Fastback Chisel Plane

[onocoffee]

While visiting Lie-Nielsen back in October, I got myself a 6mm chisel and the No. 62 plane. I also wanted a chisel plane but rather than spending the $175, I thought it might make for a fun project to make it myself. I bought the blade instead thinking I would use this block of black walnut I had lying around that would be the right thickness to start with.

As we were talking about it, one of my woodworking friends here joked about using the MagSwitch to hold the blade to the handle. I thought it was a clever idea. My initial thoughts were for something simple and round with the blade laying flat to the worksurface. That's about when Derek started posting his planes and man, are those things sweet looking! I liked the Dusenberg-esque feel of his planes and thought an automotive theme might be worth exploring.

This is the finished plane. The walnut turned out to be not as grained as I would have liked and my skills are not quite to Derek's level but it was a fun project that I completed today. A little flavor of American Muscle and the 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I like it! Very nice!

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I liked the Dusenberg-esque feel of his planes and thought an automotive theme might be worth exploring.

That's a fantastic word, for an even more beautiful thing. Doozy's are very rare today, and yes that is the origin of the term.
There were only ever a few hundred, and they're all around 100 years old.

 

[flair woodworks]

I made a flush plane a number of years ago with a skew block plane blade I had on hand, and it has been one of the most useful specialty things in my workshop.

 

[Michael Kellough]

That's a fantastic word, for an even more beautiful thing. Doozy's are very rare today, and yes that is the origin of the term.
There were only ever a few hundred, and they're all around 100 years old.

Thanks for jogging my memory, as a kid I read everything I could find on Eddie Rickenbacker. He worked for Duesenberg and drove their first race car at the Indy 500. Just a tiny fragment of the life of an amazing fellow.

 

[Packard]

Thanks for jogging my memory, as a kid I read everything I could find on Eddie Rickenbacker. He worked for Duesenberg and drove their first race car at the Indy 500. Just a tiny fragment of the life of an amazing fellow.

It always struck me that we don’t have the kind of luxury car that the Duesenberg represented back then.

Back then, a Ford Model T cost $400.00. The Duesenberg cost $20,000.00, or about 50 times more expensive than the most popular car of the era.

It would not be fair to compare the Model T to the Ford F-150 pickup truck (the most popular vehicle in the USA), but more correctly compare it with the Toyota Camry (the most popular sedan in the USA).

The average price of a Camry is $30,000.00. So the match the Duesenberg, a true luxury sedan would have to cost about $1,500,000.00.

I would note that the Duesenberg was sold as a “rolling chassis” and custom bodywork was added. I have read that the average selling price was about $20,000.00, but some cost significantly more and some were somewhat less.

Where have all the luxury cars gone? Long time passing.

(With apologies to Pete Seeger.)

 

[onocoffee]

The average price of a Camry is $30,000.00. So the match the Duesenberg, a true luxury sedan would have to cost about $1,500,000.00.

Gosh, when you put it that way, the Rolls-Royce Phantom seems like a downright steal!