I agree. We are so fortunate to now have woodworking hand tool makers with great knowledge, skills, and passion. I like to support them.

Rob

Today, we see Stanley reintroducing quality planes and a multitude of smaller makers not just making high quality tools, but in many cases, completely rethinking them and making them better than what our ancestors used. I think its exciting!

Happy New Year…2010

I find the handle to be an excellent combination of functionality and aesthetics. For my medium-sized hands, the palm wraps comfortably around the convex contours of the upper part of the handle which looks somewhat like two balls separted by a ring. This naturally imparts a good grip.

The concave contours of the lower part of the handle are just right to accept the distal parts of the fingers. So when you grip, the fingers naturally pull the upper handle into the palm. At the same time the fingers feel a nice sense of control. The two prominences at each and of the larger concave section in the lower handle do not at all feel harsh as one might guess just by looking at them. On the contrary, they seem to act as pleasant landmarks for the fingers.

Well, this is a lot of words, but I think once you pick it up AND use it, your hand will tell you what mine told me: yes!

I sampled several of Bob’s marking knives and found that their beautiful handles also felt good in my hands.

Good stuff, for sure.

Rob

What are your thoughts on the handle details? As a writer and a woodworker, I’m always drawn to turned pens when I go to art shows. And I’m always amazed by the beading and grooving people carve into the first inch of wood by the head of the pen - the part where everyone holds it when they write. I’ve tried using a pen with tool work in that area and it is uncomfortable after a minute of writing and unusable after two.

It might look pretty, but it destroys the function of the product.

I noticed the Czech Edge tool marking knife and awl handles seem to have this sort of decorative touch added to them and that has caused my hesitation in buying them (well, the awl - I already have several really good Blue Spruce marking knives and feel absolutely no urge to try or buy anything else).

Figured I’d ask someone who has used it to see what they thought…

It is remarkable how the simplest tools can have subtleties of design and use that elevate their functionality in the shop. Card scrapers are another example of this.

Rob