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I’m editing the November 2013 binder today and have just turned the page to the first article in the “feature well” (the section in the middle with no advertising, that follows the up-front columns). And I decided I needed a break before tackling it (hence this blog post).
As always, the first feature is the cover story – and for November, it’s a detailed, step-by-step article by Willard “Bill” Anderson on making a fixed-width panel-raising plane. (You may recall Bill’s excellent “Make a Shapely Bowsaw” from the November 2011 issue and “Rule Joints: by Hand & Power” from the August 2012 issue – or perhaps you’ve had the pleasure of a class with him at The Woodwright’s School.)
“Fixed-width Panel Raiser” is a complete brain twister – and no doubt many some people will think we’re crazy for printing it. (Heck – I think we’re crazy for printing it…but I’m a wild and crazy gal. Once in a very great while.) This will, I think, be the most challenging build we’ve ever published (despite it’s relatively small size).
I now have a much richer understanding of how skew and angles combine to make a blade cut wood and reduce tear-out. And I now have a greater understanding of why custom-built planes command a high price; every penny of that price is earned. (That, by the by, is an excellent reason to learn how to build your own.)
I don’t know how many of you will actually make this panel-raising plane (though I hope you will, and that you’ll share pictures of your plane). And I don’t know if I’ll ever build it. But I do know that reading and editing the article several times has scrambled my neurons for the better.
I hope you’ll feel the same. Let me know in mid-October when the issue comes out.
Now that’s quite enough procrastination; back to editing.
— Megan Fitzpatrick
@1snugthejoiner
