Category Archives: Plane

Plane plans from WORK magazine (aka It doesn’t always WORK)

Since I am reading through WORK magazine to find all the nuggets and projects, I thought I’d give some of the “Home-Made Tools” a shot. If you are inclined as I am, the tiny hand drawings are too little to go by. There are very few dimensions given in either the drawings or the text. […]

WORK the magazine: Mandatory Reading for Woodworking Inclined Makers*

*I should first apologize for the buzz-word phrase, but some articles I’m including are not just on furniture or woodwork but tools and other techniques. Also, it would be nice if someone under thirty visited this blog, other than the author. Finally, it’s used in the second article from the first issue, so I am […]

Mystery Plane – LeGroote Iron

Wow, was May really the last time I put up a post? I was at the local toolswap trying not to come home with much. Usually, I’m quite good about not buying planes at the swaps but this one stood out. It’s an all-iron body, very heavy (about that of a Stanley No. 8-perhaps a […]

Analysis of a photo, Galoot style

The Porch brought up a photo by Man Ray (Link to photo at London Art Reviews) of Catherine Deneuve. I took a closer look at the photo and here are my findings: First, I believe the planes weren’t old tools when photographed and would barely be considered vintage today. The first photo below shows what […]

Two weeks haul

T. Conroy mentioned a number of items I picked up at Alameda during the first weekend of the month, so I thought I’d follow the “it didn’t happen without pictures” rule. I tossed into the mix some findings from last weekends fleas. In the back is a Spear & Jackson. This one is in user-condition. […]

Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Progress (Several Days combined)

I ended my post on Day 5 noting that I’d started one of the aprons. Before I pick up on that, let me cover some early conclusions about my material choice. The simple statement is: ‘whitewood’ from the borg is a poor choice to use in the construction of this bench. In addition to being […]

Bookbinders’ Plough

Last Sunday I was at the Alameda flea market in the SF/Bay Area and picked up a good catch. I originally glossed over the vice-like item on the left. At the time I though it was a small auxiliary vise for joinery or a small tail vise. Quickly after posting that thought Thomas Conroy told […]

Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Update/Day 5

Since the plan of scrubbing after glue-up went well on the first (front) slab, I began the process on the second slab. The stock was slightly more challenging to get jointed than that for the front slab. The glue-up for this slab went poorly. I started out fine using James Thompson’s recommendation of dampening the […]

Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Day 3 & 4

Progress has been slower that desired, but on par with expected. After glue-up on Day 2 it rained intermittently, permitting no work other than removing the clamps after 24 hours. I was pleasantly surprised that no tell-tale sounds of creaking glue joints occurred. Turning the scallops into a slab As was mentioned in my first […]

Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Day 2

As the rain had stopped me before gluing up on Day 1, my goal was to get a lamination finished. Since my stock was still uneven, I went through each board with a straight-edge and jointed them with a No. 5. I hadn’t been very careful when I first smoothed the faces of the boards, […]