Inventing the Handtool Hero
Every time you sharpen your plane you have to loosen the screw that holds the chipbreaker to the blade. Old Stanley-style planes made it easy. The lever-cap fits right into the chipbreaker screw. Your screwdriver is built in.
Lots of planes don’t work this way. Many modern planes have lever-caps that don’t work as screwdrivers. Wooden planes don’t have a lever-cap at all. For any of these tools, you need a separate screwdriver, and because these screws are big and have a wide slot, you need a big, clunky screwdriver that takes up of space on your workbench.
For years, I’ve looked for a compact driver that would fit in my pocket and adjust my tools without cluttering up my bench. I never found one, so I set out to make one.
The Handtool Hero has a wide, straight-blade screwdriver designed to fit Stanley-style screws and quickly loosen or tighten them without putting another tool on your bench. The tool also has a narrow screw-tip for adjusting fences and cutters on specialty planes. It will tighten handle hardware and adjust the tension-screw on your lever-cap.
Beyond Screws
You have other tools besides planes. If you use vintage hand saws, you know that slot-head saw-nuts are too narrow for a standard screwdriver. Most of us take an old screwdriver and grind the tip thinner…and then we have another single-use tool taking up space in the shop.
Save your screwdrivers. The Handtool Hero’s drivers are CNC milled to fit snugly in slot-head saw nuts found on saws from Disston, Simonds, and Atkins. Our tool’s wide screw-tip and precision thickness makes it hard to damage even soft brass hardware.
Of course, many vintage and modern saws don’t even use slot-head hardware. Many of the best saws use the old split-nut design. To adjust these fasteners, you need a specialty tool with a slot milled right down the center. We had plenty of extra room on the Handtool Hero, so we included two split-head drivers sized to fit most vintage and modern saws. Don’t make or buy another specialty driver. We’ve got you covered.
With four custom-designed driver tips, the Handtool Hero is a versatile multi-tool, but we still had a little space, so we added a 25° angle-gauge to let you quickly check the bevels on your plane irons and chisels. When your tool stops cutting, you don’t need to reach for the protractor. And because people often want to check bevels right after sharpening, we’ve included a relief-hole on the inside of the gauge so it won’t damage freshly honed edges.
As a final touch, we drilled a hole in the top of the tool so you can hang the Handtool Hero on a nail or clip it to your key ring. But don’t call it a keychain. This is an everyday carry for the modern craftsperson.
Construction
The Handtool Hero is made from 440c stainless steel, an alloy commonly used for industrial bearings and knives. It exhibits high strength, hardness, and wear-resistance as well as moderate resistance to corrosion. I’ve been carrying a prototype in my pocket for a whole, sweaty year and it’s still just as bright as the day it was made.
The tool is laser-cut, CNC milled to final dimensions, fully hardened to HRC 58-60, deburred and finally laser-etched. The Handtool Hero is made completely in the USA by DFM Toolworks and proudly bears their logo on the reverse side.
Pickup one of these and keep your bench clear for the tools that really matter.
