Two new infills for Lie-Nielsen hand tool event in LA

[Juan Hovey]

I've just finished work on two new No. 3 infill planes for the Lie-Nielsen hand tool event this weekend in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles.

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This one, built for a client in Tahoe, is in Honduran rosewood with a French polish. The pitch is 52.5 degrees.

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This one, with a 45-degree pitch, is in Bastogne walnut, sometimes called paradox walnut, a rare hybrid of English walnut and black walnut found in Northern California. The figure in Bastogne walnut can be extraordinary - fiddleback, even the occasional birdseye, as you may see here:

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I am also working on a No. 4 in snakewood - the densest, toughest wood I've ever run into. I'll post photos when it's done.

[Phil Stone]

Absolutely beautiful!

[Mark Gibney]

Wow! Would love to see these in person.

When you say they are for the Lie Nielsen event, do you mean they will be there for the public to handle? I might pop along if so.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Mark, I was able to chat with Juan and try one of his planes at WIA in Winston-Salem. Wonderful gentleman, you should definitely try to make it to the event.

[Shawn Pixley]

I'm trying to be there tomorrow

[Dave Anderson NH]

Snakewood is beautiful Juan but be very careful. Small cross sections are generally pretty stable but larger pieces are very very very problematic. It is extremely unstable and almost impossible to fully dry. This makes it very susceptible to cracking and checking. At one time I made both marking knives and awls with Snakewood handles. It would work and finish very nicely and sometimes a month or 2 later crack and check. I remember making one lot that came out perfectly and 2 weeks later had to throw away over 80% because of major cracking. I tried Wood Juice, Pentacryl, and other stabilizers and nothing seemed to work including soaking stock in the stabilizers for over a month. With the outrageous price of the stuff I'd hate to see you invest a lot of time and money and then have to scrap everything.

Oh, buy the way, very nice planes!

[Juan Hovey]

Mark - Do come - and feel free to play with my planes as much as you like.

[Shawn Pixley]

I went down to LA yesterday and was able to meet Juan at the LN event. Besides being a really noce guy, he makes beautiful planes. I can tell you that the pictures do not do the planes justice. He allowed me to try them on some Bastogne walnut and they work wonderfully. I envy his skill and patience to build such instruments ("tools" seem pedestrian for such fine work).

[Curt Putnam]

I met Juan at Palomar College. Wonderful man, wonderful planes.

[Juan Hovey]

Shawn - It was great to meet you - and thanks for the kind words.

[Juan Hovey]

Dave - You're right about snakewood: It's tough stuff. I need to tease a tote for a No. 4 out of a half log (sometimes call a "cant," I believe?) 10 inches long, 10 across, and about 5 high, and this is my second go-round. The first go-round involved a different section of the cant, and it ended abruptly when, having shaped and fitted the tote to the body of the plane, and with everything secured to the table of my mill, I drilled through the side of the plane into the snakewood to create a lateral hole through which to push a steel rod to be peened to the sides of the body.

I heard the wood crack, and my heart sank.

I think, however, that the snakewood itself is only partly to blame. When drilling these lateral holes I take care to back the bit out regularly to clear the waste, and I didn't stop to think that the brittle nature of the snakewood would make it necessary to back the bit out more often. I might also have done better to use a brad-point bit as more likely to move waste away from the tip.

In any event, at that point I had no Plan B but to start over. I'll post news of progress as the work goes on.

[Juan Hovey]

Curt - Many thanks to you as well. Introduce yourself next time LN holds a hand tool event at Palomar.