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The Germans don’t make a lot of metal planes, I mean they never really did. They still have quite a vibrant wooden plane manufacturing scene. But there is one company that makes metal planes in Germany, and that company is KUNZ Tools. Kunz was established by Gustav Kunz in Fürstenwalde in 1910. After WW2 they moved to Hanover then in 1992 Tresselt-Schlüter GmbH in Grossbreitebach/Thuringia took over production of the planes. They are easy to identify because they generally have have the upper body of the plane epoxy-coated in a vibrant green, with the lever cap in red – very much Christmas themed. They manufacture everything from bench planes to pocket/specialty planes, and even have a KUNZ-plus range of planes manufactured stress using relief annealed grey- cast iron (as opposed to ductile iron).

The Kunz No.9½

One plane I find interesting is KUNZ’s interpretation of the No.9½ block plane. The colour-scheme aside, there isn’t really a lot that sets it apart from any other plane. A review from Fine Woodworking in 2012 says this about the plane: “Poor machining made the tool uncomfortable to hold; blade adjustments were coarse and didn’t hold; insufficient bed support for the blade; sole was flat.“. There is just something lacking in this plane. Just looking at the plane you can see the finger-holds have a weird and unnatural shape. Why are some knobs bronze (coated?) and others steel? Will that lever in the back dig into your hand?

I hate to say it, but this is a case of German-made, but why? It doesn’t seem to live up to the aesthetic design or precision that tools Germany are known for, almost stuck in time in some respects. I’m sure from a materials perspective the planes are good quality. The planes are available worldwide, and seem to sell for C$130/US$100, which isn’t exactly inexpensive when compared to other block planes. It’s a pity because KUNZ does make some interesting tools like spokeshaves, including one with an adjustable mouth.

 Decided to take a day off. Well a partial day off from the shop. My back felt pretty much the same as it did the day before. On a bright note, the back did feel better at around 1500. I got 2 stints in the workshop today spending roughly 45 minutes to hour each time. I spent most of today trying not to move much, watching You Tube, and reading. I'll give the back a few more days to calm down and slowly ease back into my regular schedule. Or that is the grand plan in Disneyland.

not fully seated

The tail/pin fit on this 5" single drawer is better than the last one. I still am having issues with the half pins not being 100% tight and gap free. On this drawer I went 3 for 4 being gap free. I checked the fit of the tails in the pins but didn't seat them fully. I was just trying to get an idea of the fit and also to minimize the number of times I seated and unseated the tails/pins.

hmm......

I'm not particularly fond of socket chisels and this one ain't helping me change my opinion of them. No matter how hard or how many times I reset the handle, it loosens up. Usually right in the middle of me doing a delicate paring cut with them. I remember Chris S writing the spraying the handle with hair spray helps.

$3.99

There aren't a lot of hair spray choices in the drug stores anymore. There were only 4-5 brands on the shelf at CVS and this was the cheapest one. It worked and it worked well. Got an instant grab and bonding and when I killed the lights they were still tight and together. I wonder what the shelf life of this is?

getting the back measurement

This was basically all I managed to get done today. Used the pinch rods to keep the inside dimension at the back the same as it was at the front. 

glued and cooking

I thought I would get the slips sawn to rough length but it didn't happen. Tomorrow the plan is to get the two 5" dual drawers glued and cooking.

xmas gift

I got this book from daughter #1 and I like cookbooks like this. I am ok with them just having recipes but this also has history, trivia, and tells stories about the recipes.

a little bit of everything

I'm italian from my father's side (german/dutch on my mother's side) and it is the cuisine that I grew up on. IMO there is nothing like a meal from your childhood to warm up  your heart with fond memories. This cookbook has everything from veggies to pasta to meat to desserts. It will take me a while to slog my way through this book.

xmas gift to me

I got this book off the Timeless Tools and Treasures site for cheap. I like reading history books about tools.

another xmas gift

When I first saw the title of this book I kind of dismissed it. I thought it was a philosophical book on what makes the sun rise in the east. Turns out it isn't and it is about 7 inventions that everyone takes for granted today.

7 wonders

I read the chapter on the nail today. Made me appreciate that humble, insignificant piece of metal so much more. I probably could have read more but I binged watched the last episodes of the Dresden Detectives. I highly recommend them (they're on PBS) if you like police crime dramas. Cops are the same world wide but how they go about policing is different. Makes it interesting especially so when the acting is top notch.

accidental woodworker

It was you, Paul Sellers, who instilled the passion for hand tool woodworking into the hearts of thousands. While LN and Veritas existed previously, their clientele was predominantly non-dedicated hand tool enthusiasts. Roy Underhill, a revered figure, served primarily as a teacher and host at the “Woodwright School,” while Chris Schwarz, more of a celebrity journalist, often advocated for magazine advertisers, particularly Lie Nielsen. Yet, it was you who pioneered the realm of exclusive hand tool woodworking.

You became the trailblazer, offering online woodworking education that rivalled expensive woodworking schools. Undoubtedly, your teaching prowess remains exceptional, and you accomplished what others hesitated to attempt. In an industry where American woodworking celebrities adhere to a rigid hierarchy, you boldly defied those boundaries, earning widespread acclaim.

Despite concerted efforts to undermine you, especially from the American woodworking elite, you stood resilient. Your zenith predated the era of the “Coronavirus,” a time when the woodworking community faced unprecedented challenges, leading many to falter without recovery. The landscape shifted, marked by surging living costs and grossly inflated timber prices. Amidst adversity, you emerged as a survivor, a champion in your own league.

I believe you are the last of the lot. Your dedication transcends personal success; you sought to make a difference at the governmental level. Regardless of the outcome, what resonates is your commitment to trying. Paul, you have undoubtedly contributed more to the craft than all your counterparts combined.

Having professionally worked with wood since 1998, I experienced a transition for a 12-month period from hand tools to machinery. I felt at the time what I was doing machinery had no place; I felt uncomfortable using them and felt no need to use them, so I sold them for less than what I paid for. However, as my health has deteriorated since then and continues to do so, I am contemplating buying a bandsaw to help in the ripping of boards.

I just wanted to say thank you, Paul, because you never know when it will be too late to do so.

 Last night I went back to the shop after dinner but I didn't get anything done. I bent over to pick the drawer and my back threw a massive hissy fit. That was it for me and it took me a few to straighten up. I spent the remainder of the night binge watching German police dramas with english subtitles. I watched all the available Luna and Sophie ones and found a new one called Dresden Detectives. This one is longer, grittier, and more intense than Luna and Sophie. I have quite a few of them to watch yet.

This AM getting out of bed, or rather trying to get vertical, went off like a Benny Hill routine. I am restricted in what OTC pills I can take for my arthritis but I can take Tylenol but it didn't do much to help. As long as I didn't move too much or bend over I was ok. Things with the back usually loosen up and improve as the day goes on but today it didn't seem to want to flow that way.

survived picking them up

Things weren't going swimmingly in the shop this AM. I really wanted to get all the 4" drawers done and get the single 5" drawer glued up. Spoiler alert - it didn't happen boys and girls. Started with getting the slips glued in the left drawer.

didn't forget

I got the round overs on the slips done before I glued them in. Rounding over the over the other dual drawer didn't come out as nice (forgot to do that before gluing them in). The round over is much smaller due to me only using sandpaper to knock the arris off.

bottoms fitted

I am installing the drawer bottoms with no glue. Just 3 nails at the back for the dual drawers and 5 on the single ones.

last one

I almost didn't finish this. Bending slightly to saw the pin sockets sucked pond scum. I had to squat more then bend over to saw them. I thought of using my moxon vise but that didn't happen. Hurt too much bending over to retrieve it and the pain doubled when I tried to pick it up. Moxon vise 1, me Zero.

You can see the double gauge line on the pin board. That is from the tite mark slipping on me. I caught it because the gauge line was too close to the middle of the end. Most of it will disappear when I remove the pin waste.

last reason to kill the lights

Chopping the pin waste wasn't that bad. As long as I kept the board close to front edge of the bench to chop it. I ran the gauge line for the back dado on the wrong face. I caught that potential hiccup when I was laying out the opposite line.

All that is left to do on the front drawer is to clean out the pin sockets, chop the back dadoes, and glue it up.

off the saw horses

I had the drawers in the boneyard and it dawned me to keep them where they will live. Hoping that tomorrow I feel better than I did today.

accidental woodworker

 Two days left in december and still no snow in my part of the universe. Not that I'm complaining but I have seen on You Tube vids where there is snow falling elsewhere. Just musing out loud when I'll be getting up to seeing a white blanket. There isn't any snow in the forecast neither. Day time temps are running 3-5 degrees higher than normal with overnight temps below freezing. The ten day forecast has sunny and cloudy days - no snow but some rain.

first 4" dual drawer

This drawer took me a little over two hours to do. When I first came to the shop I made the remainder of drawer slips I needed first thing. That took about 15 minutes and the rest of the time till the lunch bell rang was doing this drawer. 

after lunch

The plan was to get the 2nd 4" dual drawer glued up along with the 5" single drawer. The first 4" drawer is glued and cooking on the deck .

senior moment

I forgot that I had sawn the back to width before lunch. After lunch I came to shop and sawed the back again to account for the drawer slip. I could have used it but it looked too ugly to my eye. I had an extra 4" drawer part that I sawed a new back from.

big oops

Not only did I forget to sweeten the miter on the left side slip, I doubled down on that by not rounding over the top edge of all the slips. I'll have to try and knock the square edge with 80 grit paper first followed up 150 to smooth it out.

5" single drawer

In light of my couple of me-steaks today (there were a couple of minor gaffes) I thought it best to kill the lights here. I briefly went into panic mode thinking I had lost a part. When I was marking the boards I lost one of the screws for the mini tite mark I using. I had to sweep the floor and after sifting through the dust pan I found it. It was after 1500 by then and I got a book I ordered in the mail today I want to start reading.

After this adventure I found that the tite mark had slipped and my gauge lines on the front and the left sides were off. Corrected that and laid down new gauge lines which fortunately were ahead of the errant ones.

After dinner I went back to the shop and glued in the slips on the 2nd 4" drawer. Once the bottoms are fitted and the drawer planed to fit the openings, I'll have 2 banks of the 5 drawers done.

accidental woodworker

 It is 99.9% official - my mortgage is finally paid off. I'll get the last 0.1% when I get the deed in the mail. It took the bank 3 days to post my payment and for them to post the refund to my checking account. I still don't understand the refund but I'm not arguing with them about it. The bank ain't going to give me any money that they could have any possibility of keeping. It was a nice feeling to see all zeroes in every category on the mortgage statement page. 

To celebrate my wife and I went out to lunch at Gregg's. Today was friday but I didn't have fish 'n chips. Instead I bucked the system and had a hamburger with grilled onions and mushrooms. I washed that down with 3 glasses of diet coke. There are 3 things that the doc said I should avoid - carbonated drinks, caffeine, and alcohol. But today was special as I don't anticipate having to pay down another mortgage again.

one down, one to go

No hiccups with either of the drawers. I don't think I'll have any problems with just white glue keeping the slips where they belong.

paid attention

I was worried that I would screw this up and get the sapwood low and high. Ten years ago I wouldn't have thought to have the grain run R to L. With the sapwood streaks this would look like crap if it didn't flow R to L or L to R.

measuring sticks

Not a good space to try and use a measuring tape/rule. I have a ton of these scraps of pine to use and FYI they are almost impossible to screw up. The other drawer bottom is about an 1/8" wider. I couldn't see any difference in the drawer fronts though.

I almost wet myself

I was so happy with this that I could have wet myself repeatedly without caring. The gap on the bottom of the single drawer is a pencil line. Yeah. I thought it was a dreaded gap. The two dual drawers look fantastic. I planed them till they fit in their openings. Since this is winter and contraction season, I'll have to plane a gap on the top of these along with a wee bit on the sides.

almost an oops

Before I can glue up the 4" single drawer I have to make the drawer slips for it. I need the slips made so I know how much of the back bottom I have to saw off.

better than I expected

I had visions of a total horror show gluing this up square. I was expecting to have to use a clamp diagonally to hold it square. Before I glued it up I was tempted to use hide glue for this but opted for white instead. The white glue sets up quicker and the thought was I could get it squared up and hold it and it would set/hold quicker then hide glue would. I got and kept it square by shifting/skewing the clamps.

dry fit

The drawer had been clamped for several hours by the time I got the slips dry fitted. My wife and I went out and did a drive around after lunch. Got back to the shop late for the PM session. 

fingers crossed

My track record for following labels isn't that good. I doubt my batting average for it is in double digits. I labeled this the same way I do for through dovetails and I do pretty good with paying attention to that labeling. Hopefully the X will spark something in my brain bucket.

4" single drawer

I thought I would have gotten all three of the 4" drawers at least glued up today  but that didn't happen. I am ok with just the single being done.

4" dual drawer sides

The goal for tomorrow is to finish these two and get the 5" single drawer made and fitted.

accidental woodworker

https://wordpress.com/annual-report/journeymansjournel.wordpress.com/2023/

I had no idea my blog is so successful. Imagine all those people that gained benefit from it.

I took some time yesterday from our year-end festivities to chat with my longtime friend Brian Wilson on his “Now For Something Completely Different” show, where we engage in some high-altitude societal imaging and analysis.

If it is the sort of chatter you might find interesting between two radical rabble rousers, give it a listen.

Warning: not safe for the faint of heart.

Following on from the previous post, I thought it would be interesting to look at differing costs between more premium planes and lower-end planes. In the table below I have included a range of low-angle block planes from varying manufacturers. Differentiating planes is achieved by means of price, and construction characteristics. Most planes have a body made of ductile iron, but it is hard to tell the quality of the casts without performing some sort of destructive testing. The adjustment mechanisms range in quality depending on materials, and machining. Finally, lower priced planes tend to have more generic, high-carbon type blades.

There are three price tiers in the table below: high, medium, and low. On the upper tier are HE and LN planes which cost more in part because they contain a good amount of bronze. The HE is a block plane for those who like pure bronze tools. Both planes are made in countries with higher wages, and likely better quality raw materials. With companies like LN, materials and workmanship are also guaranteed for the life of the tool. Veritas (Lee Valley) also produces exceptional quality planes at a marginally lower cost (possibly to do with larger economies of scale), having it sit in the mid-tier price-wise. What is evident is that there is little price difference between the likes of Wood River (WR) and Veritas planes – in fact the Veritas plane is only US$13 more. For that US$13 you are getting a Canadian made plane with bronze adjustment mechanisms, a better quality blade, a better casting, and more ergonomic finger grips. The WR plane is basically an amalgam of the Stanley No.65 low angle and No.18 standard angle knuckle-lever cap designs (the knuckle-lever isn’t really the most effective mechanism around), with little in the way of innovation.

If you want a classic Stanley-style plane then buy a vintage one. A vintage Stanley No.18 goes anywhere from US$70-100, and a No.65 around $US100-130. Sure it may need some TLC, and the chrome may not be shiny, but it is a quality tool that has stood the test of time. At the low-end of the scale are Melbourne Tool, and Stanley. I actually think the Melbourne Tool Company plane is much better positioned from a price perspective than the WR. It is a nicer looking plane as well, although I don’t know if there are any true design innovations here. Comparing it to the Stanley, it’s price-point may be a higher than it should be, but Stanley has the advantage of larger production runs and lower manufacturing costs (manufacturing labour costs are 19% higher in China compared to Mexico, and shipping is cheaper as well).

Now some people don’t want to pay more for a premium plane, and that’s fair enough. Higher costs may be indicative of a more small-scaled production, quality materials, and a high-quality manufacturing process. Lower cost is sometimes an indicator that the quality of the materials may not of the same standard, or production costs, i.e. wages, are lower (although by many estimates costs aren’t that much lower than manufacturing in the USA). Ultimately though when you take all these factors into account, the difference between the lower and higher ends of the spectrum does rest in where they are manufactured. Remember, sometimes it’s important to support local companies that are making a genuine product.

P.S. From what I have read, if you are looking for a bargain block plane, then the Stanley may actually be the best option. However they are almost impossible to source in Canada, but you can find them at Home Depot in the US.

P.P.S. If you are buying a Wood River block plane in Canada, they sell for C$216, whereas the Veritas low-angle sells for C$195 – you do the math.

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 Got confirmation that I ain't making 3 drawers a day. I'm going out on a limb and saying 2 days maybe 2 1/2 days now. And that is just gluing the drawers up. Fitting them to their respective openings will come after I do all 15 drawers. There is no rush on this and probably won't go to Amanda until maybe spring at the earliest. I already have a couple of projects in mind after the dresser is done. One of them is a small table to put the Keurig coffee maker on along with storage for K cups.

patch set up

I had thought of doing the patch so its grain was 90 to the side. Instead the patch's grain runs the same as the side.

it is square

I made the dado 3/16" deep which left a 1/8" web between the new dado and the patch. I had to trim the length of the back by a strong 16th to square between the sides.

the patch

I got a tight, snug fit with the patch. I entertained moving the dado back and forward. I was concerned about the strength and integrity of the side if I made a new dado directly opposite the patch. It is strong and I tried to break the side with my hands at the patch and nada. I think it will be ok as drawer side.

changed the knobs

I couldn't get past how huge the knobs looked like on the bottom 3 drawers. I also changed the knobs for the top 3 drawers. They didn't fit the scale of those drawers. The first two banks have the same size knobs with the 3rd set of drawers going up in size. The last two banks have the same size too - those are 1 1/4". They are the only sizes I know for sure. I did the knob sizing by eye.

dry fitting the slips

While the dual drawers are cooking I rough fitted the slips. After the drawers had cooked for a few hours I glued in the slips.

two glued and cooking

The drawer is too small to glue in all 3 slips at once. I glued in the front first and after 20 minutes I glued in one side slip.

next single drawer

I laid out this drawer without any double knifing. Feels kind of strange not doing tails on both ends of the side boards.

pin board

I don't over saw my half blinds. I personally don't like the over cut saw kerfs below the baselines. I tried it once and I didn't see a huge difference between my way and over sawing them.

getting better

I tightened up the tails in the pin sockets and made improvements in the half pins. Still not gap free (left half pin) but I'll take this. The tails/pins are getting better with each drawer I do.

even better

These tails/pins look good. The half pins are closing up and fingers crossed that I continue on down this road with the remaining 11 drawers.

fitting the back

I set the pinch rods (at the back) to the inside distance at the front. The thin scrap is the 'measuring stick' so I don't confuse myself reading a tape measure. I double triple checked the stick a bazillion times to make sure there weren't any stray pencil marks on it before using it.

back fitted

This is a dry fit and I didn't get this drawer glued and cooking today. This drawer is going to bite me on the arse come glue up time. I spent several frustrating minutes trying to square this up dry. I gave trying to square it from the outside corners and switched to inside corners. I will have to clamp this diagonally to hold it square because dry it would slowly move out of square.

doesn't fit

The last time I did inset drawers they didn't come out to my liking. The drawers came out loose and with uneven margins. So far having it oversized has helped with the fitting. The first single drawer at the top is the best fit I've gotten on a inset drawer. Like everything else in life and woodworking, you have to put the time in on the pond.

opposite side slips

Glued up the last two side slips on the dual drawers. Tomorrow I'll fit the bottoms and rough plane them to fit their respective drawer openings.

Killed the lights here but I made good progress on the drawers today. I'm hoping that I can get two bottoms out of one single drawer bottom. I think I can as the dual drawers combined aren't as wide as a single drawer.

accidental woodworker