Writing While I'm Laid Up

I'm wearing a soft cast right now to heal inflamed tendons in my right ankle.  I'm supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible.  That means I'm not getting in much in the way of shop time.  Instead, I'm using the time for my other interests, writing and photography.

I'm finishing up my latest book, Choosing and Using Handplanes, a guide intended for the newer user of handplanes.  It will be published by Amazon as a paperback and also in a Kindle edition.  I've described some of the process I've been going through on my writing blog. 

And, I'm working my way through literally thousands of photographs in my files.  Some of these I'm selling as art prints.  Others I'm posing on my photography blog and on Facebook.

So I'm occupied doing things I love to do.  But when the cast comes off my foot, look out--it'll be back to the woodshop to finish up some projects that are waiting to be completed and start some new ones.

Norm

My Book on Handplanes

For the last several months, I've been writing and photographing a book on using handplanes in woodworking.  Titled Choosing and Using Handplanes, it describes the various types of handplanes, how to set them up and sharpen them, ways to hold work for planing and planing technique itself.  It also addresses caring for handplanes, buying and restoring old handplanes and how to diagnose and fix various problems encountered in planing.  The book should be completed in November in a paperback edition that will be sold on Amazon.com as well as on my web site and in a Kindle edition to follow soon after that.

A photo of the book's cover is shown here.  If you are new to handplaning, I think you will find this book a helpful resource for getting started.