To get everyone up to speed, my wife and I purchased a house about 18 months ago and we have been busy renovating. I now have a larger, double garage which I am slowly setting up as a new workshop. Since December I have been working on a plane commission. I am currently pricing some woodworking machinery but for this plane my processes still involve mainly hand tools.
Here are some pictures:
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| Dovetails hacksawed, assembled and peened |
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| Rear infill fit |
Here I am cutting the curve for the front infill with my bowsaw, which I made six or seven years ago.
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| Finished infill plane |
Brass sides, 01 tool steel base. Low-slung smoother, 6
5/
8” long, 1
1/
2” iron, 50 degree pitch.
This plane was commissioned by Alastair Boell. After graduating from the North Bennet Street School in Boston, USA, Alastair returned to Australia and in 2007 founded the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking (
www.mgfw.com.au). Here is a picture of myself and Alastair when he came to my shop to receive his plane.
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| Alastair-left, Brian-right |
Alastair is a gifted furniture maker and instructor. He is also a truly genuine guy. This was a great commission.
When I set about to make this plane I wanted to make some changes to the shape. I decided to make the front of the plane steeper and also move the blade forward a little. I also chose to dome the rear infill more. I am happy with this final shape. This is also the first plane to have my custom logo stamped into the blade. I get my blades from Hock Tools, USA (
www.hocktools.com). If you want great blades and excellent customer service, then Ron Hock is your man. Thanks again Ron.
Here are some more photos. This ringed Gidgee has some beautiful figure.
