The K9

This plane has taken a while to come together.  I wanted it to feel like the K13, light weight with a lower center of gravity and an similar balance point. 

The K9 has a 2-1/8" wide blade, a 50 degree bed angle and is 9" long including the handle (the sole footprint is 8"). The infill is English Boxwood soaked in oil and then finished with a coat of paste wax.

When I was designing the K9, I kept a copy of the York pitch A5 drawings in a 'background layer' in Adobe Illustrator so I could compare the drawings. They were very different which made me a little nervous. Here are a few pictures to try and show just how different the handles are on the A5ss in the background and the K9 in the foreground. It helps that one is Ebony and the other Boxwood.

The K9 is about 1/2" shorter (in height) than the A5ss but the handle is just as roomy - maybe even a bit larger feeling. The K9 handle is closer to the blade as well - which always improved the balance. There is also a bit more hang to the K9 handle - following the handle of the K13 (and K18).

I spent a good part of the morning using the K9 to flatten the bottom of the dining table top. It was quite a workout (I will do the top tomorrow). The plane worked wonderfully - it is lighter than the A5ss - despite the 1/8" additional blade width. I also found the front pad to be a great size. Big enough to fill my whole hand when wrapping across and around the front. I was able to use it solidly for about 2 hours and it still felt great at the end.

And all that ‘exercise’ was well worth it. The curl in the bottom of the top is wonderful - I can’t wait to see how the top looks.

On a somewhat related funny side note... designers are a curious bunch. They really do look at the world through a different set of glasses. They see proportions, ratios, positive and negative space and seem to be wired for patterns. A perfect example - I was emailing with a friend of mine who is a graphic designer, and was sharing some photos of the K9 prototype as it was coming together. His first comment was that if I placed it next to the K7 and the K13 it would look like neopolitan ice cream. So Jay - this one is for you.

There is another project that has been in the works for well over a year now and many people have asked how it is coming along. This past week, I finally had some time to keep working on it. Here is a quick hint - I will post a proper blog entry about it shortly.