ershopsmith

When I make ukuleles and other projects with small parts that require close thickness tolerances and accurate bevels, I use jigs and double side tape the small part to the jig. The Ridged ocsillating belt sander with a mitre gauge works perfect and keeps my fingers away from the tool. I then use a shoothing board to obtain accuracies within .003". Small grooves can be made with a table mounted Dremel tool. I love hand tools, but its hard to beat the accuracy of well set up power tools.

About four years ago I made two spoke shaves out of wood and brass. The prototype was maple that I made into a concave and the other was rosewood that I made with a flat sole. I made one of the blades from an old jointer knife. They worked very well in shaping the Queen Anne legs for my period reproduction chairs. I would be interested in seeing an updated article on making, using and a history of thes planes. I seem to recall an article many years ago in FWW on a similar subject. Thanks, working with well designed sharp tools is always more fun and relaxing than with power tools.