Brace yourselves, gentle readers. Two blog postings in one month – I know, right?
First things first – For those needing further proof that the map is indeed not the territory, today it was discovered that tearing off the last page of the Mayan calendar didn’t actually cause the cessation of the human species. Good News – unless of course you’re Mayan and have to date a check. But for the rest of us, it’s smiley emoticons all round.
So, being still here, and on solid temporal ‘ground’, I thought I’d celebrate by introducing a pair of new plane models.
A few months back, I put together a blog post dealing with the concept of design. There were a few reasons for this, foremost being that at that point I was knee-deep in trying to design a new thumb plane.
Around that time, I’d worked out a drawing that I liked – shown at right – and had made a first-run prototype. Between the two, I’d come to a design I was quite happy with, and I’d also worked out a somewhat larger version as well.
So here are the fruits of my labor. The Daed Toolworks DT-1 and DT-2 planes, shown – well, throughout this whole damn post. The smaller DT-1 is 5-1/2″ long at the sole and has a 1-1/4″ blade. Its larger brother, the DT-2, is 6-1/2″ long, with a 1-1/2″ blade.
Just a word about nomenclature here. I’m referring to these as block/thumb planes because I frankly don’t really know what else to call them. In use, they’re designed to do the same sort of work that most of us use a block plane for – chamfering, smoothing small areas, tuning joinery, and all manner of odd jobs. In the history of infill planes, however, I think this sort of tool falls loosely under the thumb and chariot plane heading. From a design standpoint, I don’t think they really look much like common models in either camp.
But for the sake of giving some sort of explanation as to their likely use – block/thumb plane it is.
In designing these, the criteria for me was to make a plane that was compact and ergonomically designed for both one- and two-handed use. Along the way I also wanted to see if I could stretch the aesthetics of my current work just a bit more.
I’m including a number of photos of the planes with a few of the more common handholds. I find these extremely comfortable, and to be honest I couldn’t be happier from an ergonomic standpoint. Please resist the urge to sign me up for a manicure.
I’ll be adding some info on these to my website over the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to at least get them posted to the blog before the year slips away. For those interested, the DT-1 is going to be priced at $1850, and the DT-2 at $2050. I also have plans for a DT-0 (1-inch blade) at $1750 and a DT-3(1-3/4″ blade) at $2350.
Here’s wishing everyone the finest of holiday seasons. I’m looking forward to some time with my family, and some time in the shop. I’m taking a two-week hiatus from planemaking to actually do a bit of actual woodworking. Huzzah!