Tool Porn Update - Plane and Spokeshave handles

WIA is only 5 days away and very much looking forward to seeing some old friends and make a few new ones in this great world of woodworking.

I had promised a good friend of mine some new handles for his Boggs spokeshaves and spent the weekend turning a few.  He sent me some wonderful Blackwood and Rosewood to make the handles from. Here's a quick iPhone shot of the finished handles.

I will be delivering these on Friday in Cincinnati.


I was making a new set for my two Lee Valley shaves as well and they use a different attachment method which I did not like. They used a small hanger bolt with a 1/4"-20 thread to attach to the shave. I did not think this gave me enough material in the handle to be secure. I am sure it was fine for the original bubinga handles but some other handle materials, not so much. The Boggs shaves attach with a 1.5" long 1/4"-20 bolt with a hex head for an allen key. This put about 1-1/8" of material in the handle which was more like a tang and I felt added more strength. I bought some threaded rod and cut some for myself and inserted them into the wood with a double-bolt setup. Here's a few process shots on the LN ones, but I ended up using the same process for the LV ones.

Tapping the 7/32" hole for the 1/4"-20 threaded insert

The threaded inserts placed in the blocks. Important point here is that they
are not glued in place; once they are installed in the spokeshave and grain aligned,
they will be glued - we must align our grains...



Stage 1 of turning, setting length and diameter, before the final go

The finished Lee Valley Spokeshaves:

Honduras Rosewood and Cocobolo

I also received my newest plane from Konrad Sauer, its a K9 - that is Konrad-speak for 9" long plane. This plane is made from the most spectacular Desert Ironwood I have ever seen. Not much I can really say about this, the picture will just have to speak for itself:



Sauer and Steiner K9 in Desert Ironwood

New Headboard for Oldest Son

The Finished Piece!

My oldest ask a while ago if I would build him a new headboard for his bed; he had an idea what he wanted, however was not entirely sure. There were many emails and sketches back and forth working out things until a final design was reached. He did not want it to look too "factory" made, so the challenge was adding an element to make it more casual without becoming too primitive. I tried various wood options for the slats which had to be horizontal and finally settled on some local cherry boards that came from my Dad's old homestead - these boards were just one step above firewood, and a small step at that! Careful thicknessing on the planar and then the thickness sander was the only way I could get usable boards without massive tear out and knots blowing up. The final product was worth the effort as these boards were a lighter colour and heavily figured with knots and lines which gave him the look he was after - relief!!

Here's a few build shots:

Cutting the mortises for the cross-members, 2" deep. My story stick
on the right and various chisels to get them perfect. Of course this is the most work
and is the most important part of the build - yet 100% invisible when complete.

Cutting shoulders on the bottom cross-member with my new Lie-Nielson
Tenon saw - like corn though a goose!!

Test fit of all the mortises and tenons to ensure its square and solid.