouble of making the change. The blade is a Timberwolf brand blade and I had heard of many people getting favorable results re-sawing with relatively narrow blades of this brand. I was very pleasantly surprised. The blade went thru 6.5" of this material with relative ease. I took my time and made sure I didn't ask the blade to cut at a faster feed rate than it was capable and the results were actually quite accurate.

At this point I stopped to seal the freshly cut end of the billet. Most checks start in end grain and I've found a good coating with a 3 lb. cut of shellac helps keep this part of the billet from drying too quickly.

After a couple of subsequent re-sawing cuts on the bandsaw I had some very nice blanks sized to yield two nested plane totes.

One side of the billet has some noticeable surface checks. This is actually very typical and I'm in no way complaining. Stresses build up in these billets and checks occur. The trick is to figure out how to work around the checks to yield the best material. When laying out my cuts I had this side marked to yield thicker pieces that would be appropriate material for turning knobs and this would also give me some leeway in cutting around the checks.

Now I have many surfaces exposed directly to the air for the first time so I worked quickly to seal the ends and spray a light coat of lacquer on the flat sawn surfaces of the tote blanks. All this in an effort to slow down the effect of being exposed directly to the effects of the atmosphere.

Now these blanks get to rest for a while and if I've done my job correctly the next time you see them they will be plane parts.

Ron

Sometimes You Just Gotta Get Out and Meet the People, or Back on the Road Again

It's been hectic in the shop this week in preparation for another road trip. I'll be traveling to Cedar Rapids to spend some time in the shop of Jameel Abraham and then later in the week we'll be heading to St. Louis to participate in the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event being held at the shop of Kent Adkins.

After seeing Kent's shop featured in Chris Schwarz blog I jumped at the chance of participating in this Lie-Nielsen Event. When I later discovered who the other presenters would be at this event I came to the realization that I couldn't have made a better choice of venues.

To be at the same event with the likes of Konrad Sauer, Matt Bickford, Bob Zajicek, and Jameel Abraham and of course the excellent crew that Lie-Nielsen will have on hand, makes this a very special occasion.

Looking at pictures online and in brochures only gets you so far in making decisions about the tool kit you select to help you accomplish your woodworking task. At these events not only do you get the chance to handle and use the tools you also have the opportunity to gain the insight of the people that create these tools.

The group of presenters I listed above are just a few of the growing number of independent toolmakers that spend countless hours in their shops designing and creating tools for the growing population of woodworkers that now incorporate more hand tools in their work process than anytime in the recent past.

At these events you'll not be talking to a salesman, you'll be talking to the guy that conceived the idea, did the preliminary design, made the prototype, proved out the prototype and made subsequent changes and finally progressed to making the production version of a given tool. If you have questions these people have the answers.

I was once told that I should just make tools and let other people sell them. I could never get my head wrapped around that comment. The interaction with the people we meet at events of this type is a very big part of the enjoyment I get from creating tools for people on a personal basis. Woodworkers are some of the best people in the world and this is reinforced at every event in which we participate. Event after event we just meet more good people and make new friends.

If you find yourself in the St. Louis area next weekend, stop by the Lie-Nielsen Event, your attendance is a surefire way to make sure events of this type continue to take place.

Ron

The "J" Plane

One of the most ordered tools at Brese Plane is the small smoother that we've come to call the "J" plane. As I stop to think about why this is so, several things come quickly to mind to explain the popularity of this tool.

This plane fits the hands of a lot of different size people. I've had people of quite small size as well as woodworkers of quite large proportions pick up this plane and comment that it feels good in their hand. The rounded end if the plane presents a nice to place to grip this plane and keeps your hand from sliding forward and possibly pressing against the back of the iron which can crease uncomfortably into your hand.

The performance characteristics of this plane are well known. Many people have witnessed this plane working very difficult woods with and against the grain with relative ease. When confronted with a planing challenge, which happens frequently at WIA and the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events where we show our wares, I will always reach for the "J" plane first. It has never let me down and once I've been successful with the "J" plane then I will attempt these difficult boards with some of the other planes on my bench. In other words, it's my "go to" plane.

The combination of the 55 degree bed angle, tight mouth and the unified mass that this plane creates is a winning configuration. Combine a well sharpened iron with the other aspects of this plane and the wood fibers have no choice but to shear and curl up. There's no magic, just solid mechanical elements that yield a result.

If you compare the picture at the top of this blog entry to the ones below you will notice that this plane has undergone some refinements over the past couple of years. None of these refinements has changed anything about the performance characteristics of this plane. I have reduced the weight in this tool a small amount and feel that the balance was improved by this change especially in regard to using the plane on the edges of boards and in places where the sole is not completely registered to the work piece. Almost all the other changes have been cosmetic.

I've changed to a stainless steel lever cap screws and a lower profile button on the iron that makes a handy back bevel registration point. If you're using the scary sharp method of honing the iron it's easy to place a piece of painters tape over this button, swipe it with a some paraffin and with the button placed off the abrasive you can easily impart about 1/2 to 1 degree of back bevel to the back side of the iron.

I also think that the price point of this tool has made it an attractive entry point for many people looking to delve into the world of infill planes. This plane is almost always ordered with rosewood infill. The color of the rosewood works well with the stainless and brass. I've actually been sort of yearning to make one with ebony infill, fortunately I recently received an order for this plane with ebony infill. I like a bit of a change once in a while.

I introduced this plane at the first Woodworking in American Conference in Berea, Kentucky. This event was also when I was first introduced to the hand tool woodworking community. I brought two "J" planes to the first WIA and at one point myself and a gentleman from Canada were making alternate passes from different directions on a piece of curly maple that contain some of the tightest curl you've every seen. This worked because one of us was left handed.

Since the first WIA in Berea I have been wonderfully supported by the hand tool woodworking community, Thanks Everyone!

Because of you I have more "J" planes to make. This makes me quite happy because as you know......."I sort of live for this stuff."

Ron

"If you're too opened minded your brains will fall out"

The Last Equipment Upgrade for a Long Time!

Equipment acquisition is sometimes a wonderful way to increase your capabilities, efficiency and accuracy in your work. However it's not a decision made lightly. When you embark on an upgrade it typically involves a large amount of time and effort to research the purchase thoroughly and also to market and sell the equipment that is to be replaced.

For these reasons it almost always impacts your regular shop schedule in a negative way and creates a time period in which you'll put in long hours maintaining progress on the in process work occurring in the shop and then additional time in the evening setting up the new machine and preparing it to take over part of the work load

This latest upgrade has been one of the most challenging I've attempted to date. I know there's a guy with a beard in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that might want to argue this point, stating this machine did not have to be moved out of a basement during two rainy days. However the acquiring of the knee milling machine pictured in this post encompassed many structural and technical aspects that had not been issues in prior machinery additions. The picture above shows the mill fresh off the truck.

When I put the forks of the lift under the pallet and raised them I could feel the hydraulics of the lift straining to raise this load. The first thing that came into my mind was "what have I done?", immediately follow by a mental picture of this thing crashing thru the floor of my shop and onto the ground underneath. However I was too far into this to turn back. The truck driver had just completed a trip of 2200 miles with this mill on his truck and I don't think he would have taken very kindly to the idea of making a return trip.

To begin with this machine is massive. It weighs a good solid ton. Yep 2000 pounds. The biggest milling machine that I've handled prior to this one weighed 1000 pounds. Once you start acquiring machines that weight in excess of 600 pounds you're past the realm of thinking in terms of how many people you would need to move a given item. You've also passed into the realm of how do we move this thing without getting someone hurt. In this case I would be attempting to install this 2000 pound mill in a shop with a wooden structured floor so structural issues had to be dealt with prior to moving forward with this purchase.

I also knew that I would have to traverse an unpaved area to get to the load in door of my metal working shop. This was one part of the move that really concerned me, however it turned out to be one of easiest parts of moving the mill to the final location.

To actually set the mill into the shop it was removed from the pallet and held aloft under the ram of the head. I was very deliberate with this entire process. This was no place to get in a hurry. Finally it was in the shop. The person in the picture below is my friend Terry Sebright. He's not a big guy by any means, however seeing him in comparison to the mill you get an idea of the size of this machine.

The mill was moved into final position using a series of metal pipes and pry bars. At this point I'm just glad it's still on the correct side of the subfloor. Obviously my design of the floor shoring was up to the task.

There was still an enormous amount of work needed to get this mill up and running and finally 9 days after the truck arrived with the mill it has finally made it's first chips.

Even before this mill arrived it was scheduled for several upgrades. I'll be using a new tool holding system that is a series of collets that will allow me to change tooling in a fraction of the time this task has required in the past and there is not a major change required to go from milling to drilling.

In stock condition this mill achieves speed changes by moving the drive belt to different pulley positions. I have already upgraded this aspect. This mill now has digital speed control achieved thru a device know as a VFD or Variable Frequency Drive unit. This is one of the more technical aspects of this entire ordeal and required a good deal of research to sort out the wiring, installation and programming of this device. When it all worked I declared myself an "Electro-Magician".

There is one more major upgrade to be installed on this mill. It will receive a 3 axis digital readout system. This system will allow locations to be precisely positioned to within 2/10s of one thousandth of an inch.

Now that the machinery moving is over for a while I'm going to concentrate on posting more about the actual process of plane making and how these machines figure into the process and also about when the machine work stops and the hand work begins. Machines can do a lot of great work, however it's only when the human hand comes into the work that a certain look and feel is imparted to the item, and that will never change.

Ron

"Experience is the Name we give to our Mistakes"

A Screw Driver can be a Very Enjoyable Tool

Like most people I have a occasion to buy new tools for the shop and when I obtain a tool with which I am particularly impressed I like to share my joy of owning this tool or in this case a set of tools. When I have a need to fulfill I usually like to purchase tools from another independent tool maker such as myself. Bear in mind that when I write about other’s tools in this blog these are tools that I have sought out and purchased. I am not encouraged to promote other's tools and only do so of my own free will and most importantly if I think the tool is particularly worthy.

I pursue making fine tools on a daily basis and I know most of the people in the hand tool woodworking world that also produce products of a similar nature and quality so I’m not easily impressed. I now own a set of screw drivers with which I am very impressed.

I use screw drivers an awful lot. While sizing the height of the lever cap pivot pins for one of my planes I remove and install these slotted pivot pins several times and in the process of tuning the lever cap to the back of the plane iron I may remove and install the lever cap pivot pins several more times during this process, not to mention the many other occasions during the day that require the use of a screwdriver.

During the years that I made furniture I often wished for a good set of wooden handled screw drivers. I searched for this elusive tool and the best I could find was a set that I purchased from Garrett Wade. They had square wooden handles with a sprayed lacquer finish and even though they were better than the plastic variety they still left something to be desired. They were advertised as being made in Germany. They were not exactly the Mercedes of screwdrivers.

I continued to search and once I entered into making tools I often encouraged other tool makers that made small tools with turned handles to develop and offer a good set of screw drivers. Most of them looked at me like I had two heads and typically walked off mumbling something about how I had gone completely round the bend.

Thankfully waiting round the bend was Gary Benson, Dave Lindeman and Chuck Pyne of Elkhead Tools. They obviously also thought the world needed a better set of screw drivers because they have produced a set of tools that exceeded my wildest dream of what a set of screw drivers should be.

Cheap, poorly designed screw drivers are hard on your hands and most of them don’t fit the slots of common screw sizes well at all. When they slip they mark your work and this just creates more work for a plane maker. The Elkhead Tools drivers are an absolute pleasure and quite frankly every time I hold one in my hand I marvel at how they nestle in my palm and the feel of the cocobolo handles is just so enjoyable that I believe I unconsciously smile every time I pick one up.

I’ve waited a long time for a good set of screw drivers and these guys have obviously put a lot of effort into developing these tools. These tools consist of hand turned cocobolo handles, German tool steel shank and tip with brass ferrules integral of the handle insert that gives these screw drivers such a solid and well put together appearance and feel. The tips fit the slots of common size screws quite well and don’t ding and deform the edges of the screw head slots.

If you’re getting the idea that I like these tools you’d be correct. Let me say this however. These screw drivers are most likely a bit pricier, well actually a lot pricier than any set of screw drivers you’ve ever purchased but don’t worry you’ll be getting your money’s worth and you’ll know it every time you pick one up.

If you would like to learn more about these screw drivers and the other offerings by Elkhead Tools you can visit them online at www.elkheadtools.com

Once you've acquired this set of screw drivers you're going to need another set. Go right out to your local big box store and buy a complete set, maybe even two complete sets, of the yellow and black handle screw drivers. They'll probably be less than $10.00 for the whole set and then you'll be ready. Why you may ask. When your neighbor or brother in law comes calling wanting to borrow a screw driver you'll be ready. They most probably need it to open a can of paint and there is a better than even chance they will never return it. It will be well worth the ten or so dollars to keep harmony in the neighborhood and peace in the family.

Ron

A Plane Makers Dream, Billet of Macassar Ebony

I participated in the Altanta Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event February 18th and 19th at Peach State Lumber in Kennesaw, Georgia. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with some good friends from that area and see the good people from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, my friend Deneb included. Steve Qhuel, owner of the local Woodcraft Franchise invited me to display and demo my planes on a beautiful ash Roubo bench made for him by my good friend Jameel Abraham. I just could not pass up that opportunity.

Some weeks prior to this event I received a phone call from a gentleman named John Fiant. John runs a custom woodworking/millwork business in the Marietta area of Atlanta. We conversed about several aspects of tools, tool making and many woodworking related topics. As the conversation ended we agreed that the Lie-Nielsen Event would be a great place to meet in person and continue our discussion.

John introduced himself to me at the event and as our conversation continued he inquired as to whether I would be interest in a piece of Macassar Ebony that he had in his possession. As he began to describe the piece to me I had to work at controlling my excitement. I certainly did not want to give away my bargaining position by seeming overly interested. The truth of the matter was just this....if the wood was as he described, I by all means wanted it and I told him so. So much for my bargaining position.

This billet measures 5" thick 6.5" wide and is 52" long. The moisture content measured 6.2% on all four sides. Truly a magnificent piece of very dense, will sink in water, piece of wood.

As you can see in the pictures some sides contained wonderful tight contrasting stripes and other sides contained contrasting marbling. John delivered this billet to my shop the following Thursday. When he place this piece on my workbench there was only one word to describe my condition......I was GOBSMACKED!! Seriously this was the word that popped into my mind.

A piece of wood of this nature doesn't come along everyday and I really was interested to know more about it's origins. I consulted with a friend that handles rare woods in the Atlanta area and he stated that he knew of some billets of Macassar Ebony of this description that had originated from a dealer on the west coast and was fairly sure this was some of that same material. This would put this piece of ebony as having been drying for 15 to 20 years.

By the time John departed for home I was the new owner of this wonderful piece of wood and of course my wallet was much lighter as a result. I was also in more trouble as well. When I consulted with the dealer in Atlanta he informed me that he had stumbled onto another log segment of the now famed "Picasso Rosewood". As luck would have it my wife Julie was flying to New York the next day to attend my Grandson's 1st birthday party. After I dropped her off at the airport I stopped by my local wood pusher, I mean dealer's place of business and entered into negotiations for the rosewood log. I returned home with the log segment rolling around in the trunk of my car like a bound and gagged kidnap victim.

It's been an expensive week to be a plane maker in this part of the world, but I'm thrilled to have this material.

While conversing with one of my customers on the phone the next day I mentioned this piece of wonderfully striped and marbled Macassar Ebony. He asked to me to send a picture. Negotiations of a different type ensued and when all was said and done it was agreed that I would be making a matched set of planes using the Macassar Ebony material.

A matched set of planes will be a new adventure for me and it goes right along with the adventure and the opportunity of acquiring exceptional wood. This piece of Ebony is so pristine in it's present form that it almost seems a shame to cut it up into pieces.........but I will!

Did I mention before that........ "I Live for this Stuff!"

Yeah, I guess I did. (Grin)

Ron

Shaping an Ebony Tote, or, Have you been Cleaning Out the Fireplace Again?

Obviously the rear tote is the first thing your hand touches when you pick up a plane and you will either immediately like the tool or you'll be indifferent about it. There's an old saying "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" and this holds very true to the rear tote of a hand plane. This is also the area in which you get all the feedback that the plane offers while in use. For this reason I spend an inordinate amount of time in the shaping the totes on my planes.

There are basically two types of totes. Closed totes and open totes. Open totes tend to be more upright and this makes sense because they are unsupported and need the more upright configuration to maintain structural integrity. The shape of a closed tote can be enhanced because it supports itself and this allows a more forward leaning shape that most find much more comfortable and inviting. In order to close the gap between iron and tote the even steeper pitched planes have an even more forward leaning shape and I find them the most comfortable.

I started first thing one morning with the tote already in the shape shown in the photo below. Roughly shaped, all the features that fit it to the plane body already in place, some of the areas rounded over. This particular tote will be part of a 132-50P stainless steel panel plane. I will use three tools to form the details of the shape I want to achieve. I start with an extremely sharp 1/2" chisel, you have to start sharp because it won't stay that way long while working ebony, a fairly course rasp, and a fine cabinet makers rasp. Both rasp are flat on one side and rounded on the other. This is critical for obvious reasons. You'll need to refresh the edge on the chisel several times during this process. When the chisel starts pulling out pieces instead of shearing it's time to hone.

I begin by blending the transitions from the rounded areas to the areas that remain somewhat flatter and I find that I can remove material much quicker at this stage of the process with the chisel.

As you start approaching the desired preliminary shape take lighter cuts with the chisel. This will allow you to refine the larger flat facets of the chisel cuts and make the shape much fairer.

Also note that I'm using the chisel with the bevel side against the surface I'm cutting. You can gauge the depth of the cut easier this way and it follows the contour. In the picture below you'll see that I'm making the radius of the neck of the stem deeper than it started. Some areas of the tote need to be shaped into a more elongated radius, I'll talk more about that later.

Next I shape the thumbnail at the top of the horn. It starts as shown in the picture below. You need a lot of control here so I do this with the finer of the cabinet makers rasp, and I find that I can achieve much better symmetry in the shape if I just move the rasp from my right to my left hand rather than moving the tote so as to work both sides with my dominant hand. Working left and right handed in some areas is just something you have to teach yourself to do. You'll find that it saves time and your perspective of your work piece doesn't change which is very helpful when trying to achieve a symmetrical shape.

The competed thumbnail shape at the top of the horn.

The process of refinement continues by working with the coarser rasp and continuing with the finer rasp as we approach the final shape. It's hard to show what a rasp really does in pictures so I decided to spare you those details. Below is the completed shape after shaping and sanding. I typically sand up to 600 grit and then use #0000 steel wool to polished the surface even further.

If you examine the picture below thoroughly you see that the radius of the neck has been expanded into a more elongated shape that accepts your hand in this area, almost asking you to hold the plane. The areas at the bottom of the main stem are also shaped into an elongated radius but here is where there are some minor differences.

The neck just under the horn needs to be shaped in a similar manner on both sides of the tote, however the area at the bottom of the stem should be shaped based on the approach of the hand. In other words if the user is right handed then that area will be more elongate on the right side or side of approach, the other side needs to be less elongated so that area of your smallest finger from the joint to the tip has an area to grip. This particular tote was made for a left handed user so it's shaped opposite that description.

Because this tote is for one of my stainless planes I have a little more leeway in the shape at the bottom of the tote. I did not have to work around the confines of the areas where the side pieces attach to the center section as is the case in one of my infills.

The next step is to apply the shellac polish. I apply the first coat as full strength two pound cut shellac which is allowed to dry and then flattened with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper followed by #0000 steel wool. Then I apply several coats of french polish which is subsequently rubbed down with steel wool and then buffed on a soft buffing wheel. This makes it look as satiny as it feels.

As I mentioned early I started first thing in the morning shaping this tote. It did not get the first coat of shellac until later than evening around 7:00 pm. It was a long day, my hands, shirt, pants and everything that was even close to the workbench that day was as black as coal.....and I loved it. If you haven't figured it out by now.....I sort of live for this stuff!

Ron