12 March 2008

Blue Spruce and the LN No9

I motored down to Dorchester on Sunday to see Martin the Woodkateer and thence over to see Waka the Pensioner at Weymouth and I have to say what a very pleasant experience it was. Martin asked me to do a couple of saw sharpenings for him and I returned a refurbished 'shave. He also let me have a lump of Australian Myrtle Burr which I dare say can be made into something quite elegant as it's not a very big piece but there may be something like a small box lurking inside, and also a rather nice Disston cross cut saw, dating from the 70's. We then went over to Waka's place in Weymouth and after a very tasty ploughmans lunch we had a look at his shop and see some of the stuff he's been making. I have to say that the quality of the kit in his 'shop is staggering. I particularly wanted to have a look at the Blue Spruce chisels, having never seen then before and they are the daintiest, most droolworthy tools I've seen for a long time, suffice to say that the LN chisels, really excellent though they are, look quite pedestrian alongside them.
We also spent a bit of time messing about with Waka's shoot (which I converted into an adjustable version) and had a really good play around with the LN No9 Iron Mitre plane. After the experience, I've convinced myself that this is the next major bit of kit that I'm going to get for my 'shop as it's a superb tool for the shooting board.
Just before leaving Waka said that both Martin and I were welcome to any of his off cuts which was very generous so I helped myself to an arm full of American White Oak, American Cherry and Maple. After that it was back to drop off Martin and then home...a really good day had by all.

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