Hi to all
I’m hoping for some help. I’m not a woodworker but our company is losing its best carpenter. We would like to buy him, as a surprise, a fine woodworking tool ( I think a hand tool, rather than a power tool) as a memento. Something that would be both beautiful & practical. Maybe a really nice hand planer with brass plate for engraving an inscription on. Don’t know his tool inventory, but he is a highly skilled, creative carpenter doing both field & shop work (does built-ins, etc on home renovation projects, cabinets & millwork in the shop). Does anyone have any thoughts on what useful tool might be unusual enough that he would not likely have it (he has those Japanese saws), or what tool would always be welcome in a really fine model? Also where to find such a thing? Our budget, though not completely unlimited, is pretty flexible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much
Replies
Mike,
I can recommend a bronze Lie Niesen block plane. I recently bought one for the craftsman that installed our kitchen cabinets. It costs about $100, but the look on George's face was well worth it. Meant so much more than a "bonus". A fine craftsman will be over-joyed with a Lie Niesen plane.
Best Regards,
Terry
Mike,
Anything, I mean anything, from the Bridge City Tools catalog. Try http://www.bridgecitytools.com
DR
Steve Knight makes some fine planes, all hand bult by him and tested and shipped with the tested shavings still in the plane, so you can see how fine they cut.
Many of the planes from the bigger companies, including Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen need to be tuned up and the blades sharpened, but Steve Knight makes sure that his are properly set up and sharpened before the leave his shop.
http://www.knight-toolworks.com
Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen also make fine tools
http://www.leevalley.com/home.aspx
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/
If there is Woodcraft store near you, they carry some of the Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen planes.
1 - measure the board twice
2 - cut it once
3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go
4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
i'd second the lie-nielsen suggestion. they recently started making chisels, and a set of those would be great. a block plane also would be great. bridge city tools are usually pretty and functional, but after they took almost 3 years to replace a tool for me on warranty, well, i cant really recommend them to anyone. you just cant go wrong with lie-nielsen, and if you don't want to pick a tool, maybe a gift certificate from them would be great.
Check out this plane company.
http://www.sauerandsteiner.com
These cost more but may be make a better presentation gift, as well as being high quality tools.
Unless I misread the pricing PDF, $3000+ is a little more than pricey!The Undisciplined Life Is Not Worth Examining.
I have to agree with that.
An original Norris is nowhere near that. I wish those guys all the luck in the world, but they are still only starting with about $100 of raw materials. 2900 bucks is a lot to pay for the craftwork of ANYONE
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who will spend this much, either because (1) more expensive must mean better, or (2) "I know for SURE that I'll be the only one in the neighborhood with this baby . . ."
Then again, it's like the kid on the block selling lemonade for a million dollars a glass. Not a lot of people stopping at the booth, but he only needs to sell one glass.
Bob
Hi Dave,Thanks for the kind wishes. The average material costs for a smoothing plane is around $600 - have you priced out instrument grade Ebony or Brazilian Rosewood lately? A pre-war Norris in great shape (suitable for actually using) will run about $1,300 GBP - not that far off $2100 Cdn. Cheers,
Konrad
Yeah, that's fine, but for every day use and production work I'll take my $300 LN that does just as good a job and forgo the instrument grade ebony handles. As a trim carpenter, I will pay high prices to get the best tools, but by nature we carpenters are a pragmatic bunch.
Hi Jer,I totally agree. I have my furniture making tools and I have a less expensive set for renovating and rougher carpentry. For production work, your LN will likely work better than an infill plane anyway - that is not what they are designed to do. Cheers,
Konrad
Wonder what the OP ever did?
The fact is, they had wanted to get the departing employee something special. The suggested Sauer & Steiner would have fit that desire...if it was in their budget. Which would have helped if he had defined "special" and provided a pall-park budget.
As far as these last couple posts, an appropriate plane choice would depend on what is meant as "production" work. Don't you think that especially in England, but also to a great extent the eastern US, that infills were used as production planes?
It can be argued that a LN will do as well--but that isn't necessarily so. It would depend on several factors. Even TLN traded an infill maker for a new infill for his use. I have dozens of planes that I use for what I would like to think of as production work. Certainly isn't art furniture.
I regularily work woods that make my LN #7 or my LV #6 complain and my LN #4 1/2 shudder. My century old infill sings right along--but so do my Knight smoothers and my LV low angle jack. (As an aside, some of these slabs are impossible with a power planer.)
Mike
This debate has shifted into a debate about the quality of various wood working planes and the associated economics.
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Real issue is the acknowledgement of a fine and distinguished career as a craftsman. We all know the almost flippant phrase ‘It’s the thought that counts”. This applies to retirement gifts more then anything else, and to often it is a totally thoughtless gift.
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Why did I put forward a rather expensive option? Because the original posting indicated that this was someone exceptional and valued by the organization, and because the gift is the communication of respect that will last long after the party.
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A gift of this nature should be something the recipient would only dream of getting for themselves. What this says to him or her is, that yes your do rate the finest, that your craftsmanship has real value. The gift is a symbol of a career.
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A gift with these qualities also makes a statement to other employees. Here is a standard, reach for it.
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It is the thought that counts. Make sure that it is the thoughtfulness that has lasting value to the recipient and the organization.
Couldn't agree more.
Mike
Mike
Get him a Lie Neilsen Gift voucher and arrange for a local engraver to inscribe whatever tools he gets.
I know a voucher is not as presentable as an engraved plane, but you don't know what tools are already in his kit so a voucher will allow him to pick what he "needs" or "wants" without the risk of getting something that duplicates a tool he already has.
Ian
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