Happy New Year

So, I've been so busy building hand planes for everyone else that I haven't built one for myself yet. I glued up some scraps of paulownia I had leftover w/ stringers of red cedar and mahogany. After the outline was cut out and the hand plane was shaped I added channels. I'm going to take this down to PR the next time I go.

Hand Plane #6

Here is paulownia hand plane #6. It has a light concave in the bottom for enhanced lift. Coated w/ a linseed oil bees wax mix. I left this one a little thicker @ about 3/4" hopefully for added buoyancy. I have this one up for sale on my Etsy site here.

Paulownia Handplanes #4 & 5

#4 Paulownia Handplane

sold

#5 Paulownia Handplane

gifted to Anthony the Barber

Just finished off bodysurfing handplanes #4 & #5. Both are made from Royal Paulownia and are coated w/ a linseed oil and beeswax finish.

#4 is for sale for $65

Merry Christmas Brian

Here is handplane #3 for my friend Brian Wynn of Wynn Surfboards.

Made from paulownia and coated w/ a bees wax linseed oil mixture.

Merry Xmas Brian.

Happy Hollow Days

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Festivus, & Happy New Year to all. A special thank you to all my clients that made this year so special.

Here is a shot of Alex's finished alaia for Xmas...

A fishing sculpture "Fish On!"

Brigid contacted me for a sculpture for a friend for Xmas. She bought a surf sculpture from me last year, this year it's a fisherman. I think he came out pretty cool with his yellow overalls.

Paulownia Hand Plane #2

Here is #2. This is a cut through handle design. I think I am liking the surface mount handles better, but there is something earthy & "green" about not adding nylon strapping. I cut a nice concave in the bottom of this to try to achieve some lift while bodysurfing.

The first Paulownia hand plane "The Flat Fish"

Here is the first of many hand planes I've been working on. It's made from paulownia scrap that I didn't want to discard from making the alaias. It has a flat top rolled bottom and an adjustable hand strap. I coated it in the same linseed oil and bees wax solution the I've been using on the alaias. This one is going to Richard Tator of the OLC for a Xmas present.

Finishing the alaia

To finish the boards I'm using a linseed oil and bees wax solution that I melt down and mix together. Most guys are using just one coat b/c paulownia is salt water resistant. Buuut, I believe in overkill, so I do 2.

The logos and my signature are burnt into the wood.

Finish sanding the alaia

For the final sanding of the Alaias I go through a few grits of paper. I start w/ 100 grit to knock down the hard edges on the rails and add the concave in the back. Then I smooth everything out w/ 150 grit, and finally 220.

concave

Nick talking about how cool the grain is in

the bookmatched alaia

Bookmatched paulownia alaia

for Xmas

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