I just received my CT-17, and immediately took it for a spin. I first had to loosen the lever cap screw slightly to make locking/unlocking the blade easier. The quiet "click" as the palm rest seats is very satisfying. The fit and finish of the place are incredible. The bead-blasted surface is very smooth to the touch, but with enough texture to hug the fingerprints beautifully. The A2 blade is optically finished on both sides - I didn't even bother honing mine, as it came with a microbevel.

In use, the skeletonized body has plenty of comfortable places to put your fingers. I found that for thick shavings I moved my hand to the rear of the plane, and pushed down on the toe with a finger of my other hand. For the thinnest, fluffiest shavings I used only one hand, and moved it forward with a finger resting in the mouth adjuster, and my palm on the lever cap release.

I tested the plane out on a 1" wide piece of zebra wood (it was handy). The plane moved effortlessly over the wood (I'd waxed the sole with some paraffin). I was particularly struck by how easily the shavings cleared from the mouth. I'd noticed this on my CT-12 as well - perhaps it's a signature of a Bridge City Tool Works plane. In any case, it speeds up the planing considerably, and makes it much more pleasurable.

The surface left by the plane is glass smooth. Oh - did I say "glass smooth"? I meant "GLASS SMOOTH!" The edge of the board became so sharp you could almost cut with it. The surface would need no further work before finishing.

Adjusting the shaving thickness is effortless. The adjuster is incredibly precise, and there is absolutely no backlash. None. Nada. I've never owned or tried a plane with a mechanism so precise - and I've tried lots of the most expensive planes you can buy. It's quite astounding. Just turning the adjuster filled me with a warm fuzzy feeling of appreciation for the incredible thought and craftsmanship that went into this piece of machining perfection. I've never used anything like it.

I have quite small hands, and am hampered by a particularly short index figure (it ruined my violin career...). Because of that, I found the distance from the palm rest to the front mouth adjuster/finger rest too large, particularly when I was taking thick shavings. However, the sides of the plane are so constructed that there were plenty of places to obtain a good grip. I found that my hands were much less sore than after planing with my other block planes. The palm does a lot of the work.

I also found that the plane tracked particularly well. I'm not sure why. But it was easier for me to keep the plane going in a straight line than with some of my other planes. Perhaps the blade was sharper. But I had no problem keeping the plane centered over the relatively narrow board.

This plane is just a delight to use. And to look at. The modern industrial impression that you get from the graphics is actually softer and more inviting in real life. The slight hints of color - the blade guard and the adjuster nut - give some relief to the shadowy expanse of steel. The plane is hefty, but you don't notice its weight in use.

I can tell that this is going to be one of my favorite tools. I've already showed it off to a neighbor. It's one of those tools - like all Bridge City Tools - that draws your woodworking to a higher level, just by being beautiful and functional. I'm honored to have such a tool on my bench. Such inspiration!

Now - let's go make some shavings!
(Posted on 7/19/11)

As I am partially crazy or perhaps even fully, I asked for and paid to have my CT-17 over nighted. It arrived and was everything and more than I expected. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful look of the skeletonized body that John had developed. It has a wonderful stark beauty and then as an added bonus the lead screw pivot screw is a beautiful brass and the piece that covers the back of the blade is a gorgeous orange and those two small bits of color add just the right amount of warmth.

The second thing I did was take the blade out and learn how the mechanism worked.The throat is adjusted via a cam lock which is very easy to use and for some also gives them a place to rest one of their fingers during use. The depth adjuster is truly wonderful and with a tpi of 72 is very, very easy to set the depth exactly where you want it. The back of the adjuster has five fingers and five openings or negative space. One full turn of the adjust advances or decreases the depth of the blade by three one thousandth's of an inch. Turning it from a finger to the first open space moves the blade a mind boggling three ten thousandth's of an inch. If you cannot dial your cut in with this plane you never will. While the adjuster also may be used for the lateral movement of the blade, I have found that the side cutouts make it much easier to do that with my fingers. In addition the cap iron rests on the blade in four places and when it is setup properly it holds the blade beautifully BUT also allows depth and lateral adjustment ON THE FLY just as you can with a bench plane.

When I took the blade off, I took it and honed it very quickly on both sides. As with all of John's planes the back of the blade has a mirror finish so any bur should only be removed on a leather strop or something else similar. After honing each end of the blade I placed it back in the plane and put it to wood. It cut like a charm and I was able to pull full width and length shavings in pine, maple, cherry, walnut, paduak, cocobolo as well as very highly figured maple. The sole was dead flat, as was the back of the blade. all in all it is a magnificent plane. Thank you John, Fred (Posted on 7/14/11)