About a year or two after I started woodworking, I built my first hand plane from a Lee Valley kit. I decided that I needed a fore plane after reading some of Chris Schwarz's writings on coarse, medium, fine tools. I made it out of scraps of laminated oak (body) and pine (handle). It is ugly but beautiful as is light, powerful, and works very well. I named it Mongo (based on a character from Blazing Saddles movie) as it seemed to fit the brute strength and simplicity of the tool. Despite a huge wide open mouth, I get very little tear out if I use it for finer work. The 8"ish radius camber on the blade works exceptionally well at hogging off material and thinning boards.
Recently, I had a 1/2" thick piece of maple I wanted to use in a frame and panel construction. I wanted the panel to be 1/4" thick. I could have done a lot of other things to use the 1/2" thick stock. But, I wanted what I wanted. I've often found what matters most to me isn't what I make but rather how I make it. I wanted it to be 1/4" thick because that is what I wanted. It took a fair bit of muscle to get it there but I felt great satisfaction. There was a slight increase in complexity because to get the best grain flow, the two laminated pieces had the grain raising in opposite directions and it required a bit more attention to avoid tear out.
Every time I look at the frame panel, I will smile because I will know what I did. I even left some of the scallops on the inside non show face face so I could feel it as well. This seemingly insignificant decisions will bring me joy for the remainder of my life because like Frank said, "I did it my way."
