Pink Ivory - The Journey Begins

A full set - One of a kind!

Back in early June 2023, Terry reached out to our trusted partners, Pillippe and Etienne from ProSono Hardwoods International.  Terry was progressing his plan for the creation of a set of HNT Gordon hand planes made entirely from Pink Ivory and brass with O1 and M2 blades.  Every piece will be numbered with the specially reserved number "1" and this set will be kept together!  

The order consisted of approximately 30kg of specifically sized blanks, carefully cut, waxed and fumigated in order to make the journey to Australia.  In the interest of controlling costs for our customers, the order was surface freighted to us and we settled in for the estimated three month wait. 

Lost at Sea

By mid September we were making our first tracking enquiries. In October we reached out to Australia Customs and asked Phillippe to submit a tracking request with South Africa Post.  Half way through November, we placed a replacement order and agreed to UPS the box to us whilst simultaneously commencing the groundwork for an insurance claim for the loss.  

Christmas Three Days Late

On the 28th of December a UPS deliveryman struggled up to the doors of the workshop with a small but very heavy parcel.  Air freight had beaten sea freight by a matter of hours.  We found the missing two boxes at the post office on the same day!

The Journey Begins

Parts of this project commenced a long time ago but this delivery means we are a giant step closer to fulfilling this dream set.  From these boxes, the blanks will need to be cut to final specific plane blank sizes.  These will go into the kiln, specially calibrated for the world's densest timbers. This stage will take six to eight months after which the blanks are stabilized in a humidity controlled drying room for a further eight to ten months.  

Watch this space. . . more updates to come!