Buying paulownia wood is sort of like shopping for depleted uranium.. Its out there, but the guys who have it dont talk, and the guys who talk dont have it. After some more reading, I beleive that clear cedar will work fine for template number 1, and a heck of a lot cheaper to learn on. So thats the new plan.
In the iterim, I cut my teeth on designing and shaping a handplane. Besides, it looks like a blast, and they travel very easy. Learning point #1 is to avoid knots at all cost. Other than that, cedar planes out like butter, is light, should float well, and is ok in the water...
So cool! I want to make an alaia, too, but may wait until Grain has another 2-day workshop on it (since I have zero woodworking knowledge)! Btw, not sure if this is what you are looking for, but you can buy paulownia blanks here: http://www.korduroy.tv/store
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