Broken plane handle

[Joe Hillmann]

I have a #5 bailey that has a broken handle. I know glue won't be enough to keep it together does anyone have any suggestions on how repair it(I am thinking maybe doweling it somehow) or should I just make a new one?

[pat fowler]

I have repaired a few totes over the last few years using only glue and have had no problems. Use some acetone to clean the break and clamp properly and you should be good to go.

[Dan Hulbert]

One of my first tool finds was a #5 with a broken tote. I think I paid $3.00 for it in 1983 or 4. I didn't trust gluing it, so I made a new tote out of some maple I pulled out of a burn pile. I custom made the tote to be comfortable in my hand, and it is still one of my favorite planes of the 30 or 40 I own.
The plane will never win any beauty contests, or become a high value collectable, but it feels good to use it.

[Justin Green]

I have a few that have been glued up. The breaks were still in a fresh state so that the pieces mated up well. I probably don't get to use my planes as much as others, so I can't report on long-term use yet. But if they break again, I'll make or order a new one. Sanded them down and refinished, and the glue line does not look too bad for a user plane. One plane that I bought had a broken tote, and someone had re-drilled the hole and inserted a metal sleeve through the enlarged hole that then fit over the retaining bolt. It didn't line up quite right, but properly done, that might be an option as well.

[Jim Koepke]

I have repaired quite a few totes. I thought there was a thread on one of my tote repairs, but I couldn't find it.

Your profile doesn't show your location. If you are in the Pacific Northwest, let me know and I may be able to help you with your tote repair.

Otherwise…

As already mentioned by Pat, use acetone or other strong degreasing solvent to remove the surface oil from the rosewood. Let the solvent evaporate. Glue up as soon as possible after the degreasing. This will increase your chances of success.

If the break fits back together cleanly, you are lucky and may just need to epoxy the pieces back together.

If there are a lot of splinters and missing wood, you may be better to do a temporary gluing and then saw the pieces apart cleanly on either side of the glue line. Then you will need a piece of rosewood to fill the gap. For matching color and filling small gaps I mix rosewood dust with a clear epoxy.

Johnny Kleso has some more good information on repairing totes on his site.

http://www.rexmill.com/

It is on the Hand Planes 101 page.

jtk

[steven c newman]

I tried to repair a broken tote last week. it will do for now, but it is BAKELITE! Super-glued it back together. As for making a new, wood tote, eh, well, I do alright until I drill things. A look at what I came up with:224596224597Not too bad? That is a Stanley #3 as a pattern. Oak for the wood. It broke into three pieces when I was trying to attach it to a plane. So, more barn Wood, and two more blanks. It was one blank, but way too thick, so i resawed it into a pair. I shaped one down, but then stopped for the day:224598224599 Maybe I'll glue the first one back up.....

[Jim Koepke]

Steve,

You may find it easier if you drill the bolt holes before doing the rest of the shaping.

I love oak, but I do not think it works well for handles.

Lee-Valley has tote drawings (they call them handle templates).

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

jtk

[Brandon Craig]

I've repaired a few totes and regular wood glue (Titebond III) has worked well for me. Like others have said, as long as the break is clean, the glue should work fine. If you do want to buy a new tote, there are a couple of options (watch Ebay, email Nick Obermire who makes them by the groves nick.obermire@gmail.com, or check out this guy: http://hardwarecitytools.com/products.html). If you decide to make on yourself, Lee Valley has an excellent instructions in a PDF document: http://www.leevalley.com/en/html/16j4010l.pdf

[john brenton]

I've used the Gorilla brand epoxy for a few totes and it's always worked great. You just have to clean the surfaces (acetone wipe if oily wood), moisten the surfaces, then glue. Just a little light clamping pressure and it's ready in about an hour. It expands and fills everything up.

I use that epoxy for everything now...it's especially great for lathe work when you need a quick fix or for mounting on the waste block.

[ken seale]

Here is a link to Nicks ebay listing;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180824962455?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_2868wt_1394