From the Workshop

September 21, 2019

Workshop blog no 23 – No 985

Filed under: No 985 — Tags: Holtey, Karl Holtey Designs, precision stainless steel smoother, smoothing plane — admin @ 5:45 pm

This is unusual for me because I think showing off shavings could be a little sad. Not many people tell you the wood they are using but here I have planed a very wild piece of Boxwood out of the scrap bin. As you can see there is a large knot near the edge so there is a lot of alternating grain. I was pushing off quite a thick shaving at 2 thou with no tear out at all. Then I was able to finish off at 1 thou without revisiting the oil stone. No doubt the enthusiast could improve on this performance as I don’t have the time to play. This is my new blade in stainless – that is all I am saying.

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September 20, 2019

Workshop blog no 33

Filed under: Window to my workshop — Tags: hand made planes, hand planes, handmade planes, handplanes, precision hand plane — admin @ 6:22 pm

Looks like I have started a new family here, there are all limited editions only

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September 19, 2019

Workshop blog no 32 – No 985

Filed under: No 985,Window to my workshop — Tags: precision hand plane, Precision stainless steel smoothing plane — admin @ 5:58 pm

It has been a very long journey but at last the planes are ready. I have always said that I try to improve over the preceding planes which is always a difficulty and this one clearly does it.

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September 18, 2019

Workshop blog no 31 – No 985

Filed under: No 985,Window to my workshop — Tags: Holtey, Karl Holtey Designs, precision hand plane, stainless steel — admin @ 6:59 pm

Another picture which I missed out yesterday

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September 17, 2019

Workshop blog no 30 – No 985

Filed under: No 985 — Tags: classic hand tools, handplanes, Karl Holtey Designs, precision hand plane — admin @ 8:03 pm

Photos showing the bolts trimmed, milled and surface ground. This plane has probably been the best of all my work and one of the most important factors is the much heavier chassis. I have been able to work to very much tighter milling tolerances, in fact well under 1 thou. It has helped on the grinding because I need to take less off – stainless steel is very difficult for grinding and I can only take cuts of .0002″ (that is 2/10 of a thou). The more cuts you take from stainless the harder the material becomes. You also have to be continually wheel dressing even with using a ceramic wheel. This is the real work that I enjoy the most.

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September 14, 2019

Workshop Blog no 29 – No 985

Filed under: No 985 — Tags: classic hand tools, precision hand plane, stainless steel — admin @ 3:04 pm

The bolts have been thread locked with Loctite 270, so things should be moving along very quickly now.

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August 24, 2019

Workshop Blog 28 – No 985

Filed under: No 985,Window to my workshop — Tags: Classic, Hand tools, handplanes, Holtey — admin @ 11:23 am

Showing the bottom blade bed modified to stop the blade passing through the mouth.

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August 18, 2019

Workshop Blog 27 – No 985

Filed under: No 985,Window to my workshop — Tags: handplanes, Holtey, precision hand plane — admin @ 4:50 pm

Just thought I would put this picture up of the No 985 smoother in its chrysalis form, still some work to go but on course to be completed for the end of the month.

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June 17, 2019

Possible new project

Filed under: New Projects — Tags: finger planes, precision, traditional, violin planes — admin @ 11:46 am

Unable to sleep last night as often happens, memories were going round my head. I have been asked by violin makers if I would make a set of finger planes. I have said yes several times, but it has just gone in the pile of promises. It is interesting to know if there is enough interest in these planes. The one photographed here would serve as a template, allowing for design adjustments for size. It would be my idea to start small and work my way up the scale over a period of time to allow for people to recover from the price. There are plenty of these planes out there but I haven’t seen any quality ones. This ESE captured my attention.

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June 7, 2019

Workshop Blog 26 – No 985

Filed under: No 985,Window to my workshop — Tags: hand made wood working tools, precision hand tools, rosewood — admin @ 4:35 pm

dalbergia stevensonii better known as Honduran Rosewood

Over the years using various selected rosewoods this one has captivated me the most. It is not a bling wood, but it has an attraction of its own. It is very tough and business like. The contrast does not fade like many of the others. It takes an oil very well. No matter how plain it may look there is a hidden beauty that reveals itself quite quickly once you start shaping and fine finishing. This is an area where I find a lot of satisfaction and reward for all the effort that goes into the work. There is one downside to all rosewoods – I have an allergy to it. This Honduran one used to be the least offensive but after many hours of work it has turned on me.

This handle represents the end of the bunch and where only hand finishing counts.

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