http://www.hntgordon.com.au

During our big Christmas road trip we made it to Alstonville on the North Coast of New South Wales - The home of HNT Gordon planes. Despite Australia being a small producer of tools, we are fortunate to have some of the best.

Fortunately for us, Terry Gordon, the plane maker himself, was in the shop when we dropped in. Which was a good thing, as I've always used iron bed planes, the wooden ones took a little getting used to. After a 30min demo, we got the tour of the shop. From wood storage, preparation, shaping, and final finishing. Top bloke that was more than happy to show us around.

Built from tough Australian woods for tough Australian woods.

Today's the day...

Today's the big day. Delivery of the table.

Once I screw down the top its complete.

Only challenge now is to fit it all in the back of the car... All those years of tetris will finally pay off.

Here's some pics.

When I've got more time I'll do a write up and talk about what I would have improved.

Feel free to post comments or email me any suggestions or comments.

Rounding Off

While in Sydney, I made it to Carbatec to purchase a lovely 1/8" CMT round over.

Makes the project gentler and a lot nicer to the eye and hand.

Glue up in the kitchen. (Flatter than the shed.)

Blogging delay... nothing to do with wood.

It's been an interesting week.

We travelled down to Sydney for my graduation. It was also my wife's birthday which was a good opportunity to go to the "theatre" and saw "My Fair Lady."  Which was lovely. Then spent the rest of the week seeing family and friends.

So far so good...but on the way home a new problem developed.

My faithful transportation system... my 2000 model falcon wagon... also known as "hungry hippo"... had a slight problem. And now... It's not feeling too well right now. (No one was injured other than some whiplash that's settled down.)

 

 

That was our second Falcon. Below was our first one was a 1992 model.

It also died. Also related to the weather. This one died in hail.

 

And if all goes well... the replacement. Strangely not a ford.