And now, the top articles:

The single most popular article was about Ron Brese, his new hand plane, and his design philosophy. From that article: “As owner of Brese Plane in Thomaston, Georgia, USA, makes wonderful infill hand planes. In recent communication via e-mail I asked Ron about his approach and philosophy to a brand-new hand plane he unveils right now; I also asked him if he would allow me publish the first photos on this blog, and he agreed (photos below). Folks, get ready for a non-infill hand plane from Brese Plane – a stainless steel hand plane, at that!”

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From early in 2008, My setup for resawing on the band saw continues to be a very popular item, and is number two this year. It thrills me when I receive an e-mail message telling me that a woodworker has solved a vexing resawing problem with their machine, and that my article played a role. I continue to rely on the band saw to make drawer bottoms, for example, from thicker stock. Other articles about resawing can be found here.

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The FMT Pro and the Super FMT articles were also extremely popular. I have had the FMT Pro in the shop for several years, and is my go-to machine for all projects requiring mortise and tenon joinery (I love it!). And, although it arrived late in the year, the Super FMT is attracting a lot of attention due to its lower price, while keeping all the features of the Pro version. Leigh Industries sent me the Super FMT to evaluate; I have been using it in the shop, and continue evaluation as time permits. In case you missed it, this article on workholding and consistency with the FMT (Pro) is quickly becoming a favorite with many readers, based on feedback I have received since its publication.

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When Things Go Wrong, my story about tearout like I had never experienced, hit a nerve with my readers. Of course, it helped that Sharpening Guru Ron Hock also published my story on his new blog, The Sharpening Blog. I always recommend setting aside some shop time to do maintenance on the power tools – January is usually the month in which I do this in my shop, as it is a convenient time of the year. Last January, the blades on my DeWalt planer looked fine; but I should have known better, for I have had the machine close to 5 years, and had never rotated the blades to expose the  new edge (my model has dual edges)!

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Although Sandy has not been able to spend much time in the shop much for the last two years, the article about her band saw box continues to be a very popular article. She had never made a box like this; but a local sawyer gave us an oak burl from his scrap pile, and Sandy knew immediately what she would make. Once made, she donated it to a local church, and was sold at a Silent Auction in October 2007. A few weeks later she demonstrated to our Woodworkers Guild how to make these boxes – and that was a very popular session, too!

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My article about the new dovetail chisel from Czeck Edge was extremely popular. In the article I said “I felt lucky to get one of the new Czeck Edge Hand Tool dovetail chisels while I was in Cincinnati last week. The dovetail chisel is “…a design collaboration…” between Bob Zajicek and Jameel Abraham, of Benchcrafted. I promised Bob Zajicek, owner of Czeck Edge, I would use this little jewel as soon as I got back home…” Shown on the photo is the original version of the chisel; but Bob is already producing a second version, with a tapered and beveled rib, to allow getting into tight corners.

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How about some videos? These are extremely popular! The top videos this year were:

1. Mario Rodriguez, at Woodworking in America (WIA) at Valley Forge, PA: Making and Fitting Drawers
2. Bob Lang, at Woodworking in America at St Charles, Ill.: Arts & Crafts Style: The Unadorned Truth
3. Roy Underhill, also from the Valley Forge WIA conference: Dovetails, the details
4. Bob Lang, in St Charles: What SketchUp can do for you
5. Christopher Schwarz, at Woodworking in America, Berea, KY: This ain’t no Tango

.I thank you all for reading my blog, and for your support. I wish everyone a wonderful, safe, and Happy New Year!

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—— Al Navas

In recent communication via e-mail I asked Ron about his approach and philosophy to a brand-new hand plane he unveils right now; I also asked him if he would allow me publish the first photos on this blog, and he agreed (photos below).

Folks, get ready for a non-infill hand plane from Brese Plane – a stainless steel hand plane, at that! The specifications for this new plane are as follows:

Model Number: 132-50P

Length: 13.25”

Iron width: 2.25” wide .250 thick 0-1

Pitch: 50 degrees

Lever cap: 0.500″ brass with ½-10 acme threaded lever cap screw

Body material:

Sole: .375” thick 410 alloy stainless with stainless tweed pattern on the interior

Sides: .187 thick 1018 mild steel (production planes are to have 410 stainless sides)

Bedding Plate: .375 stainless with brass iron seat

Weight: 7 lbs. 15.5 oz.

Ron will have this hand plane at the Woodworking in America Hand Tools & Techniques conference in Valley Forge, October 2-4. In the meantime, the following are a few photos of this new beauty – we all have to live with these, until its full unveiling in just a few days. Please click on the photos to display them at larger sizes.

Ron wrote:

My approach in the design of this plane goes very much with my original goal when I started making planes for sale. I wanted to make some very nice, high end tools that were affordable to a larger segment of the hand tool woodworkers. This goal changed my approach when I started designing the panel plane. What many craftsmen don’t realize is that the majority of the work in an infill plane is in the wooden bits. To fit an infill to the tolerance standards expected of these high end tools is a very involved task, and requires a great deal of very deliberate work.

I started thinking about this panel plane close to a year ago, developing the design of this tools in my mind. When I was in Chicago for the L-N hand tools event at Jeff Miller’s shop, I pitched the idea I had for this plane to my sounding board, Jameel (Jameel Abraham, of Benchcrafted). When I explained my vision for this tool, Jameel’s eyes lit up. We spent the next 3 hours discussing different aspects of what the configuration of this tool should be. By the time we were through exploring different ideas for this plane I could tell that Jameel was as intrigued about this plane as I was. This was a good sign!

I started drawing and refining the lines of this tool using as my base the very recognizable lines of the Norris A-1 panel plane. This refinement went on for some time and when I got together with Jameel at the L-N event at PWW (Popular Woodworking) in Cincinnati, I had the overall design and the lines of the plane worked out. I just needed to bounce some ideas off Jameel as to the finer details of the tool. Jameel was pressing for the tote to have no visible fasteners when the plane was assembled; I liked the idea…….. I just had to engineer how to make it work.

On my return I continued to work out the issues with how to put this plane together; this required many refinements and revisions. Basically, at this point, the look of the tool was set. I just needed to sequence the work process and assembly. Working out the sequence of making and assembling this plane created more revisions.

Now, there are still a lot of questions about this plane. (1) Will it work on par with an infill panel plane? (2) This plane requires more very precisely made metal parts and does not rely on the wooden elements to establish it’s geometry in regards to the bedding angle. Will this ultimately be a plane that can be offered for a price attractively lower than a traditional infill panel plane? (3) Will the A-1 lines work in this format?

My answer to these questions are as follows: (1) Like all my planes, I believe it will perform at a very high level; however, I believe it will feel different from an infill. (2) I’m confident that I can offer this plane at a price much lower than a comparable infill. (3) I think the combination of the surface treatments, the precision of the construction, and the unmistakable traditional lines, will make this tool very appealing to anyone that appreciates the efforts involved in a well-made functional object.

I think it will be apparent that I’m attempting to innovate within my own style. People that know my tools will pick up on the details that designate a plane as mine. The rear tote design with the tapering top horn, the thick iron with notable brass button, and the lever cap design, will all be evidence that this tool is in fact a “Brese” plane.

Ron, I hope this new hand plane will be a resounding success, similar to every model you have created in the past! From everything I know, it should be.

I would love to have a chance to try my hand at making some shavings with his new plane. Maybe at the Woodworking in America Hand Tools & Techniques conference in Valley Forge, PA, October 2-4? Ron will be one of the vendors during the conference. The Marketplace is free to the public! I hope you can join me at the conference.

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And, to whet your appetite for Ron’s hand planes, I include a photo of the 875W smoothing plane on the right. Click on the image to enlarge it.

I first met Ron in Berea, KY, in November 2008, during the Woodworking in America conference. And it was during the conference that I had a chance to use one of his infill hand planes. It was hand planing in a totally new level. The heft of the planes was unexpected; and the quality of the shavings they produced from difficult, tricky woods, was remarkable. It opened my eyes to what modern hand planes, and especially ones so well engineered and built by Ron, are all about.

I cannot do justice to provide a full review of the Brese planes. But, to get a good idea of just good they are, I invite you to read the review in Popular Woodworking by Christopher Schwarz, Editor, in December 2008. I extract the following from his review of the 800-255 hand plane, to give you an idea of the flavor of the glowing review:

…I was completely impressed with the tool as a working example. It took fine shavings with no complaint and was predictable to set up and use. It outperformed all my vintage tools and stood shoulder to shoulder with my highly tuned premium tools that I’ve fussed over for years…

Introductory giveaway:

As an introduction, Ron will give away a project plane iron. The specifications for this iron are as follows: 2″ wide x 6 3/4″ long x 1/4″ thick. It is made from O-1 steel, and was precision ground after heat treating. The bevel is hollow ground.

Below is a photograph of the plane iron a lucky person will win. Click on the image to enlarge:

Project plane iron

Registration for the giveaway is open until June 30, 2009. To register, send me an e-mail message with your name and address to sandal_woods@bbwi.net. I will draw at random the name of the winner on July 1, and will announce the winner on the blog.

Thank you for your support, Ron, and welcome to Sandal Woods – Fine Woodworking!

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