Czeck Edge — Sandal Woods | Fine Woodworking

Eye candy at the WIA Marketplace

August 21, 2009 By Al Navas

Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking magazines, has written at least two reviews of the Czeck Edge Hand Tool layout tools. His most recent review, on the marking knives and bird cage awls, appeared in the August 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking.

The Czeck Edge (Bob Zajicek, Owner) display at Woodworking in America in St Charles, Ill., was colorful, and inviting. Bob “Zee” got help from Benchcrafted on the tool displays. Father John Abraham (Jameel Abraham’s brother) designed the marking knife holder, Bob designed the rest, and Jameel made them all; of course, Bob made all the tools:

I bought one of these burnishers during the Lie-Nielsen event in Cincinnati – there is no going back to less than the quality of this tool:

The display of marking knives:

The following is the arrangement of the bird cage awls:

Bob Zajicek stayed busy (Bob is on the right in the photo below):

As I have mentioned several times before, the quality of today’s tools is terrific. And, as others have pointed out correctly, the popularity of hand tools seems to be on the increase primarily due to the quality, pricing, and appeal of the new tools appearing almost every day.

Maybe The Schwarz has put it best (from the review I quoted above):

If you’re ready to put your Boy Scout knife away, the Czeck Edge tools will make it easier to scribe fine lines, and let you do it with class.

I would add only the following: My scrapers thank me, too, for I can now burnish their edges beautifully!

Filed Under: Blog, Conference, Czeck Edge, Joinery, Layout, St Charles, Woodworking in America Tagged With: Czeck Edge, Joinery, Layout, St Charles

A new dovetail chisel from Czeck Edge Hand Tool

August 17, 2009 By Al Navas

Dovetail alert – seen at the Woodworking in America conference in St Charles, IL.

Bob Zajicek, of Czeck Edge Hand Tool, will be introducing a new dovetail chisel. This new chisel will feature a tapered and beveled rib, as shown in the prototype in the photo above. The tapered bevel will allow getting into the tighter corners now being used by craftsmen who prefer cutting dovetails with a steep(er) angle, such as 14°. The resin-impregnated handle will remain, a huge plus to chopping without worry of damaging it with a mallet.

Filed Under: Blog, Conference, Dovetails, Joinery, St Charles Tagged With: chisel, Czeck Edge, dovetail, Layout, St Charles

New knife from Czeck Edge

September 4, 2008 By Al Navas

If you have been looking at the content of the blog, you will notice a new banner, located on the right-hand Sidebar. It is from Czeck Edge, owned by Bob Zajicek. Just last week I received his latest creation, the Kerf Kadet; the handle is kingwood.

The Kerf Kadet received a glowing review by none other than Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Woodworking Magazine. Chris wrote:

“…The knife is flawless. Crisp and smooth with a perfect transition from wood to metal…”

I could try to add to the review by Chris Schwarz, but that would not make sense. The best I can do is share with you that the Kerf Kadet, with its very thin blade, is close to perfect to mark in very tight spaces. To complement my router/jig dovetail skills, I have started practicing hand-cut dovetails; from these dovetails I will mark the tiny pins. The Kerf Kadet will be perfect to mark the skinny pins.

In addition to the Kerf Kadet, I also received the Bird Cage Awl. The handle on this tool is also kingwood, custom size; it is larger than the handle on the stock awl. I wanted to be able to exert a lot of pressure when boring into the harder woods. This bird cage awl is an awesome tool to start larger screw holes!

Czeck Edge does something nobody else does: The Kerf Kadet and the bird cage awl come with blade guards, plus two sets of spares. It is the only company that offers guards for the layout tools. In addition, the ferrules on the Kerf Kadet are machined bronze, not the typical brass ferrule.

Is this the beginning of the slippery slope?