Unfortunately, various events of late have kept me from getting into the shop as much as I would like. From end of summer and back to school, to giving my dad some extra help as my mother has experienced increasing health issues the last few weeks, I haven’t spent too much time in the shop from mid-August onward.

I did however, get a few hours on a Friday a couple of weeks ago to attend the Lie-Nielsen hand tool event in Manchester, CT. I have to say it was nice getting back into a woodworking setting and mindset. This particular event in Manchester, CT was hosted at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. I’ve been to a few other Lie-Nielsen events, but this one by a good margin was the largest. Lie-Nielsen will often have another vendor or two with them, but there were several at this event: Tico Vogt (premium shooting board maker), Fine Woodworking Magazine, Catherine Kennedy (Tool Engraving), and others who I forget their name, but dealt with molding and wooden hand planes. If you have never been to one of these events, you owe it to yourself to try and get to one. You can test drive any tool they have there, and you get a great feel for what a quality, sharp tool should feel like. Ask a question, and you’ll get a detailed answer and/or a great demonstration.

So here are a few pics:

Thanks to Google+ “auto-awesome”, a panoramic of Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Lie-Nielsen area is on the left, and other vendor booths along back wall.

Some furniture on display at Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking.

Deneb Puchalski of Lie-Nielsen answering questions on hand planes.

Mike Pekovich of Fine Woodworking magazine doing a demonstration on card scrapers. It was nice to chat with Mike for a bit after his demonstration.

And of course, I couldn’t NOT post a pic of my new #4 that I ordered at the event and arrived the other day!