The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Six months after her surgery and a grueling therapy schedule, my wife has returned to work at a new job closer to our home.  She is loving the work, but it is a change for both of us.  Yesterday began week three and little by little, we are acclimating ourselves to our new schedule.  Couple that with spring break for the children, (very different form my last spring break: rumor has it that I had a great time) and spring bringing a tremendous laundry list of outdoor chores and repairs after our harsh winter, and we have the makings of a dead period here on my blog.  I have been finding shop time where I can, finishing some small projects that have been languishing on my bench for some time. That said, I have a decent amount of material to share here if I can only find the time to sit down at the computer and write.

So today, I would like to post my first completed project, just to prove that I am in fact, still alive and mostly well.

My Grandfather's block plane, finally reassembled and ready for work.

I began work on this plane hoping to do a very basic job of cleaning it up and returning it to work.  I had inherited the plane at a time when I was either not capable of, or unwilling to use it in my work. Roughly ten years of Rhode Island moisture in my basement had taken its toll.

A picture from an older post showing the before.

Some would say that I have a serious problem with OCD, I just think I get enthusiastic about positive results.  Long story short, the plane ended up completely disassembled, paint and rust stripped, repainted, sharpened, and honed.  As you can see in the first picture, I've got the plane adjusted to take a nice fine shaving out of a nasty piece of scrap pine.

Inspired by my results, I have started down the same path with a vintage Stanley #4 that I ran into at a junk store.  I'm working on it slowly, as I also have a couple of small woodworking and a finishing project that I am alternating on (which is to say that I am creeping along on all of them).

As we continue to get used to the new rhythm of life and spring yard work gives way to summer, I hope to get back to more regular posting here on the blog.  Thank you for for your patience and I hope you will keep reading along.  I have some bigger projects on the horizon.