Record "Testa Rossa"

When I decided to turn this Record 4 1/2 into a 'super' plane, I immediately associated it with a racing car—specifically a Ferrari—so choosing red was a natural consequence.

It's equipped with an old wooden plane blade, which is significantly thicker (about 4 mm) than the original. It has a 10° back bevel, resulting in a 55° cutting angle*, excellent for working with difficult grain.
This modification significantly improves performance and fully justifies the time invested.

*While using the plane, I found it very hard to push, so I decided to reduce the back bevel to 10° instead of 15°. The latter works better for a narrower plane like a #4.

Lesson in carving

 

We met Salvatore Mastrangelo at one of the many pleasant gatherings we organize in our friend Daniele’s shop (he’s on the left in the first photo). Salvatore is a truly delightful and unique person, full of life experiences. A true professional, driven by an uncontrollable passion for everything related to woodworking. 

He expresses his outstanding artistic vein most skillfully through the art of carving. 

This time, we convinced him to teach us some good techniques to develop better skills in this craft. Under his guidance, we tried a few exercises. The quality of the carving tools—and their sharpness—are fundamental prerequisites for achieving the best results.

In this regard, it's very useful to keep a sharpening stone on the bench to frequently hone the cutting edges of the most commonly used tools. In the photo, you can see a concave-shaped oil stone, which fits the profile of certain edges particularly well. Unfortunately, the time available is never enough, but we managed to remember some valuable advice on work strategies, the importance of a solid initial design, and respecting the layout of the various elements to achieve a good sense of perspective.

Finally, we’ve added a couple of pictures that showcase Salvatore's work. I think they speak for themselves.