Plane Totes

[Jack Ellis]

A silly question perhaps, but others have recommended the experts in this group.

I need to fabricate new totes for several hand planes that were abused before they came into my possession. I'm going to use either ash or maple because that's what I have and in the case of the ash, I can afford to make lots of mistakes because I have a lot of it. I notice that broken totes seem to fracture along the grain line, which is typically parallel to the direction in which force is applied (parallel to the grain rather than perpendicular). Why not fabricate the totes so that the grain is perpendicular to the line of force (also perpendicular to the sole of the plane)? Is there a good reason that's not obvious (at least to me)?

[Harlan Barnhart]

Running the grain "longwise" would leave the "toe" composed of vulnerable short grain.

[Dan Andrews]

Darn good question I think. The only reason for not orienting the grain vertically that I can think of is that the forward protrusion at the base of the tote wouldn't have a chance of surviving. However it seems that the rest of the tote does break often enough that it would be worth considering alternatives to the construction of that protrusion.

As to wood choice, If I were in your situation I would make a couple of ash totes for the lesser used planes to get the experience. Then switch to maple for the planes you will use the most or for the longest periods of time when you do use them. I'm thinking blisters. Prety hard to make open grain stay smooth. Especially as you wear away a finish with your hands and put sweat into the wood.

Good luck and have fun with your tote building.

[Johnny Kleso]

The Bevertail would break like a tooth pick..

You will need a extra long drill 1/4" or a 1/32" bigger to drill the through hole and a 9/16" counter bore or sharpen a drill to a flat bottom.. A 9/16' Forster drill would also work..

Thhe 9/16" is from my memory so check it :)

[Tony Shea]

I think that is a fair question. But as others poited out, the tip at the toe would be busted off almost imediatly. But I do agree that orienting the grain diagonally to keep short grain limited would be a better choice. Try and lay the pattern on a peice of wood and play with the grain orientation until you find a sweet spot. I think no matter what your do you'll run into grain runout but I think you might be able to do better than just grain parrallel to the sole. Experiment with some of your ash and finalize wish some smooth maple.

[Jack Ellis]

Dan, so far you get the prize for best answer since it included other useful bits of information I had not even considered asking about. For John and Harlan, I'm not surprised at your answer but wanted to be sure.

Thanks to all of you for your responses.

[Tom Vanzant]

Jack, you might want to select a blank with the grain running parallel to the sole but with rift-cut grain at about 45 deg as in the older Stanley totes. Most of the later totes and after-market totes don't use rift-sawn wood and fracture near the top of the "foot" or slightly above. The rift-grain lessens that tendancy and the grain is much nicer looking too. Good luck.

[Rich Purdum]

If you look at the pics of Lie-Nielsen bench planes you will see that he runs the grain on the tote parallel to the sole. With all the attention they devote to engineering their tools there must be a good reason (other than tradition). You might want to post a query to their site to see what they have to say. I believe they are very willing to answer questions.

If all you want to do with the ash is develop your fabrication techniques (and do some usability testing) I wouldn't worry about the open grain too much. OTOH, if you apply 4 or 5 coats of shellac followed by some Tru-Oil you may get a surface and finish that would be serviceable for some time.

[Richard Dooling]

Running the grain in the traditional direction has worked for many, many years.

Although you do see broken totes fairly often, I imagine that's often a sign of misunderstanding and misusing the plane. Most likely taking too heavy a cut and trying to use brute force to plow through. And of course planes do get dropped.

Still, wood is wood and may have hidden faults. I've made several new totes with no issues.

BTW for anyone who has not seen this resource, Lee Valley has kindly offered templates for their handles as well as the Stanley #2 through #8 bench plane handles.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=63262&cat=1,46168
.

[Rich Purdum]

Richard,

I had seen the template resource but had forgotten where it was posted. Thanks for reminding us. Interesting, the templates show grain direction. Another vote for the past wisdom.


Rich (only my mother called me Richard!).

[Jim Koepke]

My thoughts on this is if the grain were vertical, it might split from the pressure against the post holding it to the plane.

When you have your tote laid out on the piece of wood you will be using, drill your hole before shaping the tote. You will find this to be a lot easier. There are also a few tote building threads here on SMC. That is likely where my knowledge of this originated.

After a bit of searching, it was found in the last place I looked instead of where I should have looked first, the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?71658-Tote-making-Part

That should help you with making totes.

jtk

[Jay Maiers]

BTW for anyone who has not seen this resource, Lee Valley has kindly offered templates for their handles as well as the Stanley #2 through #8 bench plane handles.

Thanks for posting that link Richard. I don't need to repair a plane, but I've got more than a few jigs that need better handles!

[Dave Anderson NH]

I think the concern about ash raising blisters because of it's open grain is a worry to ignore. As and hickory, both with open grains have been used for the handles of hammers, axes, shovels, picks, and other tools for centuries. Overuse, too tight a grip, a poor finish, or just hands that are soft from the lack of manual labor will all raise blisters on handles made from any wood or manmade material.

[Leigh Betsch]

Timely thread. I was in the shop tonight working on my mesquite plane and decided to make a mesquite tote for it. The only decent piece of mesquite I had made me orient the grain vertical, or mostly vertical. With mesquite the grain makes more twists and turns than normal. Anyway with this chunk of wood I didn't have many options. I figured even though a lot of old Stanley totes are broken I figured the horizontal grain is still the best compromise, but like I said the chunk of wood I had didn't leave any option. I was going to post the same question that Jack did but he beat me to it. Anyway here's a pic. I guess I'll just wait until it breaks and then make another. I plan to cut a dovetail on the bottom and glue it in. Now I gotta find that thread about how the dovetail is supposed to be made.........