A Good Tool is a Beautiful Thing

[Eric Knapp]

This is just a little note in praise of good tools set up properly. I finally got my sharpening system back up to snuff.

This plane hasn't been able to do this kind of work for way too long. I'm happy to be using it again.

-Eric

[Bryan Bear]

Sometimes I think instead of anger management therapy, people should just be required to use a well set up hand plane. There is just something so soothing to peeling off little curls of wood and hearing the swoosh sound. I could do it all day.

[Eric Knapp]

Sometimes I think instead of anger management therapy, people should just be required to use a well set up hand plane. There is just something so soothing to peeling off little curls of wood and hearing the swoosh sound. I could do it all day.

Good idea, that is completely true for me too. When I was a kid using a handplane was the opposite. None of them in the house were ever true and sharp. I think that's true for a lot of people.

-Eric

[Bryan Bear]

Yeah, it seems like the average person thinks hand planes are useless or at least they are amazed that people ever got anything done with them before power tools came to be. Probably because there are tons of them out there and most are not sharp or set up. When most people encounter them they get no instruction at all and of course, have no luck with them.

[Ryan Mazzocco]

I honestly very seldom use hand planes and I think for that very reason. I have several old block planes and an old Stanley #5
But I have no idea how to set them up properly. And usually just end up frustrated after a couple of jagged bumpy passes.
I need plane lessons

[Eric Knapp]

I honestly very seldom use hand planes and I think for that very reason. I have several old block planes and an old Stanley #5
But I have no idea how to set them up properly. And usually just end up frustrated after a couple of jagged bumpy passes.
I need plane lessons

If you lived anywhere near I'd be delighted to help you set up those planes. Once you've used one that's sharp and tuned they might be your favorite tools. My planes and my Japanese chisels are pure joy to use now that they are back in order. There's gotta be someone in your area that could help you with your planes, it's really not that hard.

-Eric

[Beate Ritzert]

This plane hasn't been able to do this kind of work for way too long. I'm happy to be using it again.

This is an ECE, isn't it? I own one, too, and like it. But i also need to sharpen it thorouhly (which i will do as soon as i need it again. Probably in Winter...

If we are on good tools. Meanwhile I am unfortunately forced to build my instruments on the kitchen table. And quite recently i detected this tiny vise:

10kg, beech. Makes working on the table a lot more efficient. Not only because of the vise, but also from the mass it adds to the table.

[Eric Knapp]

This plane hasn't been able to do this kind of work for way too long. I'm happy to be using it again.

This is an ECE, isn't it? I own one, too, and like it. But i also need to sharpen it thorouhly (which i will do as soon as i need it again. Probably in Winter...

If we are on good tools. Meanwhile I am unfortunately forced to build my instruments on the kitchen table. And quite recently i detected this tiny vise:

10kg, beech. Makes working on the table a lot more efficient. Not only because of the vise, but also from the mass it adds to the table.

Yes, it's an ECE Primus Improved Smoothing Plane. It feels great to a larger hand, my daughter can't use it comfortably. The lignum vitae sole makes it so smooth to use.

That vise looks very cool. I'm new around here so don't know everyone and their work yet. What instruments do you make?

-Eric

[Beate Ritzert]

I am building guitars and basses on a very amateurish level, especially regarding the craftmanship.
My latest attempts have been a bass VI conversion (because i needed that), a tenor guitar SG based on a cheap kit for a friend, and an SG bass. All of them fairly individual interpretations of the original designs.

Currently i am making a GK-guitar based on an earlier attempt to design an ergonomic guitar. Maybe i'll show a few pictures here if i succeed.

The build quality of the (few) instruments i did a few years before these when my resources were better has been a lot larger, and i hope i'll come back to at least that level of craftmanship in the future again.