Christmas gift finally came in

[Crazyraceguy]

I combined a few gift cards and the cash I got this year and finally did what my mom always says, "Buy something that you want but wouldn't but for yourself."
It took quite a while for it to show up though. Between Bridge City taking there sweet time in getting it out the door, and USPS dragging their feet, it took 15 days! I am well aware that everything is not next-day-Amazon, but that's crazy.
The plane itself is a thing of beauty, like jewelry. It's impressively heavy, the sole is stainless steel, as well as the handle. It's solid and feels great. I was concerned about the hollows in the handle, but they are not a problem.
The tiny HP8 is all aluminum, so very light, that's fine for it. I think the big scraper benefits from the heft.

 

[luvmytoolz]

It's so shiny and beautiful! ;-)

I'm so jealous of you guys with tools like that, we have to pay through the nose for that sort of gear here in OZ, most is almost unobtanium.

 

[rvieceli]

very impressive.

Ron

 

[PaulMarcel]

You'll love that plane especially if you use it haha! Too many BCTW planes get bought and presented, but they are a dream to use. My CT-17 touches EVERYTHING though maybe from an ROI for resale, it shouldn't... It was the first of the slippery slope...

As for the HP-8, there were brass and stainless models offered when the plane first came out. So very nice to use. Maybe a message to Harvey/BCTW for a new run of those would bring them back? Dunno... (also, I may be mis-remembering a stainless HP-8... but I swear it exists... I have some BCTW set aside for a cabinet I'm building and have lost track of what's in there)

Personally, I've been wanting to write them to make a run of rules with the millimeter markings their triangular rules had; they discontinued those because old curmudgeons said "that's not how a rule has been all my life since the paleozoic era... it's not allowed to change!" But those loops every other millimeter? so freaking fast to read... you'd think old blind guys like I'm becoming would appreciate it, but yeah, no, not like it was 2 centuries ago...

 

[4nthony]

But those loops every other millimeter? so freaking fast to read... you'd think old blind guys like I'm becoming would appreciate it

First time seeing the loops. Count me in as a fan!

My eyes struggle with figuring out which tick mark is the measurement. Even when wearing my readers, I find myself using the tip of my pencil to count the marks. Then recounting just to make sure. The loops are a great idea.

 

[guybo]

Too many BCTW planes get bought and presented,

that guy fred west really left an impression [smile]

 

[Ron B]

Personally, I've been wanting to write them to make a run of rules with the millimeter markings their triangular rules had; they discontinued those because old curmudgeons said "that's not how a rule has been all my life since the paleozoic era... it's not allowed to change!" But those loops every other millimeter? so freaking fast to read... you'd think old blind guys like I'm becoming would appreciate it, but yeah, no, not like it was 2 centuries ago...

How long ago were these discontinued?  I see they have a flash sale right now but no loops.  With my old eyes, if I see any used ones for sale with these loops, I would definitely be interested. 

 

[Michael Kellough]

But those loops every other millimeter? so freaking fast to read... you'd think old blind guys like I'm becoming would appreciate it

First time seeing the loops. Count me in as a fan!

My eyes struggle with figuring out which tick mark is the measurement. Even when wearing my readers, I find myself using the tip of my pencil to count the marks. Then recounting just to make sure. The loops are a great idea.

Notice the increments wrap around the round edge of the rule so there will be no parallax error?

 

[Cheese]

Love that stainless plane...it's a thing of beauty.  [big grin]  Stainless is such a pretty metal, it looks great polished or brushed and I also have some affection for just the standard mill finish, it's such an honest finish.

Count me in on the loop rulers, and the markings being continued over the edge. Two great ideas. This wouldn't be hard for Woodpeckers to add on their HexScale Rules as they already provide the continuous over the edge markings.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Oh, it's absolutely going to get used. I have been a huge fan of card scrapers for years. That is my final pass on wood edges on shelves or cabinet sides. My hands aren't digging that as well as they used to though and now that I am getting more into furniture building, it just seemed right.
I'm kind of liking that double bevel plane too.  [blink]

It's so shiny and beautiful! ;-)

I'm so jealous of you guys with tools like that, we have to pay through the nose for that sort of gear here in OZ, most is almost unobtanium.

It's not like they are cheap here either, but I get what you are saying. People in Alaska and Hawaii pay an extra premium too, above what the rest of the US pays, for everything. It's all about shipping, so I would guess that having to travel even farther has its price.

I would assume that Australia is big enough that some products are actually manufactured there?
So that would help some, but I guess you still need to get the raw materials from somewhere?

 

[luvmytoolz]

It's not like they are cheap here either, but I get what you are saying. People in Alaska and Hawaii pay an extra premium too, above what the rest of the US pays, for everything. It's all about shipping, so I would guess that having to travel even farther has its price.

I would assume that Australia is big enough that some products are actually manufactured there?
So that would help some, but I guess you still need to get the raw materials from somewhere?

It's not just the shipping for us, it's everything in general, that screwdriver set on Amazon that was posted the other day for $93 inc shipping, for me is $340.

We have one tool manufacturer "Melbourne Tool Co" that makes some planes and scrapers that probably aren't priced too badly but I don't know if they're as good as the Luban imports, other than that we rely on China for affordable stuff and anywhere else that will actually ship to OZ for most stuff.

Even the Lamello Zeta I bought we have a single OZ distributor, and when I tried to register it for the warranty, the "Global" warranty .com site didn't even have an Australian option, so I ended up having to register it on the UK site, who responded that they couldn't accept my registration!

We pretty much get shafted on range and pricing for most decent stuff.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

[eek] well that's pretty rough.
How much difference is there between $US and Aussie $ ?

 

[luvmytoolz]

[eek] well that's pretty rough.
How much difference is there between $US and Aussie $ ?

Roughly $1USD is around $1.60 AUD, but if it was just that it wouldn't be so bad, but the prices generally hike up as well as the conversion rate, and then of course there's the exorbitant shipping on a lot of stuff.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

It got used today. I did the final clean-up to send the wood part to the finish department this afternoon.
Straight out-of-the-box (after removing and cleaning the blade) it cut beautifully, then...after pushing a burr into it, fantastic. This thing is a pleasure to use. It rolled off some big fluffy curls.