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“The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things-ancient history, nineteenth century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, hog futures. Because he never knows
when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later,
or six months, or six years. But he has faith that it will happen.” — Carl Ally
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Last night, in the middle of a nightmare (I was being chased around my house in my underwear by a naked ventriloquist’s dummy wearing a bandolier), I thought, what the hell does this dream mean?
Can only mean one thing: Time To Feed This Blog… Don’t you find it comforting that in my subconscious, the DSN is represented by a naked ventriloquist’s dummy wearing a bandolier?
Last week Michael and I hopped over to Idaho to supervise the assembly of the CT-17. Here is a short pictorial of our experience;
This giant multi-axis lathe is making the lead screw. This part is one of three that we made over because, well…let’s just say your tool potentate overlooked a dimension that should never have been overlooked…
For those of you familiar with machining, the CT-17 depth adjustor is off the charts difficult. Stainless steel, 72 threads per inch, and a hollow, five finger integral knob. From start to finish, this part takes about an hour to make and finish. (FYI: the going rate for CNC lathe work is anywhere from $50-$70 per hour.)
The lathe collet leaves a slight mar, so this must be removed with Scotch-Brite wheels.
After the depth adjustor is cleaned, the end is dipped in grease, and the pin nut is sandwiched between two brass thrust bearings and retained with the smallest snap ring I have ever seen. Actually, I can’t see it, but thankfully others can…
Down the line the linkages are assembled…
The body of the CT-17 is milled from solid 303 stainless steel billet. This job was under the spindle for over four months.
This image is of the area where the assembly steps were documented. It takes about half an hour to assemble, adjust and wipe off the orange Cheeto fingerprints left by Michael.
Here the assembled planes are being packed to be sent off to a facility in Washington to have the soles lapped.
We were only in Idaho for a couple of days, but the last processes are now documented and later this week the first batch of planes get their soles lapped, back to Idaho for cleaning, boxing and then shipped to our warehouse–so we are getting closer.
Since this job is so late, maybe my dream means I am the real dummy…
–John
It’s cracking me up that you go from that awesome CNC machine to the cheapie grinder on a ho-made wheel hub stand!
And, don’t forget, that ho-made wheel hub stand was made right here in the U.S.A!
Actually, that stand (as I understand it, not our shop) sits by a 3 unit CNC cell and is used primarily for deburring parts.
-John
Tough choices: being you, in your underwear, or being a naked ventriloquist dummy with a bandolier. Hmmmm.
I’m going with ventriloquist dummy. I’ve heard they have more fun.
Thanks SO much for posting the pictures of the CT-17 in progress. What with the cost of the steel, the cost of CNC time, and the cost of assembly, you must be making approximately nothing on these.
I was looking at the picture of the adjuster knob being polished, and was picturing said knob flying through the air, followed by a “DAMN!”
Do the planes cost extra if they have bits of flesh or blood on them?
I am so excited to receive mine. What an iconic piece of woodworking machinery!
– Peter
P.S. Nice shot of the penny in the sole!
Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for sharing, John. And I can relate 100% to that opening quote.
Speaking of connections, suddenly the cap looks like the head of H.R. Giger’s alien…
Peter;
I didn’t even notice the shot with the penny or the partial details of the ho-made deburring wheel….you folks have eagle eyes.
I should have posted this, but the original depth adjustor used opposing threads and the combination created the ability to adjust the iron depth by .001″ per rev. We got the prototypes in and I am here to tell you, this is the biggest annoyance of anything I have ever designed. Taking the blade out, sharpening it, and putting it back may mean getting carpal tunnel syndrome from all the knob twisting. I literally hated it. I suspect users would too. It also created an additional source of backlash.
So, I went to a 72 pitch thread which is seated in a split brass pivot nut. It is field adjustable to remove all thread back lash-works great.
For inquiring minds, one full revolution of the adjustor advances the blade by 0.0138″. However, the blade is pitched at 12 degrees, so depth of cut change per rev is .003″ (0.0029 to be exact). The “knob” is really a base 10 visual reference, so by adjusting one “finger” to the adjacent negative space, depth of cut is increased/decreased by 0.0003″.
FYI
–John
To overcome the tedium of turning the adjuster knob about a million times to remove the blade, you could have supplied a bit to go in a power drill that would mate with the end of the adjuster knob. Just chuck it in, push the two together, and crank!
– Peter
P.S. I’m just kidding…
John,
It would have been neat to see the beginning piece of metal and a couple of steps along the way. How did they buff out all of the mill marks in the inside of the sole? Seems hard to do…
Just saw two of your CT-7 planes sell tonight on E-bay for $720 (ebony) and $700 (rosewood) respectively. Boy – these tools just don’t hold their value well do they…..
I think you are in the 99th percentile of quality – proof is in the pudding!
DJ
DJ
John,
Thank you for sharing a little insight into the development and production of the CT-17. It certainly helps the rest of us understand some of the process and cost of producing such an item. Please continue to show us more “behind the scene” tool events.
Cheers,
Allan
Really nice to see this in progress. Would love to see more pictures of these beauties being made.
Any chance of more pictures of the sole flattening and polishing phase? Even if you don’t fly back for the polishing, have the guys there take a couple iPhone shots 😉
I think you need to hit the ice for some pick-up. You’ll sleep better; no more dummies following you.
I noticed a few of the bodies with Sharpie marks on the toe or the side. Are these areas that need extra buffing or something?
– Peter
Peter: typically these type of marks indicate a cosmetic issue that requires rework. And to answer a previous post, all of the interior mill marks were removed through bead blasting.
-John
John,
I have to agree with Peter, though it pains me to do so, I do not see how you can possibly make much on these planes. 🙁 I am fully willing to have you raise the price for those other guys and I was wondering if I can get a dime in mine as it is more valuable then those penny planes. 😮
On a more serious basis I loved seeing the end of the process at the manufacturer’s. By the way, what led you to use a tpi of 72? I have used 40 and it felt amazing so this is mind blowing. Did you have less room for movement so by utilizing a thread count that high you could compensate?
I can’t wait to put this plane to wood.
Fred
John,
Is there any chance that your naked ventriloquist dummy with the bandolier was actually your warped mind taking the pictures of Rutager in his space outfit and twisting them to be the dummy? It certainly makes sense to me. 😮 😮
Fred
Fred;
If you think 40 TPI feels good, wait until you adjust this. Basically what happens is the stainless screw “seats” in the two brass half-nuts-we tighten them together until the adjustor feels too tight, and then we work it back and forth for a custom, backlash free fit. 72 TPI because it is a stock tap.
It is a bit disappointing that we lost our shirt on this deal–it doesn’t happen very often or we wouldn’t be here. I made a change, and I made a dimensional mistake…would have been way more FUN if Michael had made the mistake…
–John
Speechless!
Hats of to you! …and pants off to your dummy!
cheers,
Niels
Hey john , have been a huge BCT fan.Why are you not making the ct 17 inhouse?
George;
We have not made anything “in house” since right after 9/11…going on 10 years now. The short story is that after 9/11 our phones quit ringing but the overhead continued–same thing after the first Gulf War. That was enough for me–shuttered our 20K sq. ft. facility, sold the equipment–we have been outsourcing domestically ever since. It is not without its issues, but overall the quality of work is outstanding, and when we go through these economic troughs, for whatever reason, we are insulated from the mfg. overhead. As an example, I am absolutely certain that if we were still running a factory, we would not have survived the last three years.
We do run a small prototype facility in Portland however–and woodworking is still a tough business. We try to make it as fun as we can, but honestly, it is tough, and brutally tough compared to the mid ’80’s–for all that are in this sector I may add.
–John
Fortunately, we have Fred to insulate the poor toolmakers from the vagaries of the economy.
– Peter
Well at least it’s not made in China. On a lighter note , I don`t know what your smoking but you you sure seem to come up some funky stuff. How about a CT-18 pencil sharpener?
I love that idea, George! They could have built one into the Kerfmaker or Tenonmaker. Or at least something that would put a point on mechanical pencil lead.
– Peter
By the way, in that last picture it looks like the CT-17’s are armed with blades and blade guards. What were the final grinds on the blade angles?
– Peter
Plane bed is 12 degrees. Attack angles are 42 degrees and 47 degrees.
AND because you are a professor, you must be admonished for asking a question that is located here.
–Your friendly Tool Potentate
Not at all. Professors are very clever at getting other people to do their work for them. Because they’re lazy.
– Peter
P.S. Thanks!
Hello John,
The naked dummy isn’t insane, that plane is insane, and I’m glad there’s someone to make it. Thanks for the photos of a bit of the process.
Gary
I think we should all stop bothering john so he can finish the plane,ct 18 should be well under way by now,right john.Is it a pencil sharpener?
Is there going to be a contest to guess the CT-18? I loved that last year.
– Peter