One of the world's biggest tool collectors is bringing his brand-new traveling tool museum to Northern Kentucky on Oct. 1-2 to show it off to the public at the Woodworking in America event at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center.

John Sindelar of Edwardsburg, Mich., has spent his entire adult life amassing some of the world's rarest, most expensive and beautiful tools. And this year Sindelar built a traveling tool museum that will travel the country to share some of the highlights of his collection at festivals and fairs.

Even if you got shut out of the classes at Woodworking in America this year, the Marketplace itself is well worth the trip (and it's only $7 for two days).

Sindelar's traveling collection includes more than 500 items (valued at $300,000) from all the trades, from woodworking to blacksmithing to household tools. Visitors can see one of the first axes ever made in the New World, according to archaeologists (it's copper!), specialized plow planes made entirely of ivory, antique levels from Asia and much more.

"You name it, we have it," Sindelar says. "From the beginning of time to the present day."

The traveling collection is housed in a custom-built trailer that Sindelar's woodworking business outfitted to look like the inside of a vintage luxury locomotive car. The interior is constructed entirely with antiqued frame-and-panel in cherry – and features a tool in the center of each panel.

The 30'-long, 220-square-foot traveling museum is Sindelar's effort to build support for a permanent tool museum for his enormous tool collection now housed in his shop in Michigan.

The traveling tool museum will be parked on the floor of the Marketplace at Woodworking in America at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. Admission to the Marketplace (just $7) gets you in to see the traveling tool museum, plus more than 70 woodworking vendors and demonstrators showing off all aspects of woodworking with both hand and power tools.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. I'll have photos of the traveling tool museum later this week.

More Links to Obscenely Gorgeous Tools

• For more information on Sindelar's collection, visit his web site at: sindelartoolmuseum.com

• Read (for free) a story I wrote where I test-drove some of the world's most expensive planes.

• "Tools Rare and Ingenious" by Sandor Nagyszalanczy has some serious brass and steel.

• My book, "Handplane Essentials," has a lot of stories about modern makers, including Konrad Sauer, Ron Brese, Karl Holtey, Bill Carter, Wayne Anderson, D.L. Barrett & Sons and more. It's available from our bookstore.

• View a free slideshow of my trip to Sindelar's tool museum a few years ago.

Our new book, "The Workbench Design Book" is at the printer and will ship at the end of September. It's a 256-page behemoth – and more than half of it is all-new material that I've been writing since February.

Starting today, you can pre-order your copy at 20 percent off – $27.99 plus free domestic shipping – until the book arrives at our warehouse. Then it will go to its full retail price of $34.99 plus free domestic shipping. (By the way, this book won't be available at Amazon for several months. However, Lee Valley Tools will have it this fall.)

Of course, some of you are wondering why I would write a second book on workbenches. So I've included the introduction to the new book below, which explains the book and its content. Also, for those of you who asked, this book is being produced, printed and bound in the United States.

If you are ready to order, you can jump to our store here. Otherwise, read on:

Why Ancient Workbenches are Still Better

Here was my first proposed title for this book: “Wait – Didn’t You Already Write the Only Workbench Book I Needed?”

Since I wrote “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” in 2007, a lot has changed. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of woodworkers have built workbenches based on the simple but ancient designs I tried to pan (as in for gold) from the historical record.

Also, the sort of workholding available to you has greatly expanded. (Note: I take no credit for this development. I think this reversal of fortune has a lot to do with the still-small but still-important growth in the interest in handwork.)

And, no surprise, I have built several more workbenches.

What hasn’t changed is that woodworkers still need to work on the faces, edges and ends of boards and assemblies. And that is as true in 2010 as it was in 1910 or 1679. And here’s a second thing that hasn’t changed: The ancient French and English workbench designs I explored in my first book are still just a blip in the world of workbench construction.

The vast majority of workbenches that are built or bought today are what you might call “European,” “Scandinavian” or “Mongrel.” What I mean by Mongrel are benches that are built with a weird combination of design cues and features that seem more random than purposeful. Example: A bench with a single quick-release vise centered on one end of the benchtop. I like car analogies, so this one is like owning a Corvette with a Vega engine. (The Vega, for those of you unschooled in American automotive history, was one of the most woefully underpowered cars ever.)

So it might seem to you that this book is another attempt to convince woodworkers to build the simple, ancient and adaptable forms that were more common during the 18th century than today. But that’s not entirely true.

Curious at first: Sometimes you have to know the context of a bench design before you can evaluate it. This one from Ivin Sickels “Exercises in Wood-Working” (1889) looks odd. Two face vises. No tail vise. If you read the text it’s obvious this bench is for a school. That makes more sense. But I still don’t have to like this bench.

This book is the result of feedback from hundreds of readers who have dropped me notes, asked me questions and sent me photos during the last three years. As a result of your feedback, I have tried to refine my ideas about bench design, expand my arsenal of workholding possibilities and work on benches weird, wonderful and even painted pink.

But the real impetus for this book came from a grumpy old man who wanted his money back.

He had purchased “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” and was disappointed that the book had plans for only two workbenches. He had expected at least a dozen.

At first I tried to defend my book, and I explained that the core idea of the book was that you could take the principles in it and create something that was suitable for your work, customized with the workholding you would need as you grew as a woodworker.

He was ready for that answer.

He said that there was no way that he could know what sort of workbench he’d need in five or 10 years. Instead, he wanted to see plans for a bunch of workbenches from experienced woodworkers who had thought hard about the bench they should build. Then he would examine the sort of work they did and find the woodworker who was doing work that he found inspirational.

Then he would build their bench.

That’s not an entirely bad idea. So I took his idea and twisted it to my own devices. In this book you’ll find plans for nine workbenches that we have published over the years in our magazine from my pen or from woodworkers I respect or from whom I’ve learned a great deal.

But the reason we are publishing these plans is not for you to pick one out like it’s a car and build one just like it. In fact, it’s just the opposite. We are publishing these plans in the sincere hope that you will take the opportunity to tear them apart, understand how they work then discard them for something slightly different that suits your work.

In fact, I spent more than three months building a workbench that I hope not a single woodworker copies – the 18th-century Roubo-style workbench shown on the cover. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a fantastic bench, one of the nicest-looking ones I have ever built. But I didn’t build it for you to copy.

So why the heck did I build it?

I’m not trying to be difficult here. I promise. The reason I built that bench like I did is because of feedback from readers. Lots of people seized upon the idea in the first book of using construction-grade lumber that you then laminate into the thicknesses that you need for your bench’s parts. It’s a principle that we explore even deeper in this book, such as the workbench Megan Fitzpatrick and I built using laminated veneer lumber (LVL).

The Ultimate Bench? David Denning holds this bench up as the one to have in his book “The Art of Cabinet-Making.” This bench has a lot going for it, but a few things could be greatly improved.

However, as several readers pointed out, I was sending out mixed signals. I was showing you how to build a workbench that was ideal for handwork but that was best built with a powered jointer, planer and table saw. So the real lesson in the 18th-century Roubo bench in this book is to show you how to cut workbench-scale joints entirely by hand. And you can take those skills and use them to build any bench.

And that is the real purpose of the plans in this book. Each bench has some important construction details that you can take and make your own. Here are some examples:

• The Holtzapffel Cabinetmaker’s Workbench shows you how to incorporate a wooden twin-screw vise and an end vise that is a quick-release vise (a non-traditional but quite excellent adaptation of this common piece of hardware).

• The LVL Workbench explores the merits (and limitations) of this common construction material and shows you how to build a traditional bench base that is bolted together and can be built in (no lie here) one afternoon.

• Robert W. Lang’s 21st-century Workbench has the only tool tray that I (begrudgingly) approve of, plus it shows you alternatives to having a sliding deadman and offers a lesson in building a knockdown base that uses wedges.

• Glen D. Huey’s Shaker Workbench shows you how to master post-and-rail base construction, plus it offers scads of storage.

• The 24-hour Workbench is the fastest bench I’ve ever built (I’ve built five of these), and it shows you how to use plywood for a benchtop and bench bolts in the base.

• The Power-tool Workbench shows you how to get away with one vise, a small footprint and still be able to do most handwork operations. This was my workbench at home for many years.

• The $280 (or so) Workbench is a lesson in frugality – how to build the most bench with the least amount of scratch.

• Jim Stuard’s German/Patternmaker’s Workbench is the first hand-tool friendly workbench I ever used. It has a classic trestle base, storage, a patternmaker’s vise and very few compromises.

But in assembling that list of benches, I concluded that these nine benches weren’t enough to give you the full range of possibilities you’ll face as you sit down with a blank sheet of paper or an empty computer screen.

So I decided to add a couple other features to this book. First, after eight of the nine workbench plans there are two-page commentaries of the bench based on the user’s experiences with that design. They answer the important questions of: What would they keep? What would they change?

Second, I compiled a list of bench designs that cover most of the major Western designs – from European to Late Mongrel. With these designs I offer a sort of “before-and-after” approach. I show the bench design as it commonly appears with commentary about what works and what doesn’t with the classic design. Then I show you how to modify the design so it might do a few more tricks for you.

In other words, this book is like a vaccination. With these plans I’m trying to free you from the tyranny of plans. If you look at enough workbenches and understand what makes them tick, then you’ll start designing good ones for yourself. That’s what happened to me. And that is what has happened to other workbench freaks I’ve communicated with during the last decade.

Know your sources: This bench from Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises” vexed me for many years. What I didn’t realize is how the engraving of the bench had been changed after it had been swiped from the French. That key bit of information led to a new understanding of the workholding.

New Workholding & Ways To Knock Down Your Bench
Other parts of this book are attempts to update you on some new developments or fill in areas that I had to skim over in the last book. I have included a sizable section on the world of workholding – much has changed. Manufacturers have redoubled their efforts to bring us vises and devices to make life easier. (And sadly, other manufacturers have sent their operations overseas, which has resulted in their products becoming cheap in the worst sense of the word.)

Plus, I have made a few small discoveries about historical workholding that had eluded me for years. In other words, I’m coming clean about my earlier ignorance.

And finally, I include a chapter on building knockdown workbenches that I didn’t have room for in the first book  The two workbench designs from my first book are monolithic (the way I like them), but as many of you have told me, people move.

So Do You Need This Book?
That’s a fair question. I think that most woodworkers will be happy with the designs in the first book. It’s like buying a stock Honda Civic and modifying the heck out of the thing. Change the VTEC timing, mess with the cold-air intake, redo the exhaust and suspension. In the end you will have a car that is a top performer, but it still has the Honda Civic nameplate on it.

This book is for people who want to build a car from scratch. Weld together a chassis and pick out all the parts, from the coil to the water pump. It’s more effort to understand the car, which is – ultimately – a group of systems. But the result is that whatever you build in the end – fantastic or craptacular – is entirely your brainchild.

Your bench might end up looking like a Roubo or a Nicholson or a Klausz to a casual observer. But because you understand how all its systems work together you will have created a John-style bench or a Janet-inspired design.

If you’re ready for this, then the first step in your education is to revisit the rules of workbench design and see if we can stretch them, distort them or make them write bad checks.

— Christopher Schwarz

I wrote a short review of Karl Holtey's No. 982 smoothing plane for the October 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (which is mailing now to subscribers). And you don't write a review of a tool that costs $10,500 without bracing yourself for some comments from readers.

Overall, I quite liked the tool, which was on loan to us for several months from its owner. For me, the experience was like driving the BMW 700-series sedan that belonged to a friend of my mom. At first it was terrifying, and I handled the tool like an injured wombat. After a few weeks of babying it, however, I started to explore its limits.

Over the weekend, I received the following letter from reader Dave Makarewicz, which asked a lot of good questions.

Earlier this afternoon I read your Tool Test article about the Karl Holtey 982 smoothing plane. While I've heard the Holtey name in the past I've never really investigated Karl or his work. One item that caught my attention was the price quoted in British pounds, so I did the math and realized that we're talking about the "upper stratosphere" of hand tools. OK now you've really got my interest cranked up! I spent some time on Karl's web site to see what I could learn and it's obvious Karl is a superb craftsman, dedicated to achieving near perfection.

So now all day long I can't get this review out of my head, and I have a few questions. Can you shed some light as to who uses a tool of this caliber? Realizing that Karl's planes are one-off commission pieces, how much better can this tool be as compared to say a Lie-Nielsen plane? At that level I'm thinking this thing jumps out of the box and starts planing all by itself. And lastly your comment about the tote attachment coming loose really floored me, You're telling me that my $10,000 handplane is going to have problems? That's like the salesman at the Bentley dealership telling me that the knobs on the dashboard have a tendency to fall off!

If I'm shelling out that kind of dough Karl himself had better be coming over to tweak the tote attachment and he's going to have to bring doughnuts too!

I think you are a truly lucky fellow to be able to get hold of stuff like this and try it out. I also think it's important that us commoners get to see that these things really exist, and I believe that men like Karl raise the bar for everyone.

Here are some answers.

1. Who uses a Karl Holtey plane?

I know that some of Holtey's planes never go to work in a shop, and that's typical among the customers of all the custom toolmakers. But I do know that Garrett Hack has a Holtey No. 98 that sees a fair amount of use. I saw Hack's Holtey at a show about five years ago and it was worn and well-patinated. And Hack had only praise for the tool. David Charlesworth also has a couple of Holtey's planes that get put to the wood. And I know a few home woodworkers who both collect and use the planes from Holtey and other markers.

It's my hope that every well-made tool gets to see some action.

2. How much better is a Holtey plane compared to other premium tools?

This point gets debated all the time on the woodworking forums. The argument goes something like this: People who dislike the tool say there's no way that a $10,500 tool planes a piece of wood 26.25 times better than a $400 plane. And they're right. People who like the tool say that's like comparing a Honda Accord to a Ferrari Enzo. And they are right, as well.

At a certain price point, all tools do a tremendous job, just like all chairs hold you off the floor in relative comfort. But it's up to you as to whether you want a chair from Ikea or Sam Maloof.

3. About that tote coming loose.

The tote of the plane did come loose, but I wouldn't make too much of it. The totes on all my planes come loose from using them (even a Ferrari needs new brakes and an oil change on occasion). I asked Holtey about it via e-mail and here's his response:

"The metal stem inside the handle is only anchored at the top end. This is to allow some movement due to shrinkage; otherwise the handle would crack. With this shrinkage you may notice the loosening on the handle screw and it just needs a little more tightening.

"Another solution to shrinkage is to use a polymer but for some reason it hasn’t caught on."

And that's exactly right. Tightening up the handle fixed it. I mentioned it (briefly) in the review only to point out that this is a real tool.

I'll add one more question to this list, even though Dave didn't ask.

4. Why review a tool that is out of reach of most subscribers?

Once a year we publish plans in our magazine for what could best be termed a "fantasy" project – a piece of work that most woodworkers would like to build but is out of their league at this point. We do this because we want to inspire our readers to become better woodworkers. And we want to show them what good design and good craftsmanship looks like.

And that's why I chose to write about Holtey's plane in our pages. If given the chance, wouldn't you want to pore over a cabinet by James Krenov? Sit in a chair made by Sam Maloof? Use a plane by Karl Holtey?

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Resources on Custom Plane Makers

• Visit Karl Holtey's web site and be sure to read his blog. His level of craftsmanship is tremendous. holteyplanes.com.

• Konrad Sauer of Sauer & Steiner also writes a blog that details the construction of his custom infill planes. sauerandsteiner.com.

• Wayne Anderson is also one of my favorite makers. I own a few of his planes. Each one is unique. andersonplanes.com.

• I discuss a lot of the custom planemakers (and compare their tools to James Krenov's) in my book "Handplane Essentials." This sizable book is a compilation of my best writing on handplanes during the last 10 years.

I have four sets of screwdrivers. Three for loaning and one for using.

The set I never loan is made up of tools that were made (mostly) by the H.D. Smith & Co. company of Plantsville, Conn. Usually these are referred to as "perfect handle" screwdrivers. They are single drop-forged pieces of steel with a wooden handle that has been riveted into place. And they are tougher and more comfortable than any screwdriver I've used.

I've picked up my set of six drivers through the years since 1996, when I spied my first one at a flea market and picked it up for $5. Since then I've also noticed that the prices for these tools can be ridiculous. I've seen screwdrivers go for $40. I've never paid more than $10, but I've picked up mine at antique fairs.

The reason I was able to get mine so cheaply is that mine look like dogmeat. And they look like dogmeat because they were probably used on the devil's locomotive they are so black and grungy. And they are as tough as hell.

Note that there are counterfeits out there that weren't made by Smith. Some of the tools are stamped "Germany," and some are stamped "Irwin." And some are tools that have been cobbled together by a clever welder. But if you find the real thing, I know you'll be pleased.

I've noticed that Garrett Wade carries a Chinese set that looks like my screwdrivers, but I don't have the heart to test them. Anyone out there have these?

If you'd like to learn more about the line of "perfect handle" tools, here are some good resources:

• A history of H.D. Smith & Co. at "I Like Rust."

• A reprint of the company's catalog from Martin J. Donnelly Auctions.

• A tutorial on repairing a perfect handle from Jim Thompson.
 
• Read a patent for the company's wild adjustable screwdriver. And check out their patent for a chisel handle. Look familiar?

— Christopher Schwarz

I've been getting questions almost daily about the 18th-century French-style workbench I built for the cover of the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The questions go something like this:

1. Has the benchtop exploded into pieces yet, you dufus?

2. Has the epoxy shattered?

3. How are your chiropractic bills with that leg vise?

During the last four months I've been using the bench quite a bit and have built four projects on it. I feel like it's pretty much broken in, though I still have some uncertainty ahead with my benchtop (more on this in a minute).

Here are some of the changes I've made to the bench in the last four months and some things I've observed about its behavior.

The first alteration I made was to add a tool rack along the back edge of the benchtop. This is a traditional French feature that shows up on many plates in André Roubo's 18th-century books on woodworking. The rack is 28-1/2" long and 3" wide. It's made from 1/2"-thick material in two layers. One layer consists of spacers. The other layer is the long piece that contains the tools.

I've found that a 1/2"-wide slot is a great width for many bench tools. Your results may vary. The rack is nailed onto the bench using some cool iron nails I found at VanDyke's Restorers.

I like the tool rack quite a bit. The only time it gets in the way is when I'm dovetailing. I had to pull the tools out of the rack to transfer my tails onto my pin board, which was secured in my leg vise. If I cut pins first, this wouldn't be a problem, by the way.

I also added a hinged lid that covers the space above the shelf. This creates a little toolbox that has been handy for stowing stuff. It's a nice addition, but it's not a game-changer.

I also added some stop chamfers with a lamb's tongue detail on the long stretchers. I think it lightens the look of the base a bit, and I like stop chamfers.

About the Top
I rather like the way the slab top looks. Of course, most people have wondered if the through-tenons and through-dovetails are tearing the bench apart. So far, no.

But the top is moving.

When the top came into our shop it had been sitting outside for several years and it was at about 15 percent moisture content. After being inside since February, it's now down to about 13 percent. Black cherry usually ends up at 10 percent moisture content in our shop, so it still needs to dry out a bit.

As the top lost moisture, it shrank a bit and squeezed out some of the epoxy I had forced into the cracks. This epoxy is flexible so it didn't shatter or crack. It simply bulged out like a vein on your arm. So I took a card scraper and trimmed off the proud epoxy. It took about 15 minutes.

In June I checked the top for flatness and found that one section in the middle had moved a bit. That was a good excuse for me to whip out the jointer plane and true it up. This also removed the finish from the top. While the old finish looked good, I had added too much varnish into my finish mixture so the top was a little slicker than I wanted.

So after flattening the top I put on two coats of straight boiled linseed oil, and now the top is grippier.

About the Vises
I couldn't be happier with the leg vise. The Lake Erie wooden screw is fast and robust. And I'm glad I placed the vise's parallel guide above the leg. I can reach down and move the pin without stooping much at all. In fact, I can usually just drop my arm and reach the pin while I'm adjusting the tommy bar of the vise.

The end vise is also a success. It's an old Sheldon quick-release vise. Unlike modern quick-release vises, it doesn't move much – maybe an 1/8" when you engage the lever. I was concerned that this wouldn't be enough pressure. It turns out to be ideal. In fact, I like it because you don't tend to over-tighten it and bow your stock.

Other Changes Ahead
I can't wait to get this bench against a wall. While it hasn't tipped a bit, I just feel more comfortable working against a wall. Also, I need to make some more hickory bench dogs. The two that I have made have been a complete success.

If you're going to be at Woodworking in America this October you'll be able to see this bench in person and give it a thumbs-up or -down. But for me, I think this bench is a success. I like the way it works and the way it looks. Do I wish it were bigger? Sure. I always prefer a bigger bench. But for a short bench, this is a fine one.

— Christopher Schwarz

Workbench Resources – Free and Otherwise

• Want to mainline some workbench information? You can read every blog post I've written about workbenches in the last five-plus years by clicking here. Hope you have some bandwidth handy.

• We filmed a DVD of the construction of this bench. It includes many details we didn't have room for in the magazine article, including a slideshow of all of the construction photos. You can order the DVD "Build an 18th-century Workbench" from the WoodworkersBookshop.com.

• I have a second workbench book coming out this fall titled "The Workbench Design Book." My first book is on sale in our store: "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use."

Learning to sharpen has little to do with your sharpening stones. It has a lot more to do with being able to see your progress and knowing when to stop.

Showing a class of woodworkers what a sharp blade looks like in the flesh (a real poor choice of words) has proven to be tricky for me. So I've resorted at times to line drawings, which helps.

Today a reader sent me some great photos he made using a scanning electron microscope, usually called an SEM in the business. Want to read about how the microscopes work? Brace yourself for some scary images of pollen.

The reader is a mechanical engineer working in research for a medical device company, so these are legit. What you are going to see here are images of a Veritas spokeshave blade. The images of the dull blade show what it looks like with the factory edge on it after being used to build four benches. The blade still feels pretty sharp, the reader reports.

The images of the sharp blade show the same tool in the same position after being sharpened with #1,000- and #8,000-grit Shapton stones.

All of the images were taken from the same angle – 12° off of vertical looking directly at the edge. As a result, you can see both the flat face, the secondary bevel and the primary bevel all in the same image. The primary bevel is at the top of each image. The secondary bevel is the stripe in the middle. The flat face (some people call it the "back") is the bottom part of the image.

So let's kick this off with photos of the dull and sharp blade at 30x magnification, which is about what I can see with my jeweler's loupe.

30x Dull and Sharp

You can see the factory scratches in the bevel on the dull blade, and you can see them disappearing on the sharp blade. This is about all our naked eye gets to see in the shop. As we zoom in, it gets more interesting.

500x Dull and Sharp

At 500x the differences between the two blades becomes quite evident. The scratches in the dull blade stand out like canyons, and you can see them and how they fade on the sharp blade.

1,000x Dull and Sharp

On the dull image you can see a torn bit of metal right on the edge, which the reader reports as being typical of this edge. On the sharp edge, the little light-colored spots are debris, not metal. The dark spots on the right of the photo are also likely debris, not the wire edge of the blade.

2,000x Dull and Sharp

At 2,000x you can really see the rolled-over edge in the middle of the frame. That, I suspect, is what reflects light when you look at an edge and see a glint right at the tip.

The photo of the sharp blade at 2,000 power also has a dark line at the edge. This could be debris or it could be the "wire edge" remaining after sharpening. It would take more testing to determine exactly what we're seeing here.

So what do I conclude? Seeing is indeed everything. And is there an SEM section on Craigslist.com? How many kidneys would it cost?

— Christopher Schwarz

Sharpening Stuff for Other Sharpening Nuts

• Ron Hock wrote the book on sharpening, and I think it's worth buying. "The Perfect Edge."

• Brent Beach wrote the web site on sharpening, and I think it's worth exploring. Be wary. It is a vacuum. http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/

• You know you are a sharpening nerd if you've been to this page. It's the rec.woodworking post that kicked off the latest sandpaper sharpening craze. Note, I found an old Boy Scout reference to sharpening your pocketknife with sandpaper.

Nor is it about the workbench. It's about my sawbenches. During every project I wonder how I ever got by without them. Like Tonya Harding, I think there's something special about the kneecap height.

— Christopher Schwarz

We've been testing the Veritas Quick-release Sliding Tail Vise for several months now and have been keeping as mum as possible. Now I can break my mum-ness and discuss this interesting piece of new bench hardware.

The idea is simple: Put a traditional European tail vise and a machinist's quick-release vise into a tropical hotel with an ocean view. Open the mini bar. Order room service.

Their love child is this vise.

Like a machinist's quick-release vise, it is easy to install – even to retrofit. We added this vise to the LVL Workbench in about a couple hours of work. We cut out the recess for the vise using a jigsaw and trued it up with a chisel plane. Then we bolted the hardware to the underside of the top and made the walnut chop.

Like a tail vise, it offers 100-percent support to wide panels when you are working on them and gets your row of dog holes right up in the front of the benchtop where you want them.

Like a machinist's quick-release vise, you turn a lever and the the jaw slides open and closed with a satisfying swoosh.

Like a tail vise, you can lock the threads so that the jaw opens and closes with a screw-feed action. That means you can use this vise for assembly, disassembly and holding your work

Like a quick-release vise, it has guide bars to keep it from racking and it doesn't sag.

But like a tail vise, there are no bars that get in the way of the vise's functions.

To show you how this works, Megan Fitzpatrick and I prepared the short tour above. (And no, Megan doesn't wear those sandals when she is working in the shop, so just shut your pie hole about that.)

Also, before you ask: The Acme-thread screw is indeed small, but the sucker is robust. You can really crank the thing down (not that you should ever need to). I think this vise is going to be a real game-changer when it comes to deciding which end vise to install on your bench.

The vise is available and in stock from Lee Valley Tools for $269 U.S.
 
— Christopher Schwarz

Other Tail Vise Links to Consider

• We'll be testing out the tail vise hardware from Lie-Nielsen soon. I am told that it is "bombproof."

• The Benchcrafted tail vise is an engineering marvel. And now the company has released an updated version that is easier to install.

• Be sure to visit workbenchdesign.net for all your workbench information cravings.

• And if you want a heavy dose of my off-centered view on workbenches, my book is a good place to start: "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use."

My first Stanley shoulder plane (a No. 93) was the worst plane I ever bought. The sole was more than 1/8" out of alignment, and it took me a couple hours on a belt sander to even get the tool working.

That dog of a tool was built during the sunset days of Stanley's U.K. plane production, and I've always imagined that my plane had been made by someone who was drunk, hungover or having a stroke.

So when the new Stanley Sweet Heart No. 92 showed up on my desk last week, I was skeptical. (Note: This tool is a loaner, so it will go back to Stanley after it has had a workout at Woodworking in America.) I took the tool out of its sealed box and checked the sole with a machinist square.

Ah-ha! The sole was out of truth. Probably by a couple thousandths of an inch. Maybe more.

This morning I decided to look at all the shoulder planes in our shop, and compare them to the Stanley. And here's the funny thing: Almost all of them have some problems with their soles. (The exception was the Veritas Large Shoulder, which was dead square. I didn't get to check my Lie-Nielsen 073 because it's at home.)

Most of these planes have performed fairly well, but they all have problems when you try to do persnickety work. You have to massage the position of the cutter to get the results you want. (The exceptions being the Veritas, which is always dead on, and my Lie-Nielsen at home, which is also always bang-on.)

So I decided to true up the soles of several shoulder planes today and see if it improved their performance. I'm sure there are better ways to true up a sole than what I am about to describe, but this following procedure works.

I took a 2x4 and trued it up on the jointer. Then I stuck a piece of 40-micron sharpening sandpaper to the face of the 2x4 and secured this to my benchtop with holdfasts.

Next I took a piece of plywood and set it on my bench in front of the sandpaper. I rested the shoulder plane on the plywood, hung its sole off the edge and stroked it back and forth over the sandpaper. After about a minute of work I checked my result. The sole was improving. About three minutes later, the sole read dead flat to my square.

Then I sharpened up the A2 iron. The unbeveled face of the iron was dead flat, which is always a nice surprise to see. It polished up quickly. Perhaps too quickly for A2 – I'll have to get this iron tested to see how soft it is. In any case, I'm not complaining.

I checked the plane for bed errors (it had none) and put it to work.

I quite like the tool, but I like rhino-horn-style shoulder planes (the horn is the proboscis at its toe). Megan Fitzpatrick reported that the plane had too many sharp arrises. I agreed and knocked them down with some sandpaper. Robert Lang didn't like the way the tool fit his hand when he pulled the plane toward him – the horn dug right into his palm.

He also wished that the rear curve on the top of the plane was 1/4" shorter. And actually, after looking at photos of the original No. 92 and 93, the rear curve used to be shorter.

I hold my shoulder planes differently – I didn't have a problem and found it comfortable.

So here's the bottom line: I'm going to make this plane my primary user until I have to give it back to Stanley. It's worthy of a hard workout.

Shoulder planes are difficult tools to make (ask any toolmaker), so the fact that Stanley's is so close is a good sign about what I might find as I set up the rest of the tools in the line.

The No. 92 is available from a wide variety of retailers for about $110 to 120, including Woodcraft and Amazon (which has the right model number but an outdated photo).

Other Shoulder Plane Resourses

• Read (for free) the article I wrote about premium shoulder planes for the Fine Tool Journal. It's now available on WKFineTools.com. When you are really bored, check out all my articles on WKFineTools.com here.

• I wrote a good deal about shoulder planes in my book "Handplane Essentials," which is available in our store. It's a nice, big, made-in-the-USA trip into the world of planes.

• David Charlesworth knows more about setting up shoulder planes than anyone I know. His Lie-Nielsen DVD "Furniture Making Techniques: Five Topics" contains an excellent section on shoulder planes.

Today we finalized the design for a nice poster that features the famous plate 11 from Andre Roubo's woodworking masterwork. The poster (redheads not included) will be ready for sale (on very nice paper) at Woodworking in America. It also will be available for sale in our store.

Plate 11, for those of you just joining us, shows one of Roubo's designs for workbenches, plus a scene from a French joinery shop. Some of the tools in the plate are not to scale, but the detail is tremendous and the lessons are there for you to decipher.

We're still working out pricing (should be about $20), and some other details. But here's a shot of the prototype with Linda (hiding behind the poster) and Megan (not hiding).

— Christopher Schwarz

This morning we were messing around with the band saw blades and got into a discussion of how to fold and unfold them properly. I was taught to use my foot to fold it.

Robert Lang uses just his hands.

To release a band saw blade, I was taught to cast it to the ground, roughly, on one of our floor mats. It makes a great noise and people will jump a bit.

Robert Lang uses just his hands.

Megan shot this short video of the two techniques. The little dance at the end is free.

— Christopher Schwarz

Cuss It, I Need to Write More About Band Saws

• The best band saw book I know of is from Mark Duginske: "New Complete Guide to the Band Saw," which we now carry in our store. Hurrah! I bought the first version of this book years ago and still use it today when tweaking my band saw.

• Also good: Lonnie Bird's: "The Band Saw Book."

• Our best-selling book involving band saws is Lois Ventura's crazy (but cool) "Sculpted Band Saw Boxes." So many woodworkers have made these boxes from this book that they have even ended up in the reader's gallery of a competing magazine. That's flattery!

I don't relish handing out bad reviews of tools. But as someone who gets stoned occasionally by an angry mob, I know that a critical review can help improve the quality of my work in the future.

During the last year I reviewed new premium planes by both Wood River (Woodcraft's line) and Stanley. I had problems with both brands. The Wood River planes had irons that were too soft, the lateral-adjust levers were flimsy and some of the block planes had fatal bed errors.

Stanley's new Sweet Heart line of planes also had some rough patches. Both versions of the No. 62 low-angle jack plane had fatal bed errors, rendering the planes worthless. Some of the adjustable mouths wouldn't close up. And the overall fit and finish of the tools was lacking.

During the last month, both companies have released new or improved versions of their tools and I am in the beginning stages of testing them here for a follow-up review.

It's obvious that both companies listened to complaints from customers.

The Stanley planes look about 100 times better. The wood is nicely finished. The paint on the base casting has changed and – most of all – there are no bed errors in the examples I've examined. I still have one quibble with the line as a whole: The lever caps are too lightweight.

The Wood River planes also made a big leap forward. The lateral-adjust levers are now robust and made using two pieces, like the old Bed Rocks. The depth-adjustment knob is bigger and easier to turn. And the overall fit and finish of the tools has improved.

I'm going to set these tools up and send the irons out for testing in the coming weeks. So I haven't drawn any conclusions other than it looks like the quality is improving.

Stay tuned for a review in the next few weeks. I really am focused on building stuff right now. So the prospect of setting up nine more plane irons isn't appealing.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Stories on Stanley & Wood River

• My original review of the Stanley No. 62

• News on the new line of Stanley chisels (I still need to get a set).

• Read other reviews of premium planes in my book "Handplane Essentials." It's big (312 pages), printed in the United States and chock-full of the drivel you've come to begrudgingly endure on this blog. You can order it directly from our store.

Early Modern Drama majors are enablers. They have fancy library cards and access to stuff that makes you pasty white and boring at parties. I used to have friends. People used to say they liked me.

— Christopher Schwarz

I've been purging my shop and tool chests of excess tools this week. But now I'm afraid some of my tools are "taking the hint" and leaving on their own.

This morning I set out to dovetail a walnut carcase and found that one of my beloved dividers – an old Brown & Sharpe – was AWOL. So I had to use some bigger, clunkier dividers in tandem with my Starrett (shown above) to lay things out.

I sawed out all the waste and reached for my drop-point knife to clean out the snot from the corners. No knife. Where the cuss is my knife?

I suspect that I've been traveling too much with my tools and these small items have been lost in the shuffle. The funny thing is that I need these little guys more than I need a table saw. They are steely psychological crutches.

Lucky for me, the Mid-west Tool Collectors Association is having meet down in Louisville this fall. So I should be able to make some new friends at the tool swap.

— Christopher Schwarz

Be a Joiner

• Someone had to hold a gun to my head to make me join French Club in high school. I never liked "groups" of "people." But I have gotten over it. You should, too. If you aren't a member of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association you should remedy that right now. The first tool sale you go to will make you into a lifetime devotee. mwtca.org

• And while you have that wallet open, join the Early American Industries Association. Even if you don't go to the meetings, you'll stay a member if only to receive their quarterly, The Chronicle. eaiainfo.org

Last month we showed you a preview of Len Hovarter's interesting twin-screw vise (check out that entry here and see a video). Today Hovarter's web site went live and is offering a $25 discount for pre-orders before Sept. 15.

The web site for Hovarter Custom Vise is: hovartercustomvise.com.

We've received our vise hardware from Hovarter, which is sitting patiently behind me in my office. Megan Fitzpatrick and I are going to try to start building some benches for Woodworking in America this week. Maybe Thursday – if the editing part of our jobs doesn't get in the way. I'm planning to put the Hovarter vise on one of the benches as a twin-screw face vise. The other bench will get the awesome Glide vise from Benchcrafted.

Oh, you didn't hear? It's Yuppy Bench Hardware Week. It was in all the newspapers.

The Hovarter twin-screw kit is $350 to $360 depending on the configuration you want. His web site also has assembly instructions for the vises, which will give you an idea of what's involved.

I've been unpacking the hardware and examining it during my nanoseconds of free time. Everything looks overbuilt and shiny.

— Christopher Schwarz

More Workbench Resources to Investigate When Your Boss Ain't Looking

• Check out the European Sjoberg site. There are lots of interesting workbench forms there that we don't have here. http://www.mollefors.se/en/start/

• While at Roy Underhill's I worked on these Hoffman & Hammer workbenches. The tops were nice. The bases looked a little spindly to my Frenchyfied eyes. But at that price, it might be worth building a base for. We didn't have any sagging tail vises, but there's always tomorrow.

• And for those of you dwelling beneath a boulder, I have a new DVD out "Build an 18th-century Workbench." It includes tons of extra materials to help you build the burly French beast in our shop right now.