Handworks 2026 in Amana, IA

Well, I got back to the Handworks event in Amana, IA on Sept. 4th and 5th.  And it was awesome again.  Two days full of hand tool immersion.  The event is put on by the proprietors of "Benchcrafted", the company who sells crubber, the leg vise "criss-cross" thing, workbenches and other stuff.  And other than getting there and staying somewhere, the event was free to attend - though I did add to the donation jar.

One of the outdoor tents

This open-air timber-framed structure housed Pete Galbert, 
Jason Lonon and many others

The main barn, with Lie Nielsen at the far end

The main barn on day 2 during Schwarz' presentation

Man, it was hot, hot, hot!  And humid!  Each day was about 95 deg with a "feels like" temperature of 97-98.  And many of the vendors were wearing long pants.  I felt really bad for them.  But if you focus on the tools and the woodworking and the comradery, it was easy enough to forget the heat for a while.

I wasn't looking for anything in particular this time.  But I did come home with two items.  There's a guy from Chicago named Slav who sells new "old stock" files and I bought some from him three years ago.  He was there again this time and just in passing I happened to see something on his table that I'd been looking for for a long time - Skroo-zon file handles in the #3 and #4 sizes.

Number 3 and 4 Skroo-zon file handles

These will add nicely to my #2, 5 and 6

If you've never used one of these, the handle "screws" onto a file's tang and holds it really firmly.  I know I can make (and have made) my own file handles, but these things are great.

Even though I didn't really need any new tools, it's always good to see what's out there.  One thing I might be interested in if I ever get around to making some more planes, is these tapered molding plane iron blanks.  The molding planes that I made years ago were with Lie-Nielsen (non-tapered) blanks.  But the way they were made 150 years ago was genius!  Opposing wedge action with the tapered iron and tapered wedge gives great hold and adjustability.

These are from New Heritage Woodworks

It was a really great event.  My thanks to the Abraham brothers and their staff for putting this on.  I can't imaging how much work it is, but I'm certain it is WAY more than I might realize.

Sandusky Tool Co. Rabbet Plane

Sandusky Tool Co. was in business from 1869 to the mid- or late-1920's.  I used to think it was named for a person, but it was named for the city in which it was located, Sandusky, OH (about 50 miles west of Cleveland).  This rabbet plane started life as a 3/4" wide plane.  It was a little shy of that when I got it, but it's thinner now after I had to plane one side a bit to get it back in shape.

Sandusky 3/4" Rabbet

The logo on the toe.  Looks like it also has a "146".

On the heel: I think this originally read "3/4"

Thanks to the Internet Archive, I could find a 1925 Sandusky catalog, and there was a #146 skew rabbet plane shown.  The 3/4" size sold for a whopping $1.40, though that was probably a lot in 1925 dollars.

The plane needed some truing up.  The sole was not flat - it was a bit high just behind the mouth.  And the right side was twisted such that behind the mouth, the plane body stuck out about 2 mm more than it did ahead of the mouth.

High spot on the sole behind the mouth

You can see by eye how much higher the body was
by my finger than it was ahead of the mouth.

I planed the sole and right side flat and square to each other.  I did these things with the iron installed, but safely out of the way of my bench plane iron.  With the iron and wedge installed and tightened, a check of flatness on the sole gave a different result than when the iron was out of the plane.  I didn't bother truing up the left side of the plane.  That doesn't make any difference in how I'll ever use it.

Sole and right side square to each other

For the iron, I ground a new bevel and ground a little of the right side so it would sit in the plane right.  When set up as I've read it should be, the right side of the iron should sit proud of the plane body by a few thousandths of an inch.  I went though a few iterations of grinding and fitting in the plane until I was happy with how it looked.

I also noticed during these fitting steps that the iron's bed (back wall of the mortise) had a step that didn't allow the tang to move right of center.  So I fixed that with a chisel.  Fortunately that didn't affect the fit of the wedge, though I might still mess with that a bit.

After sharpening and honing the iron, I made test cuts in pine and oak.  Both came out good, though it's always a challenge to get an unfenced rabbet plane started.  I prefer to cut the rabbet a little shy of the width line, then clean up with sideways cuts to the line.

Cutting a 1/2" x 1/2" rabbet in pine

Cleaning up the side wall, pulling the plane back toward the camera

I think this will be a nice plane.  It's practically perfectly quartersawn and the grain patterns on the sides are beautiful.

Update: I've used the plane a few times now and it's a real winner!  It outperforms a homemade 3/4" straight-across-iron rabbet plane that I made long ago.  The skewed iron really makes a nice difference.

A Few More New-To-Me Tools

Last post I wrote about buying several tools from the widow of a woodworker who, after several months of grieving, was ready to let go of her husband's tools.  On a separate occasion, I got a few more things from her and this post shows them.

A few more new-to-me items

I already have a pair of mag goggles (though I can't seem to find them right now), but these had an extra lens that pivots in front of the right eye for extra magnification.  This pair does not have a light like my other pair, but it'll be nice to have the extra lens for looking at finer things.  It's already helped me get a better view of cutting edges.

I also already have a set of brad point bits, though my set only has 7 bits - 1/8" to 1/2" by 16ths.  This new set goes from 1/8" to 1/2" in 64ths, and already it has come in handy when I had to drill a 15/32" hole.  The set looks to be in great shape.  They had been used, but probably not too much.

A nice complete set of brad point bits

I had been looking for a circular (or "compass"? - not sure of the correct term) plane for the last year or two.  When I saw this one in the man's collection, I really hoped I could get it.

Stanley #20

View from above the front portion

It's a bit grungy and has some issues, but I'll clean it up and get it working.  Can't wait to try it out.

Finally, I picked up a book that looked interesting.  It's "Shoji and Kumiko Design, Book 1: The Basics", by Desmond King.  I had experimented with Kumiko a few years ago and enjoyed it.  And I recall seeing King's name when I was researching Kumiko at that time.  This book will give me some more information to continue with the techniques.

Desmond King's Book 1 on Shoji and Kumiko

That's all for now.  I've got some tools to clean up, materials to read, and some woodworking to get to.

A Few New-To-Me Tools

A friend was asked to help a lady sell off her deceased husband's tools.  Apparently the man was into woodworking and so much more and had the tools to show for it.  He had been a machine woodworker, but he used and collected hand tools as well.

My friend asked if I might want some of the tools, so I went with him one day.  Holy mackerel!  There was so much stuff.  Over 100 chisels, over 100 planes, many saws and hundreds of bits and bobs of every sort.  It has taken him weeks to gather and sort all the stuff.  This is a bigger job that he imagined.

A sampling of the chisels (and some other nice things)

Planes organized - and he found more planes after this!

In the picture of the chisels above, if you look closely you can see a Lie-Nielsen shooting plane and at least one other L-N plane.  Most of his things weren't old and collectible, but very useable.

I've grabbed a few things, and besides one item, I've paid a fair price for them - there were no bargain basement prices here.  The proceeds will go to the widow, so I feel good about that.

Here's the first group of things I got.  I'll show a few pics here, and hopefully later I'll post about cleaning/fixing them up and write in much more detail about each item.

Grinder, 5 planes, and an auger bit box

Unfortunately the auger bit box did not have a set of bits in it.  The box had been altered for some other purpose so only the bottom tier had the fitted semicircular grooves that keep bits safe.

Russell Jennings auger bit box

I'm guessing the handle was added at some point - I've not seen a handle on these before.  And one screw for the handle went through to the inside of the lid.  If there were bits inside, I'd be worried that holding it by the handle would result in disaster if a tier clasp came undone.

Next up was a 3/4" rabbet plane, looking in very good condition.  It's a Sandusky and appears to have the number "716" stamped on the toe.

Sandusky Tool Co. rabbet plane

Then there was a pair of hollow and round planes by R. W. Hendrickson at 65 1/2 Bowery (presumably a New York City address).  Both had the number "10" stamped on the heel.

H&R pair

R. W. Hendrickson 3/4" hollow and round

The round plane iron is right on 3/4" wide, but the hollow iron is a little more than 1/32" oversized.

The shorter of the two bench planes is a 16" jack by the New York Tool Co.  It's got a "12" stamped on the toe.  The body is in very good shape.  The Auburn Tool Co. iron and cap-iron look good, but I'm sure I'll have to do some work to get them working right.

16" long jack plane from New York Tool Co.

The last plane is this 22" fore plane from an unknown maker.  I could not find any identifying marks on the toe.  There are several owner marks "AC" stamped on the plane, and "A BYRON COOPER" behind the tote.  On the heel is stamped "2 1/2", and that's the iron's width.  There is another A BYRON COOPER stamped on the heel, so I'm guessing that's the owner's full name for the "AC" mark.

22" fore plane

The heel stamps

I can barely make out a "SORBY" mark on the iron.  Can't wait to get this one into working order.  The plane is from a dense wood - it seems quite heavy for its size.

Last on the list for this post is a hand crank grinder by The Carborundum Co. of Niagara Falls.  Not sure what to make of the different numbers on the decal: NIAGARA NO. 2, and MODEL NO. 70.  Is it a #2 or a #70?  Regardless, this grinder works so smoothly that I couldn't resist.  I paid a lot for this one - hopefully the quality will have been worth it.

The grinder needs a bit of clean-up, but already works great

The logo

That's is for now.  I have a few more tools that I picked up, but I'll post about them separately.

Painting "Block" Holder

My wife has recently gotten into watercolor painting, and the paper she uses comes in a thing called a block.  There are times when she would like to have the block not flat on the table, but at an angle.  So necessity being the mother of invention, I made a block holder with adjustable angle.  It turns out that the "adjustable" part was a bit tougher than I thought it might be.

The completed project

I had some spare spruce/pine/fir from the potting bench project, so I used that.  The block is 9" x 12" and I'm making this thing 12" x 14".  I had remembered a book holder project that Matt Estlea did on YouTube and I thought I'd make something similar.

The two frames are half-lapped together.  The top one will get a horizontal member that holds the adjustable "kickstand" and the bottom frame gets a third front-to-back stile that has notches cut in it to receive the lower end of the kickstand.

Front frame partially done

Half-lap joints

The kickstand cross-piece has to swivel to allow different height positions.  So I experimented on some scrap with an integral round 3/8" tenon on one piece going into a 1/2" deep, 3/8" diameter hole in another.  This seemed about right, so I went with it.

Prototyping a swiveling part

Here's the real thing - parts connected with a bridle joint
and round integral tenons shaped with saw, rasp and file

The piece in my hand in the above photo is actually hollow.  I made it by plowing a 1" wide, 5/16" deep groove in a 6" x 1 1/2" x 1/2" piece, then gluing on a cover.  This hollowed-out piece houses a 5/16" thick inner piece that slides in and out to adjust the angle of the project.  I had experimented with a sliding dovetail mechanism for the kickstand, but wasn't happy with it.

Before gluing up the two frames, I mortised the bottom pieces for hinges.  It was much easier doing this when the parts were more manageable.

Hinges ready

The lower frame was straightforward - two rails and three stiles half-lapped together.  But I did add notches to the center stile to accept the kickstand.

The lower frame ready for glue-up

Gluing up - you can see the notches in the center stile

Some further touches included gluing on a 1/2" x 1/2" piece as a ledge to support the watercolor "block", drilling some holes in the inner kickstand piece, and making a small pin to keep that inner piece from retracting into the outer piece.

Here's the ledge that will support the watercolor "block"

The pin (made from a bamboo chopstick) and prototype hole

The pin in place showing how it prevents the inner piece from retracting

And here it is all together showing the range of angles it can be set to.  With four notches and three holes in the inner member of the kickstand, there's a lot of adjustability.

Maximum setting is 45 deg

Minimum setting (other than sitting flat) is about 15 deg

And of course, when not in use, it can fold flat for storage

I gave this project three coats of shellac, followed by a coat of wax.  I also added little vinyl feet on the the bottom frame so that it won't slide on the work table.

The tough thing about this project was trying to figure out where in the top frame to put the pivoting kickstand, and how long to make the kickstand parts.  To do this, I hinged together the two frames while they were dry-fit, the top frame with the pivoting arm not yet in place.  I clamped a 45 deg triangle between the frames to set the maximum angle and sort of looked where it might be best to place the pivoting arm.  I was really just guessing here, but it seems to have worked out.

One last thing.  The extending part of the kickstand has a chamfer top and bottom to create a point at its end.  Because that point enters the notches in the bottom frame at different angles, I cut those notches at different angles.  They're not perfect, and I didn't try to make them so, but they hold the kickstand nicely.

You can see the point in this photo

That's it.  For a simple little project, it sure had me thinking a lot.

Rehabbing a Small Incannel Gouge

Back in February I got this small incannel gouge at a tool show.  I cleaned it up and sharpened it at the time, but I didn't really put it through its paces until recently.  When I  sharpened it, I knew something wasn't right.  I just couldn't seem to get a good consistent edge.  It sat on a shelf until this week waiting for me to look more deeply into it.

New Haven Edge Tool Co.

The curve of the gouge is part of a 9/16" diameter circle (9/32" radius).  The cutting edge measures 7/16" corner to corner.  The handle is clearly a user-made job, and it had come loose while I was working on it, so I made a new one.

When I tried sharpening the gouge, something wasn't right.  The wire edge that forms would get too large and end up flaking off more metal than it should have.  One time, when I finally got a good edge, I tried to cut some wood and the edge just crumbled.

Result of using the gouge lightly.  Can you see the chip in the edge?

I figured the tool had lost its temper somewhere along the line.  So I annealed it by heating to cherry red and plunging into a bag of vermiculite to allow the heat to dissipate slowly.

My heat-treating set-up: two torches pointing at a steel can.
The gouge is stuck in the vermiculite at left.

After it had cooled, I hardened and tempered the gouge.  This was the first time I tried to temper a tool by watching the color advance towards the cutting edge.  When the edge got to a straw color, I plunged it into oil to stop the tempering.

You can see the colors here on the convex side of the gouge

After cleaning up the blackened and discolored steel, I gave it a good sharpening.  But I got an equally crumbly edge!  I'm aware that when heat-treating an edge tool that has a sharp edge, the thin cutting edge can get overly brittle.  So I ground back a couple of millimeters and re-sharpened it.  This time I finally got a good cutting edge without crumbling.  I tested it on some end grain walnut and finally didn't ruin the edge after just a single or even multiple cuts.

Testing on end grain walnut

When I was satisfied that the steel was in good enough condition to warrant a new handle, I got a chunk of cherry, sketched a pattern on some cardboard and got out the bungee lathe.  The shape didn't come out exactly how I had planned, but it'll be fine.

Showing the new handle and the lathe set-up

This was my first time re-handling a tanged tool.  To fit the tang into the cherry handle, I drilled successively bigger holes at successively shallower depths.  I had to adjust the hole a bit to get the gouge to align better with the handle.  I used the brass ferrule from the original handle, which had a 5/8" outer diameter and just shy of 9/16" inner diameter.  It was very satisfying when I tapped the handle home up to the bolster.

New handle next to the original

I gave the handle a single coat of BLO, which really brought out the color of the cherry.  Another tool in the arsenal.

Completed