Good News/Bad News

First, the good news: orders for my planes have taken a massive jump of late, due mostly to kind words from Shannon Rogers and Mark Harrel. I’m incredibly honored that more and more people are finding my planes worthy of their hard earned dollars. It’s definitely encouraging when something you work so hard on starts to get recognition! I am striving to make the best wood planes possible, both in function and also aesthetics. My hope is that every one of my customers receives a tool that becomes an integral part of crafting their greatest work. I honestly can’t think of anything more rewarding than that. It keeps me striving to be better and better at what I do.

Now the bad news: this tremendous and exciting increase in plane orders means that lead times are getting longer. Right now, to stay on the side of the sane (and also, more importantly, to continue to strive to be a good husband and father), my back log is running at 6-8 weeks from the time of the order being placed. I am absolutely thrilled to have so many planes to build, but obviously this kind of stinks if you are the customer waiting for a tool you just dropped a decent amount of your money on.

So what to do about this? Well, I’ve decided to change my order structure a little. From now on, when you place an order, the only payment required upfront is a $100 deposit. This deposit will reserve your spot on my build queue and is non-refundable. Once I have your plane ready to ship, I will send you an invoice through Paypal for the balance and shipping. As soon as the invoice is paid, your plane (or mallet) will be sent on its way to a life of beautiful shavings with you!

I’m hoping that you see this as more “Great News/Necessary News” as opposed to “Good/Bad”. It allows me to continue to craft the sweetest working wood bodied planes I can. Of course, your spouse, kid’s tuition savings, or retirement fund might not see it as “Good news” that I can continue creating tools that you will want to buy. I guess you just can’t win them all.

Check out the Available Tools page to see the changes and to submit your order before the waiting times have to grow yet again! Also be sure to view the new Testimonials page to see what others are saying about my planes.