English Boxwood Jointer - part 2 by Jim Hendricks

Creating the cap iron bolt bed rebate, refining the abutments, tuning the "wear", and selecting boxwood handle stock.

In order to test "in the raw" the final throat tuning steps are necessary. The two critical steps are opening the mouth leading edge to allow shavings to pass and also creating the slopes towards the wear on the abutments.

John Davenport - London Planemaker by Richard Arnold

John Davenport of London was apprenticed to William Reynolds in 1693. There are four known planes in existence today. The three plane shown here include one interesting example - most likely, the earliest commercially made British plow (plough in the UK) plane found to date. Made by John Davenport, most likely sometime prior to 1710.

English Boxwood Jointer - part 1 by Jim Hendricks

I don't recall ever seeing a solid English boxwood jointer. You simply don't find dry boxwood that big!

Working with Huw Crompton of this parish we sought a suitable log that was dry but had not checked on the Northern side as is the norm because of reinforcing branches - a rare combination.

Cutting Perfectly Square End on a Board by James E. Price

I have read of the frustration that members of this group and other groups have cutting 2x4's and 4x4's perfectly square with a hand saw in construction of workbench components.

The method I use is well known and used for centuries and it is the way I was taught by Bruce Debo in the 1960's after he observed my struggles in cutting...

Making Custom Brass Hinges by Paul Hamler

This video demonstrates three different techniques the woodworker or gunsmith can use to produce special hinges for projects where no commercial hinge is available.

Paul comes from a family of craftsmen, his father was a carpenter and according to Paul, could work in any craft and fix anything.

Boxing Wooden Planes by Jim Hendricks

"Boxing" is the technique of using a hard wood in areas where use causes wear on a plane, thus minimizing the wear caused by friction with the wood.

So called because English boxwood was the wood normally used on British planes. But not all boxing uses boxwood. Here I show two examples - the first using African ebony, the second, lignum vitae.

"… and a Little Child Shall Lead Them" by James E. Price

That biblical verse is the first thought that popped in my head when I lined up my edge trimming planes for a photograph because the Veritas miniature plane is leading the pack followed by a Stanley 95 and then an AMT, and serving as rear guard is a Veritas model. The Stanley 95 was patented in 1912 and the others are much more recent knockoffs.

Solution for Tight Cuts by Jim Hendricks

Up until now I have used my Two Fingers bowsaw for making the cuts for iron wedge pockets and whilst it does the job. It's a bit difficult to keep upright and straight at the same time particularly when making smaller planes. What I wanted was a low profile and fine Japanese toothed saw. Well, I finally found one in Japan on Amazon and it arrived today...

Luban 043: Plough Plane & Kerfing Saw by Jim Hendricks

For this test I used (as always) the lowest quality of wood from a rough pallet, whose DNA appears closer to cheese than wood! It's all too easy to use a nice tame sample species.

This breed leaves no prisoners, needing sharp edges to give good results without turning into string!

Some Block Planes by James E. Price

Sometime ago Jim Hendricks pulled out some wonderful block planes for a post on our Unplugged Woodworkers forum on the Facebook and in the comments he urged me to post photos of some of mine. Here they are...

For beginner woodworkers a block plane is plane with a low angle blade with the bevel up.

Brace with a Twist by Jim Hendricks

I truly believe that the Sheffield Brace Pad is one of the most beautiful ways of making holes. But few are aware that it can also turn into a turnscrew!

This beautifully made bit is cunningly formed in many ways - not only does it have two sizes of flat tip but in either direction.