Handplanes of your dreams

If your buying Bertha, I’ll have a Ron Brese 875 special edition with a gabon ebony infill. At only $1975 its a bargain. When can I expect delivery?

-- Andy ---- "I like Vintage tools. It's what I do to forget about what I do when I need to forget about what I do. Saws, planes, chisels, hammers, it doesn't matter." - Don W

OK Andy, I’ll buy your Brese if you’ll buy my A1 Holtey panel plane. It’s a deal. When should we plan the exchange? I’m guessing you live in England, so it’d probably be easier if I bring it to you. Let me know when you’ve picked up the ticket. :)

-- Al

Here’s Andy’s Brese if any of his relatives/friends are watching (hint hint):

-- Al

Wayne Anderson’s planes are inspiring workhorses.

as Christopher Schwarz say´s in an article here on this site
http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/cSchwarz/z_art/andersonPlanes/andersonPlanes.asp

and it is beautyfull handmade planes he makes to your specification they are arts in themself
and will inspire to make better work , they don´t make you a better woodworker but they
will inspire you to do more than your best
read the article and go to mr. Anderson´s site and see for your self but be aware if you click
you want one of his buty´s ten times more than a Carl Holtey plane

http://www.andersonplanes.com/

take care
Dennis

For those who are too impatient for the photos, here’s Dennis’s holiday hopes (goodness gracious, that’s a beautiful plane):

-- Al

Holtey A1 panel plane eh? No problem, its only £7000. Do you want a spare blade with that? LOL

-- Andy ---- "I like Vintage tools. It's what I do to forget about what I do when I need to forget about what I do. Saws, planes, chisels, hammers, it doesn't matter." - Don W

Andy, and a spare lever cap if it’s not too much trouble. I always seem to scratch them on all my Holteys somehow :)

-- Al

So if I put by £1 a week, you should have it in about 135 years. Hope that’s ok.

Joking aside, I think Ron Brese’s prices are justified, even reasonable. Personally, I’ve never liked the look of Wayne Anderson’s planes, they always look a bit awkward to me. As for Holteys, I can’t see what makes them so much more expensive than Brese planes personally. Who buys Holteys apart from collectors with deep pockets? If I was making premium infill planes, I’d want them to be used and appreciated by craftsmen not stuck in a glass display cabinet. What’s your opinion?

-- Andy ---- "I like Vintage tools. It's what I do to forget about what I do when I need to forget about what I do. Saws, planes, chisels, hammers, it doesn't matter." - Don W

or what about one from Sauer and Steiner :-)
http://www.sauerandsteiner.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=752

gallery
http://www.sauerandsteiner.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=752

now you all have a little to dream about

Dennis

^I couldn’t agree more! On all accounts, really. I don’t find the prices of this custom modern planes to be anything unsightly for the art involved, a nearly lost art until rather recently it seems. I own a sprinkling of Lie Nielsens but that’s because they’re ready to go out of the box & I can’t afford the Stanley miters, etc. No handplane that’s unwilling to work is allowed in my shop. If I won the lottery, I’d own a Holtey, and I’d drag it across dirty boards and toss it in with the rest of the guys (like Mads’ fairy tale). For a commercial collection like Lee Valley’s, I can understand preserving the history of an early Victor Bailey but in my shop, no one just gets admired. There are probably rich lucky ba$tards that use Holteys, but I bet there aren’t many of them.

Paul Hamler planes are a different story. I know many owners (me included) that own them and use them hard. One guy had to reorder irons because he’d worn his down! Now that’s a guy I like.

Paul Hamler custom

-- Al

^that S&S jointer is absurdly beautiful.

-- Al

I take my hat of for Holtey in the way that he gets the money he wants for his planes
but they are still only a jiig to hold the cheisel in at a correct angle and nothing more

take care
Dennis

Since I started playing with planes a scary thing has happened. I’m starting to get more interested in the tools themselves than I am in the woodworking!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

^Charlie, that happened to me when I set off to Type my first #4. It was ingenious of Stanley & others to assign numbers to their lines. It makes the ever-changing subtle modifications all the more exciting to track. The history of the handplane is unlike any other mechanical history to me. It’s simply fascinating.

-- Al

have you read whelan´s handplane book about history form and function