Woodworking Magazine Weblog

While my blog might pinch your checkbook on occasion, Konrad Sauer's new blog is a mugger in a dark alley with a Bowie knife. Yes, planemaker Konrad Sauer is now a blogger.

Oh sure, he lures you in with a hilarious story about the mummified squirrels in his house. Then there's a little entry about our trip to John Sindelar's hand tool event (for the record, our desperate search for a decent beer in northern Indiana was much more tragic than Konrad lets on. Note to self: Must blog about monkeys, fires and Corona – the other Guinness).

But then he wallops you with a photo of his newest little jewel. A high-angle, no-chipbreaker, toteless smoother that absolutely stole the show at Sindelar's. Several people (who shall remain nameless) ordered this plane. I am not on that list yet.

I got to use this little beauty and it works and feels as good as it looks. You can use it one-handed if you please. Or you can cradle it between both hands and coax out sweet sweet gossamer shavings from the escapement. I would say the shavings come from the mouth, but I couldn't find one on the plane.

Konrad plans to add an entry to his blog every week. So get in line at the plasma center (behind me). It's going to sting a bit.

— Christopher Schwarz

(And by the way, his entire site has been redesigned. Very nice.)