Of all the tasks I had to do for this bench, I think this was the most frustrating. The folks at Benchcrafted created a wonderful product. The issue was the tight tolerances that had to be adhered to when the vise is installed.

I just did not have the right skill with a chisel when I tried to waste the rail locations. I really did not want to use a router to do this, because I wanted to use only hand tools.

It took me a great deal of time to fit the rails and ensure that everything was perfect (or at least as close as I could get it). But there was a great deal of rejoicing when I finally managed to get it working.

Infill planes seem to be the stuff of legend among both the users and collectors of this distinctly British form of tool.

If you are afflicted with "infill disease," it seems that if you take a piece of exotic wood and secure it inside a metal shell that you can create an object that can 1) cut any piece of wood without tear-out, and 2) command an impressive price at any auction or swap meet.

I have wanted a good bench for several years now, and I was going to wait until I had a permanent place to live before building it. When I bought my house, I thought I would be there forever, but alas, my job decided to move a year after I bought the house.

I have two basic choices, move with the job, or find another job in the area, and fix it up. I am using the WWTM (Wife –Wants- To- Move) decision matrix. That being said, with the housing market the way it is, I may be here awhile anyway. Therefore, I am going to make my bench. I will make it portable though, so I can take it when I leave.

Along the President Dutra highway in Rio de Janeiro state, near Itatiaia, one finds Penedo. It’s a tourist area exhibiting Finnish culture, located in one of the most luxuriant nature reserves of Brazil’s Atlantic forest zone.

The town began in 1929 as a small immigrant colony in this region, conceived and established by Toivo Uuskallio, the Finnish son of a craftsman. His father made furniture, weapons, and the “Kantele,” a typical Finnish stringed instrument. Toivo wanted to find a place in the tropics where the climate that would permit a more nature-oriented lifestyle—part of his project was a vegetarian diet and abstention from alcohol.