Devon Campbell: Making "tools to inspire"

Devon Campbell, fine tool maker. Photo: Raf Nathan

Words: Linda Nathan

At age 25, US-born Devon Campbell is following his own road as a maker of fine hand tools for woodworking. It hasn’t been a straight path however. While completing a degree in maths he also studied musical composition, guitar and piano. The latter led to an interest in making musical instruments and finding work with Michael Anthony, a notable luthier.

‘Building musical instruments is rewarding’, explains Devon. ‘It involves using specific tools and fixtures, and even modifying tools from the ground up.’ In fact it was instrument making that fuelled Devon’s ‘tool obsession’ and the realisation that he really liked
‘the hand tool way of doing things’. ‘I was aware of the making-your- own-tools side of things, but I also wanted to make tools that will inspire you to do work you’re proud of.’

Aside from guitar building techniques, one of the most valuable things Devon learned from Michael Anthony was how to deal with mistakes. ‘The most important thing he helped me with, was when things aren’t going well – how to recover. If you’ve made a mistake, how you can fix it.’

Handplanes by Ironbark Tools in a range of native Australian species. Photo: Raf Nathan

‘In the other room I’ve got boxes and boxes of handplanes which never got finished’, explained Devon. ‘Each was a few weeks of work, and then something went wrong’, he said. ‘It can be demoralising, but it’s all about working through the developmental process.’

There have already been at least 26 prototypes for the travisher design that Devon is currently developing and it’s taken a year to get to the point where he now has one that is working the way he wants. ‘The tricky part is that it has a flat blade (most travishers have a curved sole) and it also had to be adjustable. I had to figure out how to get these two pins to give lateral and depth adjustment.’

The hub of Devon’s compact workshop is his milling machine, a 1930s Hercus lathe and a ‘mid- century’ MacPherson surface grinder. ‘The milling machine can remove lots of material quickly, and since it’s been converted to CNC, I can do products like the squares reasonably quickly in batches. From there, since everything (with the squares) is Cartesian, I’ll go to the surface grinder which is a higher precision tool, although not necessarily as versatile.’

Above: Close-up view of Ironbark block plane with yarran infill. Photo: Devon Campbell

At time of writing, the Ironbark Tools range includes adjustable squares, infill block planes and soon the aforementioned adjustable angle travisher.

Ironbark squares have Devon’s distinctive aesthetic, brass with an Australian native wood infill in an elongated keyhole shape. The body is C360 brass, while the beam is 304 stainless steel and 3mm thick, a feature which lends substance and stability in use. ‘As well as the thicker beam, brass is slightly denser than steel, so that also gives it a little bit more heft.’

The infill also permits the installation of the adjustment mechanism that Devon has developed. ‘Infill block planes are not the most common to find’, said Devon. ‘Usually block planes are cast, with infill planes commonly seen in larger types such as coffin, jack and jointer planes.’

Using local timbers is a no-brainer for Devon. If you want the tool to live longer than the tree it came from, native species such as gidgee, yarran, beefwood and needlewood are incredibly hard wearing, dense, attractive, and stable when properly dried, he says. ‘They outperform practically everything I could import. They don't involve outrageous fees and paperwork and I know the people who supply them, rather than risking unethical forestry practices – and they are easily some of the most visually striking and beautiful timbers in the world.’

Which species does he like best? ‘Right now my favourite is probably yarran, but I get very excited to try new species all the time. I recently got some purple dead finish that I’m very excited about, and I’m about to start some tools in ivory needlewood, so there’s a chance that my favourite may change soon!’

Made from brass and steel as opposed to cast iron, infill planes are more durable, explains Devon. ‘If you happen to drop and dent them, for example, you can lap that out, whereas with a cast iron plane there’s a good chance it will crack, especially right at the mouth. Infill planes also lend themselves to making a very fine mouth which is great for chip control, and if you have problems with tear- out. And the low angle (Ironbark block planes are bedded at 12°) is good for endgrain.’

Higher angle planes, with say 50–55° bedding angles, will ‘lock the line of scraping rather than cutting, but when you take that to endgrain, can chatter’, says Devon. ‘In a way, the design for these planes is inspired by (centuries-old) mitre planes which were designed for preparing surfaces for marquetry, where highly figured knotty woods and burl endgrain is randomly mixed with face grain, and the low angle helps to give stability and manage the chip better.

Combining an infill with a mouth that manages chip, along with a low angle that manages grain direction is difficult, but once you have made it, it performs really well.’

Devon also makes his planes somewhat smaller than most, because he feels this works better for both one- and two-handed use.

Running any small business, let alone a ‘start-up’ reliant on the long hours spent on design and development,
on top of production, is going to be a tough gig. ‘I started Ironbark Tools because of my passion for hand tool woodworking, but Ironbark’s purpose is quickly changing to serve the appetite of other woodworkers as hand tool woodworking gains popularity. A common complaint from many woodworkers is that most of the better hand tools on the market are prohibitively expensive.

‘I hope that the tools I make end up in the hands of people who use them regularly, so I intend to keep improving their quality and accessibility. Australian toolmakers have an incredible reputation across the world, and I hope to add to that by putting Aussie tools in the hands of woodworkers everywhere.’

Republished from Australian Wood Review issue 120, September 2023

Learn more about Devon Campbell at www.ironbarktools.com.au