A client gave me a rather large cant of African blackwood some weeks back with instructions to use it in a No. 4.5 infill - and out of a caution spawned by the trouble I recently had making an infill out of snakewood (noted in my last posting), I figured I ought to get in some practice with the African blackwood before I set about trying to satisfy the client.
Here's the result:
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I don't consider this an entirely successful plane; the cyma curve drops down too close to the sides of the plane for comfort, and the iron crowds up against the curve, the result being that tapping the iron with a hammer to adjust it becomes a risky proposition. Still, the plane cuts a mean shaving, and the blackwood - finished simply with hand-rubbed coats of Tried and True Danish oil - is gorgeous.
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I will have this plane with me this weekend at the Lie-Nielsen hand tool event in Mesa, Arizona, following which I will set about making the No. 4.5 for my client.