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I have seen this as well at garage sales. (We call them 'tag sales' here in CT). I always have chalked it up to folks that have never used a plane being curious, taking them apart and not...

It's not uncommon for rabbet planes to have irons just slightly wider than the plane body. The cutter needs to be aligned with the body on the side that runs along the shoulder of the rabbet being...

I just took a class with Mary May last weekend. She talked about the convex edges and said that in most cases you want flat edges and sharp corners, but some rounded edges come in handy when carving...

Thanks Eric, Yes, I do. I have an old magazine clipping of an antique, gilded sun, with a kindly face carved into it and sun rays alternating straight and wavy. I want to reproduce that for a...

Well, the class has come and gone, I had to schlep all of my tools in rolls and bags, but it wasn't too bad. The instructor was Mary May, she was great! I'm certainly not a beginner, but most of...

I just typed "replacement iron for Stanley No. 5 plane" on ebay, and found dozens, they range in price from 20-30 bucks for serviceable ones.

Sharpening... That's a whole other issue. I will...

If I were starting out, like you are, I would get a No. 5 Jack Plane as you and others have suggested, and I would get a second iron. On that second iron I would grind it in such a way that the...

These debates always leave me shaking my head. Of course you don't need to surface grind a plane to make it perform well. People got along fine in the past. We didn't really need metal planes at...

My money is also on the clamping. Don't make me bust out the vector analysis!

DC

Very nice! Did you use one of the fonts he suggests?

DC

I don't know the answer, but I can hazard a couple of guesses. I cannot recall in any old texts on carving, having instructions on grinding with anything other than a straight edge, maintaining...

Very Cool! and nice job on the base!

DC

Well, the class is less than a week away, and I will not be done with the box in time. Everything has taken me longer than anticipated.

The current stumbling block are the drawer pulls. I...

It looks like it could be this one:

516971

Maybe.

DC

Nice scores! I'm particularly interested in the little block plane (I am from New Haven originally). Does it say Sargent on it? Or C.E. Jennings? They're the only metal plane manufacturers from...

I've been working away at the project, now making drawers. I decided to start with the small drawers, to get my feet wet. I went round and round, trying to decide on the dovetail layout. I have...

That's what I remember too, the little plane that used razor blades. We had one in our tool drawer in the basement when I was a kid. About all it was good for was breaking the sharp corners on soft...

Fingers crossed here as well!

DC

I use a Tormek for initial sharpening of my carving tools, but I do not use the jigs at all. Mine is the older one with just the standard wheel. I use it because I have it. What I do is sharpen...

Thanks Mark! THe Chestnut does work nicely. It's a pretty soft, light wood as hardwoods go, it planes well and the finish off of the plane is really nice, almost waxey. It's very open grained, and...

Looking good! The Ash looks a bit like the Chestnut I've been working with.

DC

Derek,

I've also been following along with a great deal of enjoyment. I haven't ever made any chairs, the closest thing was a stick built footstool, which came out nicely enough, but went...

Looking good so far! My uncle bought an antique table that was very similar. He complained about passing dishes across. So I made him a large lazy Susan. I think I got the bearing from Woodcraft,...

Thanks for the comments guys! Ben, the plunger pin assemblies are pretty nice, the milling of the pins, the specialized bushings, all of it were pretty nicely machined, the pivot hinge and the...

I'm glad to hear she's doing better!

DC