Australian Wood Review June 2021

Wood and art Two of the makers featured this issue have an unusually strong connection to the arts. It’s a connection that translates through to the way they work. Over the years I’ve met and learned of so many woodworkers who are truly multi-talented with not only other skills, but who have significant expertise in other professions. Malcolm Gladwell’s oft-quoted measure of mastery is 10,000 hours of practice, but for an Australian Ballet soloist and a conservatorium trained musician 20 years experience as a luthier as well, the hours spent would far exceed that. Not all skills are transferable, and learning new skills can take a person back to absolute beginner status, but having developed the discipline and understanding of how to learn must certainly help. They’re at different stages of their journeys…

Large 350 to 400mm wide planers have been coming out of Taiwan for years now, and in fact many, many thousands would have been made. In my opinion, and I might be wrong, this machine is based around one such machine, given the basic design and positioning of various components. That’s not a bad thing as these are good machines. To my eye however, Laguna have fully modernised the older design and added many refinements. Heavy at 230kg, this is a large and obviously well made machine. The attention to detail is very good. The quality seems as good as any other machine I have reviewed. It is quite large but much of this is due the to fully enclosed cabinet. The top is hinged for opening to access the cutterhead…

First impressions of this jointer are of a strong, well built and nicely detailed machine. It has very long tables, in fact 1850mm overall, giving a good advantage for straightening long pieces of wood. There are two extra support rollers that slide out from both table ends. They extend the working length but I did not think they were necessary for my type of cabinetmaking work. Both tables use a parallelogram system, which means that no matter how you adjust the table up and down, the gap between the end of the table and the cutterhead always remains the same. It’s a little bit safer, and a superior way to adjust the tables. The table rise lever has a smooth action to easily move up and down from around 0–4mm. As this…

Canadian toolmakers Veritas have released their latest in a long line of premium hand planes. The heritage of this tool is abundantly clear, with the Norris-style adjuster, nicely shaped and finished tote and knob, the set screws for fixing lateral settings in place, the brass lever cap knob and the swept back tapered profile of the blade. As the No.1 nomenclature suggests, this is a diminutive tool that will be right at home performing any number of tasks, from smoothing and edge-profiling to flushing down excess material like inlays and solid edging, and trimming the ends of frame and panel assemblies with their combination of end and edge grain. With the sides ground square to the sole, it would also serve as a handy plane for shooting tiny components such as…

This ruler is a new take on the traditional folding wood rule. The folding wood rule was a mainstay in my workshop 35 years ago, everyone from cabinetmakers to carpenters had one. You can get the modern Stanley version of this as a plastic one today and it works pretty well, if not a little plain looking. Like the original, this new rule, designed by builder and maker Regan Low in New Zealand, is really good. Folded it is a compact 150mm long, or fully opened it extends to 600mm. It is very well made from 5mm thick ABS plastic with brass pin and protractor head. It’s available in black or a fluoro green. The bright green is arguably better for site or workshop use as it is harder to lose in…

A drill press needs to drill holes precisely in a variety of materials. That means it requires: an accurately calibrated quill or spindle that can indicate hole depths, a solid moveable table, the ability to change speeds, and next to no run-out. Most drill presses on the market, more or less, have these features. But very few presses actually tick all the boxes. I bought a Parken drill press in 2014, and these are my thoughts on the purchase. Parken Engineering has been open for business since 1945, as a partnership between ‘Pardy’ Haussegger and Ken Pizzey, with the name ‘Parken’ derived from a combination of their names. Michael and Karl Haussegger (brothers) took over the business in 1972 and have been working out of the original factory site in Clayton,…