Jointmaker Pro Showing Up Now!

A few folk on blogs  have mentioned getting their Jointmaker Pro.   Mine will probably ship today or tomorrow!   I am hoping, today!

At the Festool Owners Group, two of the participants have mentioned getting their JMP and that it was a lot of parts to put together, but it has gone together wonderfully as it was precision fit.  They were also expecting a black unit, not a blue one.  I was expecting amber, but I am fine with the amber on blue!  Here is an assembly video from Youtube. The link was from the Bridge City Forum.

This video shows, not just how to do the slider assembly and how to square the tables,  it also shows what the production model looks like.

I am personally expecting great things from the JMP, so I am exited to see what others come up with, and looking forward to mine!  I wonder how long before we start seeing things that people made on their JMP?

Bob

March 10th, 2009 | Category: Hand Tools, Tools | 9 comments

A Lovely Failure

Planes need heels.  I was not positive of that, so I had to do a test.  Besides the scetches looked so cool.

Mesquite Plane no Heel

It really is a beauty, precise, and capable of making a nice shaving.  Sadly the force you have to use to keep the nose down and stable while working, will wear you out.  Even then when it hits a hard spot it grabs into the wood and digs a gouge.  I can’t bring myself to take it apart yet.  It is really pretty.  My wife fell in love with it, and insists that it has to work.   I may keep it as a work of art.  It is a lovely piece of Mesquite.  Just not a very good plane.

Bob

March 9th, 2009 | Category: Hand Tools, Tool Making, Tools, Woodworking | 11 comments

One of the Great Challenges of Woodworking, Resawing

Resawing is a pain.  Either with power or hand tools.  It is easy for the blade to drift, easy to not pay attention and have it drift on the other side.  Bandsaws can do a good job, but the setup and calibration need to be perfect and even then the grain can force a drift.   Bob Easton has written a great article discussing the subject. Even better, he has done it with hand tools.

Turning thick wood into two boards half as thick, or three a third as thick, is a wonderful bit of magic.  It gives you two boards for the price of one.  Often those boards are worth more to you than the thicker one would have been.

Bob

March 6th, 2009 | Category: Woodworking | 3 comments

Bling Clamp

Normally you don’t expect a clamp to demonstrate too much bling and normally I don’t go for too much bling.  However, I have to admit that Sir Richard has made the best looking bling or no bling clamp I have seen to date!

Talent and artistry,  he blogs about tools and toolmaking and he make an effort to show things that a hobby woodworker could do himself!

Bob

March 5th, 2009 | Category: Hand Tools, Tool Making, Tools, Woodworking | Leave a comment

Violin Making Planes

Christopher Martyn at Finely Strung has a great article on making instrument planes!

His are tiny, elegant and simple.  Using Krenov’s basic method, he shows how to make a great little plane.

With a few toothing blades from Lee Valley, or A top notch O1 plane blade, you could easily put together some really nice tools.

Bob

March 4th, 2009 | Category: Hand Tools, Tool Making, Tools, Tutorials, Woodworking | 2 comments
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