In the Beginning

Dad, Me, and Nick

84 Lumber all the way.

My first "workbench"

More Irons in the Fire

Doing the majority of my work with a #7 bench plane, I find it very helpful to have multiple irons handy to just swap out if one starts to feel dull or slow. The late Allen Peters inspired this practice of having multiple irons at your disposal. Allen, know for only using a #7 for all his work, had four irons always sharpened and ready to use. I also use four irons but they each have a special purpose. I have two irons that are cambered and set up for my everyday joiner needs. A perfectly straight iron is set up with its own chip breaker for quick exchange when I need to shoot or match plane long edges. I can shoot just fine with one of cambered blades but it saves edge life to have a dedicated straight iron for shooting. I can also save the edge life of the straight iron by simply using the plane on its opposite edge on the left side of the shooting board exposing a new section of the iron to the work. The last iron I have in the arsenal is a cambered iron with a 15 degree back-bevel for dense and difficult exotic timbers. I began my hand tool career with a Stanley #8 bench plane that was owned by my great father in law. I loved the heft and size of that tool, but when I decided to upgrade my joiner I went with a #7 because of its versatility. I think the #7 is more versatile because the iron width is 2-3/8” matching its smaller brothers the #4-1/2, #5-1/2, & #6. I owned the #4-1/2 prior to purchasing the #7. With the identical iron width I can exchange my straight and back-bevel irons into my #4-1/2 making my limited shop (space and tools) more versatile. I find having multiple irons allows me to continue working with sharp irons without having to stop to sharpen. Concentrating sharpening sessions and sharpening multiple irons at once seems more efficient and allows me to benefit from the repetition. If you own a hand plane you might consider adding some extra irons to your repertoire.

One Last Project

With only about a week left in Grand Teton National Park I finished up my last project for the winter season of 2010. This was a commission from Jon Phoenix and was to celebrate the marriage of a good friend. Jon asked me to construct a toolbox for Scott, the recipient. This will be my fourth toolbox of this style. The first was the Herwiggy toolbox. Each time I construct one of these boxes I learn a little about the design and sometimes tweak a component. For this box I was able to use a small piece of Zebrawood for the handle and it turned out really nice. I cut the tenons this time by hand instead of with the router. Hand sawing the tenons actually seemed much faster and more enjoyable. The bevels on the through tenons are nice and crisp thanks to the dense tropical hardwood. Everything else went together smoothly and as usual it was a blast to construct. I used Black Walnut and Poplar for the rest of the box. I hope Scott is both surprised and excited when it arrives in Pennsylvania next week. Now it is time to pack up the shop for a new vista in North Cascades National Park.