I'm a traditionalist CNCer if you don't mind!

It is always interesting to hear the arguments about what is woodworking. Wanting to up my skills with hand planes, I recently bought a block plane from @melbournetoolcompany to do some finer adjustments and have loved using it so much! It made me reflect how I put on the backburner using a hand plane until I had more time (which we all know never comes) Mainly because I wanted to work and restore my Dad’s old 4 ½ Stanley.

Dad's 4 1/2 Stanley

I have a few tools of my fathers, a few EA Berg chisels (More on them another time) and my Dads hand plane and router plane (No 71 Stanley according to the internet!) But I really wanted to make sure I was aware of the process before diving in. So over time, I have collected a few other planes from flea markets. These include another 4 ½ Stanley, a 4 Stanley and a really cool old Falcon (Pope) No 4 plane. The handles didn’t seem to be timber so I decided if I was diving in I would go all the way. I would make new handles (knob and tote) as well, but really wanted to have a bit of fun with it. I made these out of a piece of Bluegum (Aussie hard wood) from the fire pit and added blue epoxy resin to make workable 'blocks'. So after cleaning up all the pieces of the plane, flattening the bed, working on the the frog (learning all the names of the parts was also an adventure) sharpening the blade and making and adding the new customised handles - I gave it a test run and……… it worked!!! I was thrilled. This was a new thing I would have in my shop. But I got my first taste of the ‘traditionalist’ backlash. ‘Disrespectful to the plane and its history’, ‘eyesore’, ‘what have you done!’ yes, cleaning off the rust meant losing the original colour, and adding epoxy was a travesty to the entire genre of hand woodworking…..

Now to be fair, there was plenty of people who loved it as well. Thought it was creative and fun. So like all things the internet tells you, I take it with a grain of salt. However, I also took onboard the love and passion there is out there for restoring planes and thanks to these comments I went back and looked at the history, and realised that I was lucky to uncover a gem for only $20 as it was.  But I love what I have done with a plane that has been made in Australia, and modified by me to work for me. I love the fact it is one of a kind. I love the fact that it the process has taught me so many things, and that the celebrations far outweigh the regrets (I would have loved to have kept the red around the ‘falcon’ logo like the original, the tote base is a little short, but over time this is a small matter and was still my first go!)

But that was a long pre-amble to outline the simple fact that we all have different approaches to woodworking. There are plenty of things we love to do and the great thing as there are a thousand ways to do it. So if you work with pallets, while using powertools, carving the shapes with a CNC and then filling with epoxy, adding the final touch with a piece you printed in your 3D printer, and signing off with a laser, you do you! From my end, I love it! You want to carve a spoon using nothing but handtools, again, an amazing calming relaxing way to make something truly unique.  The objective is to create, either for the love of it, or to earn a living or both! I do not have a CNC, but after making a crazy bowl by making templates using the bandsaw and then using my router to finish them up, trust me, I can see the appeal. But I am fortunate for doing this more as a side hustle than an income. Besides I know heaps of people who just love the process of working out the details to set up their machines to make absolutely incredible pieces.

So next time you see something that is not in your wheelhouse, try and focus on what you do appreciate (even if it is ‘well that was kept out of landfill!’) Like a lot of things in life there is a place for everything in this world. It may not belong in yours, but it definitely belongs in someone’s.

What’s been happening!!!!

Still working on the table benches. The timber has been climatising in the shop (also time has meant that I have been busy with my day job that the weekend work has stalled a little!) But I do plan to make a few more cutting boards to add soon. I am working on a few different t-shirt designs. So watch this space.

Thank you again for your support!