Yandles '08 Show.
I have made another trip to the twice yearly Yandles show at Martock in Somerset to catch up with what is new in the woodworking scene. This is a two hundred mile round trip for me but I can highly recommend going especially if you are interested in exotic wood as they have a large stock of beautiful and rare timbers. Blackwood, bubinga, lacewood etc. The vibrant colour of the stack of purple heart is really eye catching. There was one small but superb length of snakewood and the price.............................................................£660. Ouch!!
Free entry and parking and plenty of craft stalls for those with other interests so no reason not to take the missus!
Most of the usual machinery and tool companies were represented but two stands caught my attention. Philly Planes with a growing range and a young man named David Barron who is another plane maker and fine furniture producer.
David Barron
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David had an attractive stand displaying some
examples of his work, a number of very fine wooden planes and his own
version of a very intriguing dovetailing guide which particularly
interested me. Visit his website to view examples of his fine furniture here. |
| David is a keen producer of superb wooden planes in
the Krenov style. Unlike those of the original designer, David's have a
very fine finish and are made from exotic timbers. They are fitted with
Hock blades and the ones I tested took some very fine shavings from a
piece of hard oak. Priced from £165 for a jointer to £75 for a
pocket plane they are not cheap but are superbly made. Clever use of rare earth magnets inserted into the plane bodies enables 'snap-on' fences for the larger planes. Perfect for square jointing of board edges. |
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This little "pocket plane" in African blackwood was tactile and really comfortable to use. Each plane was already set up with a tight mouth and a very sharp blade so I don't know how hard they are to adjust. |
| No! Not a mini stealth bomber. This is a little hardwood dovetail cutting guide. It is available in three differing dovetail angles, designed to be hand held and used with a Japanese style dovetail saw. The white circles are rare earth magnets which are covered by the white Slick ( low friction) tape. The magnets hold the saw at a constant cutting angle as shown in the following photos. The black pieces are abrasive to prevent the guide slipping on the work. |
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Using a pencil David just marks up where the tails are to be by eye.
The pin board depth is marked up with a gauge onto the tail board. The guide is hand held so that the saw cut will be on the waste side as shown below. |
| This shot shows how the magnets hold the fine toothed saw blade in position whilst cutting. You just have to cut down to the line.
Use the other side of the guide for the opposing tail side. The Slick tape provides a low friction face upon which the blade slides. |
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Using a fine scalpel blade he marks up the matching pin board using the prepared dovetailed side as a template. |
| Once the vertical cuts are made he removes the waste
with a coping saw. The saw was unusual and of a type preferred, I think,
by Rob Cosman. I didn't discover that a version is available from
Classic Hand Tools who
were at the show until I arrived home. *!&*! David used a very fine toothed Bahco woodblade and the finished cut was so good that no paring with a chisel was required. |
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Look at this! This test joint was made very quickly as a demonstration with no planing, sanding or trimming. Very impressive. |
| Here is a closer view of the corner of one of
his finished boxes. He does sell his little guide as a kit. For more information email him here. Tell him I sent you. |
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Now Veritas sell a rather nice alloy magnetic guide that uses similar methodology so it is not entirely an original idea, however, what I do like is the simplicity of David's design and I am very impressed.
Well Done.
Update: David has emailed me with some more info.......
Philly Planes
Phil Edwards has already been featured on this site and I am pleased to say that he has been so successful with his bespoke wooden plane sales that he has been able to move into full time production and works from his extensive home workshop.
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New to his range are these lovely spokeshaves. Partly produced on his WoodRat! |
| Some rather yummy stuff there! Don't forget he will produce to any specification. Visit his web site here. |
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I had to push through the crowd to take this shot of
Phil demonstrating how easy his planes are to adjust. |
| Deep in conversation. Phil said he was exhausted after playing musical benches the day before when the roof leaked in the torrential rain. Classic Hand Tools stand behind where I should have bought a new coping saw. I did buy some new Abranet mesh abrasive though. Come back for a report on that later. |
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