Highly recommended - Bill Rittner Plane Handles

[Bob Jones]

In the spring I got a "wild hair" to build a "matched set" of bench planes. (I work with rough lumber and do all surfacing with them) I just thought it would be fun to have a set with the same look and feel.

First choice - a set of 3 or 4 LN's. More than I could afford. In hindsight this is the cheapest option if you value your time. :) oops.
Second choice, a set of Bedrocks - not much cheaper then the LN's.
Option 3 - pick a "Type" of regular Stanley's. I picked Type 11. I'm not going to debate this. They are an easily identified Type and they are good users.

Anyway, I bought 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 through ebay and this forum. What a rush! Most were in bad shape so I refinished all of them (thanks rexmill.com) and bought LV and Hock blades and chipbreakers for each of them. The last parts I needed came in the mail yesterday - the new handles from Bill Rittner. Wow! They feel great! I heard about him from Chris Schwarz. Sometimes Chris goes a bit overboard on his reviews, but not this time. The handles really are more comfortable (to me) than any Stanley. These are walnut.

I gave my 5 & 6 a test run today and I really like the handles. Now I have to decide if I want to keep the old handles and blades or sell them??? Choices, choices.

Thanks for looking!

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I have an old Millers Falls 22C, which I've put way too much into. Bought a new handle/tote set from Bill for it, (the originals had been replaced with something very uncomfortable) Love them. I got the low knob in the front that I love, out of beautiful cherry, and just more comfortable than any tote I've used. I could probably have fashioned something myself, and maybe I will next time, but these ended up being more than worth it.

[Jared McMahon]

Another satisfied customer here. A while back I found a Stanley #4-1/2 that was in quite good shape but the wood had been replaced with a very crude tote and a drawer pull for a knob. I got a set of cherry replacements, and they look and feel gorgeous. The very tip of the lateral adjuster scraped the top face of the tote but I coaxed them into an arrangement of mutual understanding.

I don't find the original totes on my other planes uncomfortable enough to justify replacing them, but if I ever do need new parts due to breakage or finding another incomplete plane, Bill Rittner is the first place I'll turn.

[Roger Benton]

there's a member on here, Brian Greb, who does replacement handles/totes. I purchased three sets from him a little over a year ago now- two in birds eye maple and one in purple heart. they fit great and look spectacular. the birds eye maple in particular is a very eye catcher, i get comments all the time.