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

Shop alaia

Planing out the alaia rail bands

I've found that hand planing my rail bands is easier than using the power planer on the paulownia. I use my smaller block plane to run the rails, then I go to my grinder/sander to finish them off.

Alaias outlined and rough cut...

The 6' Alaia for an Xmas present and the shop Alaia have been templated and cut out. 1st step was to clean up the blanks, so I planed down the high spots w/ an old block plane that I have. Then I put a piece of masonite down that I have cut to the exact size template I want and draw it on the blanks. Then I cut them out w/ a jig saw.

Alaia and Paipo glue ups...

Got the shop alaia and paipo glued up the other day. Went with a stringer effect in both of them to see how it works. The alaia has 2 cedar stringers running through it, and the paipo has a cedar and paulownia t-band.

New York Times article on Alaias

Looks like even the New York Times is on the Alaia track. Here is a recently run article. NYT ALAIA ARTICLE

Alaias' for X-mas...

Working on a few Christmas presents. One for a customer and a few for shop use. The customer project is a 6' paulownia alaia. For shop experimentation we are building a 6' paulownia alaia and a 3' paulownia paipo. I might even add in a few hand planes for good measure.

The wood was milled yesterday and we joined, biscuited, glued and clamped the customer alaia. Glue ups for the shop boards will be done today.

I'll keep you all updated on the outline cutout and shaping.

3' paipo ready for glue up

6' Alaia - Paulownia w/ red cedar stringers

(for shop experimentation)

Alaia Xmas present glued and clamped

Joined and biscuit

Milling the paulownia

On the search for Paulownia...

As I woke up this afternoon from my fever induced coma, I found myself on the Cape May Lewis Ferry on the Delaware side. About a 1/2 drive was ahead of me and the Wu dog. We finally arrived @ Chesapeake Woodworkers Sales in Millboro, De. The guys were more than helpful and showed me around the shop and lumber yard. I found lots of exotic wood species and the wood I came for Royal Paulownia. I want to thank everyone there and if you are interested in buying Royal Paulownia look Chesapeake Woodworkers Sales up on the web @ www.Cheswoodsales.com .

Thanks to them I'll be able to finish another Alaia project for a client before Xmas.

Clocks & Tide Clocks!!!!

Just finished off some fresh surfboard tide clocks and a regular surfboard clock. They will be for sale on my Etsy site. Check them out... they will start @ $70