K Body® REVO™ JR

It now looks like we won’t be receiving our clamps for testing until June now.  However, I was in Woodcraft today and what do I see, but the K Body Revo Jr. clamp for sale.

So I did a little mini product test while in the store.  Almost all my clamps are Bessy clamps and one of the things that has given me troubles in the past is holding the jaws apart when the clamp is standing on its head.  Now, I wax my clamps to prevent glue from sticking to them, so that probably doesn’t help.

I took the 24″ Revo Jr., opened the jaw and sure enough it stayed open.  That seems like a really nice feature. 

My friend Vic expressed concern that the wooden handles are smaller and would be harder to use.   The ones in the store sure enough have smaller handles, but they worked well in my hands and I don’t have really small hands.  But .. it might be a problem for folks with larger hands.

What I really like is compared to the larger Bessey clamps is that the Jrs are lighter.  And for me, who continues to tweak her elbow tendons, that’s a really good thing.  Same power, less weight seems like it might be really good.

However, I probably need to use the clamps before I can say anything definitive.  And that will have to wait till June.

A Quick Peek at the Clamps I’ll be testing
Yeah!  I get to be a guinea pig!

Wooden Plane Progress

This morning I traveled up to Snohomish to take a wood working class – Build a Krenov Style Wooden Hand Plane.  This class uses the kit and a Hock blade.  We had a great deal of fun and we’ll make it look fancy when I go back for the final part of the class.  

Here’s what it looks like so far.  The wood is Jarrah.  The plane kit can be found here.

My new fun read!

Titled “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” this short book was written by an anonymous tradesman and tells the fictional tale of Thomas, a lad of 13 or 14 who is apprenticed to a rural shop that builds everything from built-ins to more elaborate veneered casework. The book was written to guide young people who might be considering a life in the joinery or cabinetmaking trades, and every page is filled with surprises.