___________________________________________________________________________________________________
“For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” –Steve Jobs
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prior to leaving for Milan, I leaked some early images of the CT-18 Dual/Low Angle Smoother and asked the Drivel Starved Nation to save the questions until my return. Looks like I am back!
Here are some basics, the full details can be found here.
- Overall weight with the depth skids attached: 6.7 lbs.
- Overall length is 12″ (304.8 mm)
- Body is investment cast 304 stainless
- Rear tote is investment cast 304 stainless–inside surfaces painted black
- Two irons included, A2 tool steel, Rc 60-62, Cryo treated, optical lap; rms <1
- Bed is 12 degrees
- Attack angles of 42, 47 and 60 degrees. One serrated scrub grind. All feature micro bevels of 5 degrees
- 3 Aluminum blade guards included-attach via rare earth magnets
- Irons are 2″ wide x .22″ thick
- Maximum depth skid setting = 1.77″
- Front “mushroom” tote is black chromed steel as is the contoured washer.
- Adjustable mouth
- Backlash free stainless steel iron depth adjuster; 72 TPI, .003″ of iron depth per rev
- Integral blade retention “over the top” mechanism
- Lateral blade cant achievable by adjuster but fingers through the side work better.
- Good luck penny nested in plane bed
- Tension arm, blade cap, link and spacers are anodized aluminum
- Mechanism clamp arm is investment cast 304 stainless steel.
- Sole and sides surface ground square to each other.
- Skids can be set at different heights for making tapered louvers
- Walnut display box is not included but available
That should cover the basics. Behind the scenes there are 3 investment cast molds that will be built to make this plane, and we will employ 12 different American contractors for the components. Fit and finish will be done in our Portland R&D shop. $1796. sans Walnut Case–a phenomenal price for all that stainless steel.
Yesterday I received my HP-8 and I am so happy–I have been waiting for this tool longer than you! I have some really interesting uses for this plane–more later. All orders will be filled this week.
Last week we received a large box addressed to the “Bribe Dept. of Bridge City Tool Works.” Inside the box were several bottles of fine California Chardonnay and a cryptic note stating that if we accepted the bribe (we are not stupid, of course we accepted) the sender would be guaranteed to receive his CT-18 before Fred West. This was our first bribe and was so much fun I am thinking of running for office. Now I am wondering out loud what Fred West will send us to learn the identity of this nefarious soul… this could get quite lucrative me thinks.
Thanks to all that dropped me a line regarding my new son-in-law. You will be pleased to know that I was approached by at least a half-dozen folks who first commented on the beauty of my daughter, and then suggested a paternity test would prove that beauty was not possible from my loins… I have the best friends… yes/no?
Lastly, here is a pic of 6 month old Shelby dog and her strange eating habit… and NO, those are not MY feet.
-John
The price: darnit, that’s a tough nut.
The puppy is awesome.
I really looked closely at the pictures of the CT-18 tonight. Dang that is a work of art. It’s kind of like a new Corvette parked on your driveway. Looks like its fast just sitting there.
Also got my HP-8 the other day. It was worth the wait!!!
This is one mean machine, John. And the plane’s pretty cool, too. You’ll be happy to know that I was pretty close in my guess as to the price (back in April I guessed $1700-$2000 on talkFestool) – but it still seems low to me. I’m guessing that you can save some upfront costs by casting the body, tote and tension arm rather than milling them from SS billet?
Congratulations on the wedding. I hope it was a wonderful day for everyone. Did you have to stand on your tiptoes to be taller than son-in-law?
Nice score on the wine. It’s amazing the lengths people will go to to get something before Fred. And it’s amazing how seldom it works. Fred gets things not just before they’re made, but before they’re thought of.
And yet he still has his Sh!t Bunny entertainment center. I sense many more years of our entertainment coming from that wonderful POS!
Nice to have you back. More pictures of Italy, please!
— Peter
Peter-
You are correct–this plane with a body milled out of a billet would be over $4K. The other two parts are not machinable as designed–they have to be cast. We know the tool is expensive in comparison to what else is out there, but it stands alone functionality wise. Suspect it will become part of our legacy down the road–it will only be made once.
–John
John,
I have on several occasions suggested to the office staff that Fred would most likely bribe them to hold my order so he received his first. Apparently they don’t posses the same business savvy as you.
The specs on the CT-18 are impressive; I’m intrigued by “zero” backlash; older planes and even some modern versions of them have a great deal of backlash. It must be quite a feat to get the fit and finish to that level. Congratulations.
I knew those weren’t your feet, Michael is always bragging about how nice your toe nails look with the red polish!
Best,
Rutager
Rutager-
There are a couple of ways to nuke backlash but the task becomes more difficult if space is confined. A split brass nut is the simplest way, the threads form to the lead screw. There is also a potential for backlash where the pin engages the iron. We make the irons first and size the pins to the holes which vary slightly after heat treat. Lastly, there is also a potential for backlash in the bottom half of the split nut where it engages the plane body. That is removed with a tapered seat.
Backlash is not always undesirable but it is part of the reality of mated threads. Where it becomes annoying is when incremental changes are required.
–John
John,
Can you tell us more about the Irons?
-Masood
PS: Congratulations all around, Wedding, Poppy, great vacations…. It is good to be the king.
Masood;
We like A2 tool steel here. The irons are robust and weigh approx. .36 lbs each. The are hardened to Rc 60-62, cryo treated (simply stated, this changes the grain structure of the steel to a finer grain). Here is a more detailed explanation.
The irons are lapped on a machine designed for silicon wafers which creates an optical surface. The finish is RMS <1.
Does this help?
-John
Thanks John,
It helps a lot, I was trying to learn more about the Optical Lap and serrated scrub grind.
-Masood
Masood;
The scrub iron takes aggressive cuts with gaps. It really speeds up taking down humps and typically you plane in every direction. Once the board is flat, you swap the scrub out for a sharp iron.
Pretty simple–analogous to 40 grit compared to 600 grit sandpaper.
–John
Gentlemen & John, I just want you to know that the bribe that was sent was actually sent by me to help out a friend. 😮 😮 If anyone is buying this please email me as I have some AMAZING deals for you. Regardless, the real question is who got upset and decided to NOT ship both of HP-8’s. :o( They were finally shipped out tonight so theoretically I will have them tomorrow. So, should the trickster have been PM or Masood though my bet is on PM, I am afraid that just means -Game On-:o 😮 😮 Fred
John,
I’m a bit curious about the casting. I have a very basic understanding of metal casting and was wondering about the process and types of molds and how you make the model to use for the molds, or have the methods changed to allow direct from computer casting?
Thanks,
Rutager
Rutager-
Investment casting involves creating split, aluminum dies that are a milled “negative” of the form one desires. Molten wax is poured into the die, and this becomes a “positive” of the form desired–but not exactly because shrinkage occurs, so it is, for the purposes of this discussion, “close”.
Once the wax hardens, it is removed from the mold and assembled into a “tree” which is basically a wax assembly of multiple parts that share a wax umbilical cord and individual wax arteries. This tree is dipped, or sprayed with a ceramic slurry, usually multiple times, that hardens. Once hard, it is placed into a low temp oven and the wax is melted out of all the “branches”. Then it is commonly fired in a kiln so that it can ultimately withstand the temperature of the molten metal poured into to the tree of parts.
That is the simplistic overview. Once the metal has solidified, the tree of ceramic and metal is broken apart. The sprues and flues are sawn away and what remains is a coarse casting for further machining.
The molds for the CT-18 will run about $15,000. But that cost is small in comparison to milling the form from billet material.
We are making multiple parts which require a mold. But if you only have the need for one part, you can design on the computer and have an “investment” positive made from either wax or plastic (it just has to melt) and your part can be poured from the metal of you choosing.
Make sense?
–John
John, thanks for the explanation of investment casting. It seems to be the same as the “lost wax” method. Since you lose the ceramic mold each time, will you be making big molds with many parts in it, or do you do it one piece at a time? Is there a worry about mold-to-mold differences? Seems like there might be a lot of room for problems to creep in.
— Peter
Peter-
Each and every wax mold is identical. That said, it is manufacturing and if things went 100% according to plan it wouldn’t be much fun would it? 🙂
Lost wax is but one of the many forms of investment casting media that is melted or burnt out of the casing.
-John
John,
If Peter wanted to get into this plane at a lower price point, could he just order the wax version? The upside is that it would really slide down his boards easily, or maybe put a wick in it for classy dinner parties?
Thanks for the information, it’s always nice to understand what goes into making top notch goods.
Best,
Rutager
ROFL, Rutager! I LOVE the idea of a CT-18 candle. John could probably make some extra $$ selling just those.
— Peter
John,
What would you say are the important differences from your previous smoother designs? Of course, aside from the depth skids, multiple attack angles and finer adjuster mechanism. As a plane, how is it different from, say, the CT-11 or VP-60?
John
John-
First, I don’t believe we have improved the quality of cut from our previous efforts (or those of other reputable plane makers). So from a pragmatic viewpoint, there is no way to justify this plane on cutting function alone.
Stainless steel is really nice and maintains an “almost new” cosmetic appeal for a really long time.
The totes are metal because they are integral to the design and should last as long as the rest of the components.
The retention mechanism is just awesome. Fast, easy and reassuring. That said, other methods work just as well. The irons are massive.
The blade adjustment mechanism is a big improvement without backlash. And I can say from personal experience, once you laterally adjust the iron through the sides, you will never use the lever again.
The skids are a big plus in my opinion, and I believe without peer at the moment.
From an historical perspective I believe one day this plane will be hard to ignore and likely quite valuable.
So, like most of what we have made over the past 30 years, this tool represents an opportunity to express ourselves–I still like the idea of using tools as a canvas to fill the emotional needs in a visual world. Knowing that most woodworkers appreciation of aesthetics is secondary to processes (unfortunately) we are incredibly grateful to those who share and celebrate our vision.
In a nutshell, the difference is similar to a well made bookcase from nice woods and one made from cinder blocks and 2x 12’s…they both hold books equally well.
Great question, thanks for asking.
–John
Thanks for the in depth answer John. I knew I could count on you.
I’m not sure I’m reading your bookcase analogy correctly. Surely you’re not comparing the CT-11 and VP-60 to cinder blocks??? 🙂
All of your tools are incredibly seductive, but as I have the CT-11 and VP-60, I’m trying real hard to resist the CT-18 and save the expense for other temptations a bit more orthogonal to my present collected tool resources.
John
Well, started with the the HP6v2, then the HP8, at that point I felt compelled to get the CT-17 w/walnut case. I don’t see how one can own the CT-17 and not buy the CT-18 so I now have placed an order (of course w/walnut case).
John, Have mercy! Where will the free fall end???
With that I refuse to become a “collector” — these planes work too well to leave on the shelf.