Recently I had the good fortune to get a new shoulder plane: the Bridge City Tool Works CT-14.  Because I cut tenons a little oversized and fit each to its mortise, I use a shoulder plane as much as any other plane. For years I had an HNT Gordon shoulder plane that is a very good tool.  I've realized, however, that I'm just not comfortable with wooden planes.  I much prefer the precision afforded by a mechanical adjuster.  I know some of you will say that you can be just as precise adjusting an iron with a hammer but I always felt like I was fighting with it.  So it seemed that a metal-bodied shoulder plane was in order.		David Mathias

The fourteenth tool in Bridge City’s annual commemorative tool series, the CT-14, like all of the tools in the series, has a limited production run.  As shoulder planes go it is relatively expensive.  In fact, I never would have considered buying it, except that I made the mistake of using it at a Popular Woodworking event featuring John Economaki, founder of Bridge City Tool Works.

The plane made an impression on me that evening.  I couldn't get it out of my mind.  Finally, my wife tired of listening to me talk about it and told me to buy it (I have a newfound tool acquisition strategy).  She didn't have to tell me twice -- I ordered it.  And then I waited.  And waited some more.  Then for good measure, I waited.  The CT-14 wasn't yet available when I ordered it.  When it started shipping, I wasn't first in line.  I began to wonder if it would live up to my memory of it.  I finally received it after waiting very impatiently for nearly two months.

To borrow a technique from movie reviewers, let's kill the suspense: this plane is every bit as good as I remembered.  It is practically flawless in every detail, a triumphant marriage of form and function.  With that out of the way we can examine the tool in detail.

The first thing one notices about the CT-14 is its appearance.  Beauty is subjective but I'll state flat out that this is a beautiful tool.  Fit and finish are superb.  The body is machined from solid brass.  Some surfaces are highly polished while others have been blasted to a matte finish.  Even the smallest details of design have been perfected. 

The most prominent feature is the stainless steel foxtail at the back of the plane.  Actually a lever, the foxtail serves double duty as the locking mechanism for the iron and as a wonderfully ergonomic grip for using the plane.  And this is a tool you'll want to use.