Damien Williams, Snail plane (Art & Accessories)

This is a little snail plane smoother that I dovetailed together from a $5 piece of mild steel. It’s filled with a gorgeous piece of ringed gidgee from central Queensland and measures 37mm by 150mm. The lever cap is damascus steel and the blade is made from O1 tool steel. I started plane making after reading Ian Wilkie’s excellent article in AWR 99. Ian warned me then that it was a highly infectious pursuit, and he has since been proven well and truly correct. The design is inspired by planemakers such as Konrad Sauer, Terry Gordon, Brian Shugarue and Bill Carter. I’d encourage any woodworker to give toolmaking a go. It’s slow going at first, but highly rewarding.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.