Author Archives: Isaac

Update on saw file availability

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Isaac

Grobet 3-square needle files are back in stock, along with a name change:  Grobet has been rebranded as Glardon. I have been assured that only the name has changed, and that they are still made in the same Swiss factory … Continue reading →

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Some of my latest saws

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Isaac

The color and grain in this piece of apple were particularly striking.  

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Quartersawn American beech billets for planes and saw handles

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Isaac

I chanced upon an impressively large American beech plank the other day. This twenty foot long board came from a tree that was nearly 200 years old, was  36″ wide, and just over 2 1/2″ thick. Needless to say, it … Continue reading →

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A movie worth watching

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Isaac

Have an hour to kill? I can think of few better ways to do so than watching Michel Chalufour and John Karol’s documentary, Ben’s Mill: Making a Sled, a documentary that shows the jack-of-all-trades Ben Thresher at work in his eponymous water-powered mill. … Continue reading →

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Toothed backsaw blades and kits now shipping with leveled (flattened) blades

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Isaac

Spring steel for my saw blades comes to me in coils. After unrolling the coil, some of the curvature remains. Shearing the steel into smaller blanks and punching the teeth adds further distortion. Clever planning can sometimes be used to … Continue reading →

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Lie-Nielsen 2015 Open House

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Isaac

Just two weeks to go until the Lie-Nielsen Open House up in Maine… It doesn’t get much better than this – two summer days in Maine, surrounded by some of the finest hand tools made today, to be capped off … Continue reading →

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Rebate saw-plane

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Isaac

I’ve wanted to make one of these since I saw Tom Fidgen’s version of the tool. While making the plane body and the saw blade presented no particular challenges, the fence was problematic. My original intent was to use wooden … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements, Completed saws - gratuitous pictures, Saw design | 8 Comments

Now making Scrawls in premium woods

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Isaac

I recently decided to make a few Scrawls (my carbide marking awls) with handle woods besides the apple, cherry, mahogany, and walnut that I have used til now. I took these to some recent woodworking shows I attended to gauge interest … Continue reading →

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A pair of saws with Thuya burl handles

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Isaac

When a customer first contacted me about making a pair of saws with Thuya burl for their handles, I pled total ignorance of the wood. After a brief discussion and a bit of research, I agreed to try it out. Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Completed saws - gratuitous pictures | 6 Comments

Not dead yet…

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Isaac

I haven’t had much time to work on the blog lately. Between working on orders and attending LN Hand Tool Events, time to write has been scarce. I have also been up to my eyeballs in work as I try … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | 4 Comments