2006 Living Treasure

alanplanesaw | Posted in General Discussion on November 21, 2006 04:05am

To Larry Williams, and all Knots readers:

Congratulations to Larry Williams of Clark & Williams, maker of fantastic wooden planes, on being selected as the 2006 Arkansas Living Treasure.

For those of you who don’t know of Larry and his work, he is to wooden planes, particularly molding planes, what Lie-Nielsen is to metal planes, IMHO.

It is truly great to see a woodworker being chosen and honored as a “living treasure.”

Congrats, Larry.

Alan – planesaw

PS — there is a long article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, beginning on page E1, dated September 21, 2006 that I couldn’t get to.

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=a7da887e-bca1-4688-9546-de4e7016e06f

http://www.arkansasarts.com/news/news.asp?ID=78

www.planemaker.com

Edited 11/20/2006 8:23 pm ET by Planesaw

Replies

MikeHennessy | Nov 21, 2006 03:18pm | #1
Too cool!

Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
LeeGrindinger | Nov 21, 2006 05:53pm | #2
So, where is that boy?

Larry, step forward and take a bow!

Congratulations, Larry, it's well deserved.

Lee
pzgren | Nov 21, 2006 07:01pm | #3
Alan,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

_____

Larry,

Congratualtions. It is well-deserved!!

Tschüß!

Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen aus dem Land der Rio Grande!!

James
chuckh | Nov 21, 2006 07:29pm | #4
Alan,

Thanks for the post, the articles were great.

Larry,

Congratulations! This a true validation of your work. Not that you needed any validation here.
lwilliams | Nov 22, 2006 04:58am | #5
Thanks Alan, Lee and everyone. I completely missed this seeing thread earlier but things are pretty busy here. We were snowed under before I decided to go to Lie-Nielsen's event near Boston.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/boston.html

I'll enjoy being around a few people I really admire and some I've wanted to meet. As many of us involved in plane making get grayer some might wonder about the future of small plane making businesses. I'm especially looking forward to spending a little more time around Konrad Sauer, one of the coming generation of plane makers. I like the direction Konrad is going with an emphasis on solid planes built for function. The future of contemporary plane making looks pretty bright if Konrad is any indication.

alanplanesaw | Nov 22, 2006 05:23am | #6
Larry,

In addition to simply admiring you for your entrepreneurship in wooden planemaking and woodworking in general, I am glad to know that you are also paying attention, at least somewhat, to succession planning.    I grew up in my dad's hardware store with lots of power tools. I didn't learn the value and benefit for hand tools until years later. Your legacy with handplanes needs to live beyond you.

People like you and Thomas Lie-Nielsen (and maybe others I am not aware of) have had a lot to do with getting high quality hand tools in the reach of most woodworkers.  I have been in the home/shop of a couple of highly skilled planemakers who make planes that are fantastic, but their price tag has one too many zeroes on them. I admire their work -- and it is great stuff for the very few who will be able to buy them for their collection.

My hope is that your legacy of a company that makes fine wooden planes will be able to be continued beyond your time. Same hope with Lie-Nielsen. You are not only a living treasure for Arkansas, but for woodworkers everywhere.

Glad you stopped by.   Hope you get some enjoyable time for Thanksgiving.

Alan - planesaw

Edited 11/21/2006 9:26 pm ET by Planesaw