What a day... a bit long...
Steve Kubien
>Morning everybody,
You may have noticed that I haven't talked about my new employer or the new store or the products unless it was in terms of good natured gloating and ribbing. Just makes sense and I wouldn't want anyone to read a bias into me. However let me tell you a bit about yesterday....
Konrad Sauer was at our store, working on some parts, talking about infills in particular and woodworking in general. Let me say firstly, what a first rate guy. Very down to earth and thoughtful. His work speaks for itself once you've seen pictures or gotten up close. Simply gorgeous. We talked about tools, particularly planes. I got an idea of the challenges to be had in making infills, particularly finding the right wood. Very interesting for the uninitiated among us. Among the planes he brought with him were a large blackwood infilled jointer. Bronze sides and a steel sole. I was particularly happy to be able to fondle this one because it belongs to my boss and he hasn't even seen it yet. Don't worry Rob, we'll take good care of it for you.
The second item to catch my eye was an un-toted-coffin smoother. 2" wide iron, bronze sides and stunning rosewood infills and no adjuster. It will belong to the editor of a certain magazine who tends to frequent these parts. Konrad, check your case for that one. If you find it missing, I vow to help hunt down the rotten-so-and-so who may have lifted it. No need to search my shop. Nothing to see there. Move along.
And then came the collection.....
A gentleman brought a small sampling of his infill collection for Konrad to oggle. I believe his name was Michael Smith. (I may need Konrad's help in naming a few of these so bear with me). First out of the box was a Norris A4. A really nice piece of interest to Konrad as he is building one right now. Next out of the box were several planes from the Henley Optical Co. I had never heard of them before but have since learned that they existed in the late 1970's. What makes these so cool is that the sole and infill are machined from a solid block of steel. Talk about mass! The smoother was about 12" long and had to weigh close to 10lbs. Beautiful wood front bun and tote. Stunning. Also from Henley were a low-angle rabbeting block plane and a mitre plane. Same construction...machined steel with wood on top. Apparently planes from this maker are pretty rare and it was a pleasure to see them up close.
I do not know the name of the set of small coffin infills he brought. They were made by Norris. The big one was about 4.5" long and the smallest was about 1.5". Fully functional and in wonderful condition. They were followed by the Norris mitre plane. What struck me most about this plane was the the adjuster did not stick out past the iron. It was tucked away underneath where it wouldn't get in the way during use or get bashed around.
Have you ever seen either a Norris A27 or A28 in perfect condition? How about in the same place? Wicked cool. There was also a small mitre plane which Konrad was really interested in. There was no bridge to hold a wedge or (in this case) cap iron. Instead, there were a pair of bosses on either side. Konrad, can you describe this better? It was really neat.
A fine day to be a work. No really Rob, I was working. Check the sales slips. I was involved. I even got some IC stuff taken care of. Really. You can check the records.
Today is my day off. I think tomorrow is a Windsor chair demonstration. Man, this sure beats unemployment.
Steve Kubien