A Steady Incline is All in a Day's Work

Launching any plane means setting its trajectory and providing enough propulsion power to drive it forward at speeds that will lift it from all opposition until its skyward lift enables it to carry its own weight for great distances to a destination of choice. The destination of my choice? Your garage workshops, your sheds, your basements, carports, patios, spare rooms and dedicated workshops too. The propulsion power? Our joint enthusiasm. Can you imagine that in just one week we have reached over 90,000 hand tool woodworking enthusiasts? Together we did it!

There is more good news today. Though episode two went out last week on our woodworkingmasterclasses channel, episode two is out today on YouTube and that concludes our pioneering into uncharted climes internationally. From hereon, no individual needs to ever buy an all-metal router plane version again! Not unless they just want to own one, that is. This router plane means everyone anywhere can own their own handmade version for just a fraction of the money they might have had to pay one week ago, and without seeing the message saying, 'Back-ordered - four-week delivery'. And they can do this now without compromising the standards of workmanship we demand from quality router planes too. What I truly love is that we did it together. I am so proud of our team and the teamwork here at woodworkingmasterclasses as everyone plugged in to make it happen. Did you see the stunning videography from Natalie and Will? They didn't miss a lick in videoing AND editing; those close-ups slicing through the wood fibres and lifting out the waste in slow-mo, the cut lines aligned perfectly with the camera eye to show the exactness beyond the lens. I liken this to the sweet-spot of a direct strike where the COP (centre of percussion) is so smack-on, the ball goes way beyond the confines of all limits. And then too, what about the drawings we did? I thought that these were pretty stunning and we, Joseph, Mark, myself, worked rapidly to pull these together as a joint effort so that everyone could download a very decent PDF to work from.

Yes, I guess that this has become a bit of a boast by me on our small (very small) team of creatives that reach out to woodworkers on every continent with solutions to their problems in woodworking. I hope you don't mind but they do deserve much of the credit. I have gone from training my children to training and mentoring apprentices to developing woodworking schools with hands-on classes to now teach in an international way that I never thought possible. I have been an absolute maker throughout and never became an academic nor a YouTuber to just make an income. For me, maker first has always been key to my teaching. How many have 57 years in the saddle of making together with 32 years of teaching and training running side by side? Yes, it took many 80-100 hour weeks to make life happen this way, but today I see the impact of all that we have done. And Joseph has been with me every step of the way too. It could never have happened without his support and input.

I remember that we still ran classes during the months up to and during the time we pulled the ``two White House credenzas together for the Cabinet Room. Some nights, the sleep for me was just one hour, and then back to it. I recall students asking who the cabinets were for and me not telling. Towards the end of a week-long class, shortly before delivery in January 2009, one of the students came over to my bench the day after Joseph and I had just inlaid the two Bald Eagles in two of the doors and whispered, "These are for the White House, aren't they? I nodded.

Currently, my workshop is cluttered with piles of cherry shavings and I need to sweep. My tools clutter the workbench from making four small occasional tables ready for our next Sellers' home project which as a batch production series are almost done. These are those gap fillers for plants, cups, and books under current reading. I am pulling together a thought I have had for some time. My mind races with the thought of a new book or two. I want to produce two books with one for children and one for art. Remember the days past when books had titles like 'The Boys Book of Woodworking', such like that? I have such a one on my desk. Well, I want to replace this concept of old with something that will stimulate youngsters as they did in their day. What's the difference. I want to use my own woodcuts for the illustrations. Yup!