Hyrum

Pay no attention to that bald guy holding the plane - the groove is down here!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's super Matt!!!

I like your great explanations - they are very clear and easy to understand. Thank You! I am very interested in your dowel plate. I have read about someone else using one as well. Is it homemade? If so, how thick is it? If you purchased it, where did you get it? Thanks in advance for your time.

I would love to learn more about this incredible art! The grand prize winner at the arts and crafts display at out State Fair is frequently a large marquetry project and I would love to try that. Count me in!

Thank you all for your passionate comments. As a reader of wood magazines (and a very limited builder), I have learned a lot from all these comments. I would like to build more but... Anyway, I now know not to trust a cut list except for general layout & dimensioning. I always assumed that the publishers of this and other magazines were experts in their fields and knew what they were doing and the diagrams were accurate - (with the exception of WOOD magazine that invariably prints a correction to a drawing on their next issue - which I appreciate!) A little more detail on the exploded drawings would be nice as well as the sentence frequently mentioned telling how much material the author used in the initial building. Then, I can buy a piece of wood at a time and eventually have enough for the project. Some of us are on very tight budgets but still love the smell of freshly cut wood. A cut list on this "free" part would still be very nice. Thanks to you all.

Where did you cut the stump open? I don't see an obvious line in the photo.

I have always loved Fine Woodworking magazine so books recommended by them have a great reference value. I can never learn enough about building or finishing; both have their intricacies. I am really only comfortable with poly or Danish oil finishes so any help would be greatly appreciated. With money really tight these days, "free" is an attention grabber!