The Superior Works: Bedrock #601

A missed marketing opportunity of the past is now finally corrected. Overlooked in the original production run of the popular Bedrock series of bench planes, the #601 miniature smoothing plane is now available today thanks to the fine team effort of The Superior Works. A #1 size plane was offered under the Bailey design, but wasn't under the Bedrock design. And for good reason - it's a very difficult plane to manufacture with the Bedrock features. Undaunted by the difficulty, The Superior Works took up the challenge. Our pain is your gain.

With years of painstaking development, where no detail was neglected, the #601 is an exact miniaturization of the original Bedrock line. Every part, all 33 of them, from the smallest screw to the largest casting, is 100% faithful to the original. In fact, one can easily believe that the #601 was made decades ago (when the last originals came off the assembly line during the early 1940's). It's that true and precise, able to withstand the finest scrutiny by the most critical tool connoisseur.

Only the finest tradesmen dared tackle the production of such a tool. With patterns made in an old-time patternshop that formerly served the shipyards of coastal New England, a foundry that actually knows how to pour cast iron, precision machine work performed by the finest machinist on the planet, wooden boxes fabrique au Canada by a real live viscount, and efforts by several others all performed tirelessly to manufacture the #601.

Simply put, there is no finer plane being manufactured today. By anyone. Guaranteed. You'll never look at another plane of modern manufacture the same after owning, or even seeing, the #601. Each and every #601 is warranted and guaranteed to satisfy; the cutter even says so right on it.

*Click on images for a crystal clear larger image of each.*

Like the original Bedrocks, the #601 has these swell features:

Best gray iron casting of the main casting, frog, adjusting yoke, and lever cap.

Three piece lateral adjustment lever (try finding that on an original Bailey #1 plane).

Precision machining of the frog to its bed providing precise alignment and full support.

Squared sides for greater surface area along its sides for using in a shooting manner.

Cammed lever cap with bent steel spring.

Hardened steel frog pins and locking screws.

Frog adjusting screw to adjust the frog forward/backward without removing the cutter.

Exotic wood knob and tote, the latter retaining the graceful curvatures of earlier times.

Two-piece hardware to attach the tote and knob, the latter fitting within a raised ring.

Finely knurled adjusting screw with positive and effortless cutter depth control.

Durable black finish to compliment the brass and exotic wood for a graphic appearance.

Packed in a wooden box, made of brown ash, that's reminiscent of the boxes used during the early 1900's to store the #45, the #55, #444, etc. The box keeps the #601 safe while not in use or while on display, and you'll get as much joy displaying it as you will using it.

The #601 measures 5 3/4" long, with the cutter's width of 1 1/4". Planes of this size are favored by instrument makers, model makers, patternmakers, flyrod makers, cabinetmakers, and any other trade where small and detailed work is required:

to size or trim inlay prior to installation;
to plane complex inlay flush with its surrounding area;
to trim veneer;
to work marquetry applications, where grain changes abound;
to smooth localized problem areas (grain change or a knot, for example) that are impractical for a larger smoother;
to work the smaller pieces commonly found on desk interiors;
to make the joints of delicate sash bars co-planar with their mating members and surrounding frame;
to size up small stock for miniatures or models;
to trim moldings to a perfect fit;
to level the tops/bottoms of small boxes (like the box the plane ships in, or a Shaker style oval box);
to smooth fretwork after it's been sawn.

The #601 does all this, and more, with finer control and greater tactile feedback than can be had with a larger bench plane or block plane. Fine work demands fine tools, and the #601 is simply the finest small smoothing plane ever made.

Beat the rush, and get your Bedrock #601 plane today, all for the bargain price of $595.00ppd by pressing the Ordering link. You won't be able to put the thing down, and, honestly, you'll be fighting with the wife over who gets to hold it first. No Bedrock collection is complete without the #601.

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pal, August 7, 2000