DAED Toolworks

[Andrew Yang]

Had the chance to test out some of the infill planes made by DAED Toolworks. It's my first exposure to these, and I'm awfully impressed. Beautiful finish, and great details throughout the plane bodies. For reference, the only handplanes I've worked with so far are either from Veritas or Lie-Nielsen. That and the latest addition being a vintage Stanley plow.

[Jim Neeley]

Sure looks purdy!!

[Frank Drew]

I've never heard of them before but here's a link (more pretty pictures):

http://www.daedtoolworks.com/blog/

[Trevor Walsh]

I want, saving saving saving.

[george wilson]

Raney,I really LIKE the smoothing planes you are making. The sculpture of the wood is excellent. You have made the wood fully round,not just square with the corners rounded off. That is good sculpture. also like the way you have beveled the iron in one of the smoothers,making it look like it has a cap iron. That is cool. The cap screws are also nice. I use the Acme type threads myself,as they were on the originals.

One thing I particularly like is that on some of the planes in your site,you are not totally slavishly copying each detail of old planes. You have made innovations that look very nice on some of the cross bars. Your finishes are very perfectly done,without rounding off corners or edges. Very crisp work. The finish on the wooden parts is beautiful,too.

I must run,but very nice work indeed. I suggest you try to find a die filing machine. They are not real expensive,and hold files vertically like a jigsaw. Just the thing for filing up accurate dovetails more easily. I have 3 of them,and wish I'd had them years ago. A die filer would make your work much easier physically. Most of the time,I use a 6" half round bastard file in mine,with the tang cut off since it sticks upwards. Die files are fairly expensive,but regular files will work just fine if you chuck them so you are using a parallel part of the file.

[Andrew Yang]

I wish I would've captured more of the detailing on the planes. The use of T&G and dovetail joints in the planes, which apparently is true to the original construction. The ridiculously narrow mouth is also something to see. The use of sapwood highlights on non-structural portions of the tote and knobs was also an interesting design aspect that I hadn't seen before. The fact that only a pair of screws are not made in his shop is also impressive, especially when you consider how much is done by hand.

[Raney Nelson]

Hi everyone, thanks for the compliments! I had a blast in Cincinnati last week, and a great time talking with Andrew (who walked in on the middle of a very excited discussion about the possibilities of hand-scraping plane soles).

George,
knowing your work and also that you're not prone to idle flattery, I take that as high praise -- thank you very much. It means a lot, especially from someone who's done as much of this sort of work as you have. Thanks also for the die filer recommendation; I've been eying the castings you can get for them from that fellow out in PA whose name escapes me at the moment. His website is under 'Metal Lathe Accessories', though, and I think he's got a pretty good reputation. The hesitation for me has been that I've never really known anyone who'd actually used one much, so your comments are really helpful. I'm moving my shop (and my house) sometime later this year, and the filer will be on my list of equipment to add.

Not long ago I stumbled onto a fantastic thread on 'the machinist forum' where you and Rivett were discussing making rope knurls from 4-flute taps. The technique is remarkable for its simplicity and creativity -- I would never have thought of it in a million years. I'm going to give it a shot when I get some play time in the shop. I did have a question, though; I use a scissor knurling tool (pretty much required for my 10" Logan) and my inclination would be to use an uncut knurl blank on the lower arm and the rope on the upper. Does that seem like the right approach ?

Thanks again to everyone for the kind comments, and especially thanks to Andrew, who made a serious trek down to the show.

[george wilson]

Raney,I did an illustrated "tutorial" on how to make these knurls in that forum. Search "making knurls".I know your Logan can handle the stresses,as they aren't that great compared to the usual diamond knurling. Try looking it up. You have the equipment to make rope knurls.

I have one of those casting kits for the die filer,not because I needed it,but because it is a nice little machine. What it lacks is a backstop for the top area of the file to rest against so the file doesn't easily lean backwards when filing. That machine only takes a small size file,too. It also is going to take a fair amount of time to make it from the castings. My most used die filer is a "Butterfly" filer,with a plain steel roller that the file presses against to keep itself truly at 90º.

You should be able to get one for about $250.00,or even less. I have a very sophisticated filer too,probably one of the best ever made. It is so fussy to set the files in it,I always use the Butterfly. It is VERY GOOD to put a 1/2 h.p. variable speed motor on any filer. They all run too fast,which wears the files out,and pinches your fingers then small work lifts up and smacks back down. Surplus Sales has inexpensive variable speed motors and controls. OR,Penn State catalog has a variable speed mini lathe motor and control even cheaper. It is 1/2 h.p.. I converted my 3rd. filer into a jigsaw.

[Raney Nelson]

Thanks, George -- found the thread, and it's perfect.

I'll also keep an eye out for a good used filer; if something doesn't show up I'll probably get the castings, but to be honest the time to machine it is probably going to be a stumbling block. I can't seem to get anywhere near enough time in the shop as it is (who can), and there are a lot of more pressing things on my list. There's a pretty good auction company near me that regularly sells off assets from machine and industrial shops closing their doors (which happens about twice an hour in NJ these days). I'll be sure to keep my eyes open for one of the filers on there -- plenty of diemaking gear going for pennies on the dollar, so maybe I'll get lucky.

[Zach England]

Their webserver appears to be down.

[george wilson]

The site is The Practical Machinist's Forum,not HSM. HSM has been down lately.(Home Shop Machinist)

[Jeff Bartley]

Raney,
Will you still be at the Lie Nielsen event in Gaithersburg? I've been looking forward to it for months!!

[David Weaver]

I would say something nice about raney, but he's already here. So now, it's sort of like talking about someone while they're in the room and pretending they're not there while you do it.

I will say this - Raney's planes (from what I can see) are the most tasteful looking planes I have ever seen in that reasonable of a price level, and the simplicity of the single iron and very tight mouth pretty much guarantees they are going to perform exactly as you expect, without having to screw around with them.

If ever you were looking for an infill smoother with classic lines, and one that will be a great user, I can't see how demand isn't going to push the prices up going forward. Excellent finish work, very clean looking planes and nicely done with the precise fit and long support (no slop) around the lever cap screw.

If you have a few bucks to spend, a panel plane and a smoother at 50 degrees or so would do nearly all of the planing you'd ever need to do as a "hand dimensioner", aside from the initial roughing and thicknessing. Using that pair is pure joy when dimensioning hardwood. The panel planes are great, they hit like a train and can run out jack work without having much camber on them, so you can back them off and smooth as soon as you've gotten your work level (i'm assuming there will be panel planes).

You guys who go to WIA (or whatever other events that are similar) should make sure you try them out, and not just on straight grained stuff, but on some things that would otherwise give you fits with a standard bench plane or a woody.

(moderator editing looks like it gutted the first post, but I'm guessing there is a conclusion to the discussion of raney's planes vs. manufactured planes? and that being that they are another rung or two up the ladder for users?)

[Andrew Yang]

I just went on to speak more about my time chatting with Raney. Since I've been at this all of 9 months, I would say my planing experience is limited at best. Apparently my post smelled of advertising for Raney. I would think a quick look at my blog would disabuse anyone of that notion. All that said, the moderator was great/quick at explaining his reasons.

[David Weaver]

At 9 months of experience, you can still easily spot a good plane by use. I would imagine you found raney's plane a notch or two above the manufactured planes in use, and in regular use, the ease of setup to the tight tolerances is really nice to have. Pull the iron out, sharpen it, drop it in, plane.

There might be some people scoffing at my comments that I think raney is doing the planes very reasonably. The world of infills is a whole other world compared to the $300 manufactured planes.