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Thanks for posting the link; the man is quite a remarkable craftsman.

Thanks everyone; the unanimity of opinion is convincing. Les, The Best Things is actually located not too far from me, so a first hand look will be quite easy.

Thanks, Paul; your assessment is consistent with what I'd imagined to be the case, but I've never seen a Clifton in the flesh. "I now use my Records with heavily cambered blades as scrub-type planes." Ouch!

My first planes were 1970s era Records, and my first primer on using them was Planecraft. At the time I was buying, Record was the most readily available quality choice; Stanley had already gone terribly downhill and I'd never heard of British infill planes such as Norris or Spiers. I'm...

We call it basswood; I thought it was the Brits who called it lime, or limewood (see Grinling Gibbons). Two countries separated by a common language :D .

Very interesting, Andy; I've never seen anything like it. Looks homemade, as you suggest. But for a really stubborn screw you'd think you'd want a handle that applied force directly in line with the screwdriver bit (in order to keep the bit in the screw slot), rather than out where the turned...

Excellent review, Derek; thanks for posting it.

As noted, the general design has been around for a long time, but this certainly brings a new level of sophistication to it. I think round is by far the best shape for dining and the ability to stay round while increasing the diameter is brilliant; a cousin of mine had a version that added...

Chems, Most carving tools I've seen listed are noted in metric measurements and sweep (or degree of curvature.) So, I assume the 7/20 is a 20mm straight shafted gouge (curved cutting tool) in a No. 7 sweep. And so on. As Argus notes, the sweeps range from No. 3 (very shallow) to No. 11...

I had a solid cutter for my spindle shaper to make this cut; it's a terrific joint, with lots of gluing surface but as Roy notes it can be tedious to set up. Of course, once set up you can run miles of material, so it's probably more suited to a production situation than a small shop doing...

Here in the States we're not quite so rigid but roughly adhere to the measurements mentioned here. One reason for the greater distance for the bottom hinge is that the bottom rail on most doors is wider than the top rail, so avoiding the rail naturally puts the hinge higher up along the stile.

What, is that a famous house or something? :wink:

Greg, If the wood is reasonably attractive, the 1' width by 3-4'' thick would make nice bowl blanks if you have a lathe and enjoy turning, or know or can sell to someone who does. The 4' length gives you a lot of spindle turning or flat work options, too.

Fine WoodWorking published plans for a European style bench by Tage Frid, on of their longtime contributors. These were the plans I used, with some modifications such as eliminating the tool trough. I'm afraid I no longer have my hard copy but the plans shouldn't be hard to find if you have...

Dennis, Rod's right, if you can keep moisture off your tools they'll be fine no matter what the temperature. If there are some tools you'll use only rarely, consider keeping them inside the house. Rod's suggestion of a moisture barrier such as wax or oil directly on the tools themselves is a...

I don't have any experience with these replacement blades, but Lie Nielsen has a good reputation and I'm thinking of getting one or two for a couple of older planes. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=512

I entirely eliminated the tool trough from the bench I built years ago; as far as I'm concerned it's a relic from the days when several craftsmen shared a workshop and each individual had to keep all his tool at, or on, his own bench. These days we can spread our stuff out a bit more, onto...

I actually like my 778 (vintage ca. 1981) a good deal and have done a lot of work with it. I will say that I've rarely used it with the blade in the bullnose position.

I don't think I've seen either of those books, but a nice one I received on my last birthday is The Workbench by Lon Schleining (The Taunton Press). Lots and lots of photos, most it seems from professional shops.

The pith is okay for heavy construction timbers but I agree with Philly that they're too unstable and likely to check for use in any finish work.