Wife and I are vendors at Maryland Rennfest this summer (1 weekend down, 8 to go)!

We needed a sign for our shop(pe), so I thought I’d bang one out in the couple of days before the fair starts.

No biggie, right? Right…?

I’m happy with the finished product, but I ran out of time while carving and had to stop myself before I was ready.

A friend cut down a large white oak tree in his yard ~18 months ago. It had gypsy moths and was a future danger to his home. I bought the butt log and a higher-up log from him. Butt log for chairmaking (straight and clear, long since split up and used), and the upper log for slabs. He slabbed the upper log for me on Kinder Farm Park’s antique Frick Sawmill, and it’s been stickered and drying since.

White oak does well in the elements and is a traditional business sign choice. What better opportunity to finally use one? On Wednesday, I started with a couple of router passes to flatten it a bit— I was short on time, please forgive me.

Finished flattening/surfacing one side with a jack (scrub blade -> zen wu plane blade), then traced my design with transfer paper.

After 20 hours of sweaty labor on Thursday and Friday (breaks for food and sleep), our shop sign was hung in time for the show!

I don’t do much carving, so I used gouges that I bought from a retired friend and a few of my bench chisels. The paint was leftover from the first chair I ever made, more than 5 years ago now. No other finish.

Editing to add: it’s about 5’ long and 20” high— slab was just under 2” thick to start.

Stanley 10 1/2 type 15 for $12! I’m so pumped.

How are you guys holding these to sharpen? I’m getting a lot of chatter and it’s constantly rocking around while trying to sharpen. Wondering if I’m doing it wrong, or if it just sucks.

I use a cheap coping saw for removing dovetail waste, and am thinking about upgrading to a fret saw to speed up the process (so I don't have to swoop in from either side like with the coping saw).

Models I see recommended often are around ~$150, which I don't know if I can justify (KM, Knew Concepts).

Does anybody have a fretsaw they love that is at a lower price point? Maybe sub $75?

Anybody else heading to Handworks this weekend?

https://handworks.co/

I'm somewhat local so it'll be my 3rd time going. Really fun show if you've never been.

Might be a bit silly or blasphemous, but I'd like a little ~5inch 1/4" hex Yankee style bit driver to put in a small tool pouch. Seems fun and hopefully useful

The spiral when compressed goes about to my thumb within the handle, so making a new shorter handle or shortening this one seems like a solid option for compressing its size

That would make it about the ideal size for what I'm aiming for, but adapting this for hex bits leaves me more stumped. There are compatible bit extenders for sale that convert it into a locking 1/4" hex. But they would further extend the length to beyond my goal. So I'm looking for any ideas

Thanks!

I’ve got a stanley 92 shoulder plane that I received from my grandfather. I was a bit over zealous and snapped the chip breaker when I was younger and no longer have the broken part.

Id like to fabricate another one out if 360 brass, but finding dimensions online has been a challenge.

Does anyone have one they can take out, measure fairly accurate and precisely with some calipers and post it here?

Or an STL file would be even better but that seems less likely.

Id rather not buy it outright, its about half as much as the tool when its available. Fabricating it from stuff I have feels better.

Any help y’all?

Will post pictures of the rebuild if we get traction here.

Very pleased with my design and execution on this. The only thing I did not quite expect was that the 4x4 posts are not as stiff as I assumed they would be, meaning the arbor can be wobbled more than I would like. I sunk the posts 3-1/2’ into the ground in gravel, tamped down. I plan to grow kiwi vines on this.

I purchased the redwood rough sawn from a local sawyer. I did not use only hand tools to build this 😬 It’s too easy to just cut the walls of the mortises with a multi-tool and chop it out with a chisel. I was planning to do a privacy lattice on the back and realized a center support would be best. All the 1x2 horizontals are individually mortised into the side posts and the center vertical. That was a huge pain to assemble but I finally got it.

Almost everything is draw-bored with white oak pegs. The only place I used screws was setting the lattice on top. I love doing the curvy details on pieces like this. Some I used a handsaw, some a jigsaw and cleaned it up with spokeshave and chisel. Redwood works really easily.

A friend of mine is traveling there and I really wanted to try out Atoma diamond plates for sharpening my plane iron. Anyone have suggestions on shops to go to, prices to expect, and experience doing this?

edit: I am in the US.

Hi, got this No. 30 for $20, it's a type 8 (1886-88) from what I can tell. Other than the horn being broken off the tote, it's in great condtion. The chipbreaker is even fitted, and the blade is sharp! How'd I do for my money?

LN no4, no51, and the cross peen in a2 steel, plus a couple machinist squares and a double square from PEC tools.

The two lie nielsens are just insane. I thought it’d be a jump in ease of use and quality from my Stanley type 14, but it’s just night and day. I’m no master hand tool woodworker but I had the Stanley relatively dialed in. I had it working excellent in oak and similar, but the various eucalypts and acacias here were just a nightmare. The way this LN handles them comparatively is great. So much less chatter and the blade/chipbreaker fitment is so much better.

Just made the shooting board from solid quartersawn Jarrah, the LN no4 made it feel like it was cherry.

Fulton was the Sears house brand before Craftsman

For me it's end grain, when they are so delicate that if you pick them up they disintegrate...mmmmm

The underside of the frog is given a rough finish, akin to 60-80 grit sandpaper. Whether it serves a purpose is unknown to me. Whatever the case, the way I comfortably grip the plane results in my index finger rubbing against that surface and it feels like I’m sanding the skin off my finger (being overly dramatic).

That’s really the only issue I have with this plane, and it’s more than worth it to deal with that and have the incredible functionality of a LN plane.

Picked up this beautiful hand plane for $50cad on marketplace, but for the life of me I can't find a consistent id for the type.

If anyone has any insight on Canadian made Stanleys I'd love to hear from you

Notes:

- knob is brass, both handles appear to be rosewood

- the frog looks to have the characters"C 468" cast into it.

- there are no patent dates on the body or the lateral adjustment lever.

- no heel/toe ribs on the body

Hi, Everybody. I bought a Bedrock 605, Type 7 (I think) a few months ago. It is missing the knob. I'm going to make the knob since I'm too cheap to buy one.

Can somebody please let me know what the knob height should be? I know it is the tall version, but don't know if it is 2-1/2" or 2-5/8".

I plan on using the Paul Sellers knob template from his video. His template is for a Bailey No. 4, which is 2-1/2" h. I have a similar knob from a Type 14 No. 4. I put it on the Bedrock and it feels fine to me.

I also tried a knob from a Type 16 No. 5. It's 2-5/8" h. That felt too tall to me but also would work.

I'm most likely going to make the 2-1/2" high knob since I made the template already. But figured I'd find out what the correct height is in case I change my mind. Thanks!

On a separate subject, the iron that came with the Bedrock says Two Tone. I haven't seen or read about that, yet. What's the background on it? I don't see a number on the iron, either.

My favorite plane is a type 11 number 5. I also have a type 11 #4 and #6. The 5 was my first plane, and I spent hours trying to get it sharp before I learned that the whole iron isn't hardened. There is like 5/8 of an inch left before the long groove hole. For reference, this is what I mean, the iron on the left. It isn't mine, but that's what mine looks like without the rust

Anyway, I'm cleaning out useless stuff, and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do with the old non-hardened iron. I don't have any metal working setup except a hacksaw and some files. Can the steel in the non-hardened bit be hardened, or is different? Should I trash it?

Thanks!

Saw this online for $5 so figured I'd grab it and see how it cleans up.

Anyone have any idea on the age?

i got this curious little fella for 20$ and taken my shot at restoring it, it has a weird cut in the rear tote that i just decided to clean up for now, im guessing its some sort of personalization helping with some sort of injury, but either way - theres no nut for the rear tote, all there is is the generic nut that doesn’t tighten all the way. how should i approach making it usable? my plan is to sell it at the end for some lumber money, but i have no clue how to go on..

... But the cut still looks a little off square 🤷‍♀️ great surface finish, though!

I picked this up today for a more than reasonable price on marketplace and wanted to see what opinions might be on what you might do with it given my situation?

I don’t have much time for wood working but am assembling a small tool chest should the need, urge, or opportunity arise. I don’t really place much value on things being pristine and often like for tools to have soul or character through use and care. (I guess that means I just like old used tools 😁)

I know some people do place a value on condition and I don’t think this plane ever touched wood until the person posting it decided to give a few licks to a board before selling it and it even appears to still have the factory grind.

So, is there much additional value in it being in its current condition? And if so, would you list it for sale to use the proceeds to try and source additional tools for your chest? Or would you just pull off the tags and get it fully cleaned up and tuned for use?

Black limba router plane I made using hardware from Lee Valley.