Shooting Plane Tote Angle

[Greg Krummel]

While looking at the the main brands of shooting planes, it seems that all of them have the tote rolled away from the blade side. The Veritas version has the tote angle from 30 degrees to 90 degrees, while the Stanley and Lie Nielsen have a similar angle.

Is there a specific, practical reason for why the tote is not straight up and down on the lower face?
- Aesthetics?
- Convention?
- Use of space?
- Providing a moment to put pressure on the blade? (although a fence to keep the plane from drifting away from the board would help or replace this requirement)

Ergonomics and more forward force would be optimal with the tote vertical in roll and close to vertical in pitch (similar to how the Veritas and new Stanley totes are angled, with the angle from your arm axis between 100-110 degrees to keep your wrist at a relaxed position).

[Jim Koepke]

Is there a specific, practical reason for why the tote is not straight up and down on the lower face?

When shooting the plane needs to be pressed against the guiding edge plus the edge of the workpiece as it is being pushed forward. A fence would help to keep the plane agains the guide, but not every shooting board is set up with a fence. I would hope the makers of the specialized shooting planes have used their products during the prototype stage to come up with an ergonomic design for their shooting plane totes.

Some folks have purchased or made 'hot dogs' for their planes to get a better grip when shooting.

jtk