Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Track II Spokeshave

A brand new tool company mailed one of their products to me to try out. It's not on the market yet; they are just testing it with focus groups.

It's called a Track II Spokeshave and it operates the same as a regular spokeshave, but with the twin blades, it works even better.
The front blade is designed to lift the fibers from the beard, I mean board, while the second blade trims them clean for a baby smooth finish.

Not only that, but it comes with a spray can of foaming wood conditioner that you first apply to the surface. This helps lubricate the fibers so they're not chafed by the shearing action of the twin blades.

It's a remarkable bit of ingenuity. I give it two thumbs up!

19 comments:

Unknown said...

Was this company at WIA??!?

jonathan said...

Very nice! But the can of foam is a bit too much :-)

Chod Lang said...

H-m-m-m? Let's see.... What did you say was today's date?

Rick said...

Finally! Where can I get the wood conditioner? I've been burning the wood lately with my substandard single-bladed spokeshave! Oh, and are they going to come out with a double-bladed drawknife too?

LOL

Thanks Kari!

Rick

Charles said...

I was also contacted by them. They sent me the TRACK III with three blades and this thing rocks! It sooo puts the TRACK II to shame.

The TRACK III comes with a post-use wood conditioner, Old Slice.

So I'd recommend TRACK III over TRACK II any day of the week!

Eric Madsen said...

I'm holding out for 5 blades. I plan to sharpen the first like I do my scrub irons, and then progressively less camber to the blades until the final which I'm thinking of putting a back bevel and slightly higher effective cutting angle on for final smoothing. I'm pretty sure with this setup I can go from a rough blank to finish ready surfaced cabriolet leg in on stroke.

Anonymous said...

Yuo guys crack me up!
Good one.

Kari Hultman said...

I was especially impressed with the handles that are made from actual baby eggplants.

Charles--Old Slice--dang! Wish I'd thought of that!

Eric, you might be onto something. ; )

Bob Easton said...

Hey Kari,
Do you know if there are to versions of the plane?

It seems there should be one for face surfaces and another for legs.

Kari Hultman said...

That's a brilliant observation, Bob. I will be sure to ask the company when I submit my review. They might even need to introduce a version that works for underneath chair arms. Traditionally, those are tricky areas to shave and I have heard that prior to the 20th c., those areas were often overlooked.

Joe Cunningham said...

Too bad you only got the Trac II. My spokeshave goes to 11.

I'm planning to build a replica of woodhenge with it.

Anonymous said...

I think thousands of these were given away - with only one blade. Since the blades cut well but are impossible to clean or maintain, the manufacturer is counting on making the profit on the replacement blades.

Alfred

Anonymous said...

Actually I'm holding out for the tri-blade version that takes 4 double-a's in the handles and vibrates at an insanely high frequency!
Vinny

Vic Hubbard said...

The only problem I'd have with getting that is Sylvia would end up using for cutting her stubbly roses and then I'd unwittingly burn my wood the next time I picked it up...YIKES!!

InsideBevel said...

Since we are talking about innovative products, take a look at this new saw from Veritas:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?p=62708&c=3

The Great Ethan Allen said...

Let me guess...wait! Someone already stole my thunder. This IS apr 1 Right?

Chod Lang said...

Lee valley's the best! I've just added 6 new tools to my wish list.

Anonymous said...

Kari,

You must have 'photoshopped' the picture of the spoke shave to get in the second blade, right.

Alfred

Kari Hultman said...

Alfred, I did use photoshop. :o)