Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
making a tote
I took some time of my under bench cabinet project and started to fashion a replacement tote for a restored No 4 Stanley hand plane. I don't know what the wood is, but it is very tight curly grained stuff that should make a good handle. Drilling the hole is the only fairly hard part. I drilled it from both sides using a combination of power drilling and mostly a hand brace.
Re: making a tote
Re: making a tote
Here it is installed in the No 4. No finish on it yet. I want to use it for a while and refine the shape a little first. The wood is walnut. I included the brace/bit in the picture because the really tricky part was to get the head of the threaded shaft that goes through the handle to fit properly in the top of the tote. It's 7/16 in. in diameter.You have to figure a way to center the 7/16 in. bit on the 1/4 in. hole and get a square shoulder. I could never have figured out a good way to do it had I not seen a Paul Sellers video, where he does it this way. One's first thought may be to use a Forstner bit, but how do you center such a bit symmetrically over the hole? (And none of my Forstner bits are 7/16 anyway.)
Re: making a tote
Picture:
Re: making a tote
I left out the key part. The way it's done is to fashion a 1/4 dia. short dowel and insert that into the top of the hole that goes through the handle. You make it fit tightly or even glue it in. Then you mark the center of that little insert to center the 7/16 in. bit. The kind of bit that is used with a brace makes a nice square shoulder for the head of the threaded rod to pull against.
Or...
You could just drill the 7/16" hole first. Then the 1/4" bit would center itself in that hole.
Re: making a tote
Paul Sellers has a YouTube showing how to make a tote including to drill the hole before you cut the angle.
Re: Or...
That's the usual way to center the smaller hole in the larger hole, but it isn't a option for making a tote. One has to drill the 1/4 in. hole at the correct angle through the larger piece of stock and then, later, shape the tote. The top of the tote is a curved shape that is fashioned after the original long hole is drilled. So you're left with a 1/4 in. hole at the end of the curved tote top.
Re: making a tote
Don't follow "drill the hole before you cut the angle". I am following his video. He first cuts the long hole, then shapes the tote, then enlarges the hole at the top of the tote the way I described.
Re: making a tote
Why can't you drill the short 7/16 hole first, then drill the 1/4" through hole, then shape the tote to fit?
Re: making a tote
It seems possible to do it that way. I don't know why Sellers doesn't. He seem to prefer starting with the larger square stock to get his angle right and drill the main 1/4 in. hole from that. Then after he shapes the handle and reduces the stock considerably, he's left with the 1/4 in. hole at the curved top. I did it his way this time. Your suggestion may be the way to go. I would have to try your way to see if it wold work out all right.