Another project that took too long...

[Scott M Perry]

Hi, all -

I bought this Stanley 7C (a type 19, IIRC) in 2004.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8442221841_453d6792f8.jpg

In relatively short order, I'd turned a high knob for it from some cherry. Don't remember what was even on it anymore; likely it was cracked, anyway. The broken tote, though, has always been a sticking point with this plane - made it uncomfortable and akward to use, as my hand rested on it in a poor way. And I always seemed to be tweaking the lateral adjuster. So, I figured I'd find anotyher hunk of cherry and make a new tote.

For reasons I can't explain, this weekend, after about 9 years, I got after it. Found a nice pattern on Lee Valley's site, printed it out, then threw it away. Took the old tote and traced it on to the cherry, sketched out the missing horn, and laid out the hole for the screw.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8370/8442224645_9decf174f9.jpg

Drilled the holes, tested them for fit, cut out the shape, and got busy with rasps. A little thicker than the original, it fits my hand nicely.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8213/8442215755_6791c6dab4.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8494/8442218753_338bffbb3c.jpg

I always seem to pick projects like this to try out new finishing ideas. Now, this was a very nice piece of cherry offcut from years ago, and had aged wonderfully. But when shaped, all that beautiful color was gone. Sure I could wait for it to age, but I decided to try a few coats of cherry aniline dye to speed things up. A few coats of tung oil varnish, a coat of vinyl sealer, some lacquer, and rubbed out with steel wool and wax.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8081/8442209919_71e5e150cc.jpg

Cleaned up the plane (just a little), reinstalled the tote, and the plane is ready to go.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8071/8443298500_64863b32e2.jpg

I wasn't sure about the color on the tote; now I'm wondering if I should sand down the knob and finish it to match...

...nah - I need to get some real projects done. But I feel good that this one's finally ready to go. Now, I need to make a tote for the #5...

Thanks for looking.
Scott

[David Myers]

Nice job. And that thread title could be used for every one of my projects. Thanks for posting.

[Chris Griggs]

Nice job on the handle Scott! I agree the title of the thread could describe everything I've ever built.

[Matthew Hills]

Nice job. How do you trace the handle? (the handle doesn't give an easy edge to trace against, without having the extra bloat from the pencil's thickness)

Matt

[Scott M Perry]

Thanks, guys!

Matt, I just eyeball and angle the pencil in a bit to compensate, but in general I like the rough shape to be a little thicker, both because I like a sturdier tote (big hands), and because I like some extra material to work with when shaping.

Scott