Anyone make their own plane handles?

[Brian Hale]

I just received the LV Veritas BUJ and after about an hour of very satisfying planing, the lower part of the heal of my palm is sore. I think the rear handle (tote?) is not the best shape to fit my hand so I'm thinking of reshaping it or making my own.

Any tips, pics, advice?

Brian :)

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Brian--a few posts down, Making a Plane Handle or something. From that post:

Take a look at Alice Frampton's web site:

http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/planetote.html

Should get you all the way there!

Take care, Mike

[Tyler Howell]

Hey Bri,
A guy I get plane parts from customizes his to fit his hand. A little shaving, rasping, and smoothing.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Tyler,

The problem, if you will, with the Veritas plane handles is the vertical nature of the two threaded rods holding the tote on. You can slightly alter the shape, but not enough without weakening the tote.

But Alice's instructions are clear--and we are woodworkers...

Take care, Mike

[Brian Hale]

Thanks guys!

Just what i was looking for. It doesn't seem to need much tweaking, mostly just beefing up the area that hits the center of my palm to spread the pressure out some.

Of course i could just stop being a wimp and deal with it :rolleyes:

Brian :)

[Alice Frampton]

Alternatively, if you don't fancy drilling holes in your plane to get a less upright tote (apparently some folks baulk at that...) you could try this Aussie method (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=25320).

Cheers, Alf

[Tyler Howell]

Interesting discussion. The LV tote fits my hand the best of all I've tried.

[philip marcou]

Brian , here is a picture of my replacement handles.I also made some other changes to make life easier. It is straight forward enough, once you have worked out what shape you like.A tip when drilling the hole for the rear handle-make a template of the handle, and place it on your rectagular stock so that when you drill the drill goes in at 90 degrees, and do it from both ends , then cut out the handle-this way there is no messing with setting angles on your drill press or horizontal borer.Of course you also pay attention to grain direction.

[David Stonner]

Philip,

Nice tip. I hadn't thought of just drilling the hole straight and tilting the handle outline after the fact. Eliminates boring an angled hole. Smart. I think about things too hard sometimes and miss the easiest method. Good tip.

Dave




Brian , here is a picture of my replacement handles.I also made some other changes to make life easier. It is straight forward enough, once you have worked out what shape you like.A tip when drilling the hole for the rear handle-make a template of the handle, and place it on your rectagular stock so that when you drill the drill goes in at 90 degrees, and do it from both ends , then cut out the handle-this way there is no messing with setting angles on your drill press or horizontal borer.Of course you also pay attention to grain direction.

[Jim Koepke]

Not having any LV planes, my comments are limited to Stanley/Bailey planes.

Often on the larger planes the tote is not comfortable to my hand. Just as often, the tote is modified to fit my hand. Most often the radius at the bottom is opened with a rasp to avoid pinching my pinky finger. Some totes also get a few swipes with a rasp on the back side if it pressed into my palm.

jtk

[Richard Dooling]

There is a guy on ebay who makes replacement totes. Just search Veritas and he's one of the first hits.

.

[Mike Wischmann]

Thanks for the plug. I am in fact the guy who makes them and posts them on Ebay. Here is a picture of them for reference

[Jim Paulson]

Heh Jim,

Thanks for the post. I did a test drive Saturday at the Columbus Woodworking Show and I loved the LV low angle jack. Don't think the tote will be a problem for this guy. Nice to know that there are options if the tote becomes an issue after putting the plan through the paces.

Take care,
Jim

[Jeremy Dorn]

I just received one of Mike Wischmann's tote's via his ebay postings and I was pretty impressed with the quality of the tote. Definately worth the $20 I paid for it.

I will say that I did have to do a bit of reshaping to shorten it's heel to better fit my BUS body, and the very toe as well to make sure I had some clearance between the wood and the adjuster but I was going to be doing some reshaping to fit my hand anyway (ie easing edges a bit).

All in all, was nothing a few minutes with a sharp rasp couldnt handle. I'd post some pics but its currently out in the shop letting linseed oil dry, and will be getting a few coats of clear lacquer once that's dry to match the knob.

Very happy with the purchase, and the exteremely quick shipping he used as well if anyone else is thinking about picking one up.

JD

[John Coloccia]

Or you can go to your local sporting goods shop and pick up some nice tennis racket grip tape.Wrap it around thicker where you want it thicker, and thinner where you want it thinner. Now THAT is a comfy tote. I just did this to all of my turning tools and it's very nice!

[Mike Wischmann]

Glad you like em'
I would be really interested in some pictures of your customizations of the totes...toe to adjuster spacing. Always opportunities to re-evaluate a design :)
Looking forward to seeing them.

Mike

[Jeremy Dorn]

Mike, here are the shots after my modifications.

At this stage its seen a few coats of a BLO finish, but hasn't been lacquered.

Sorry I didn't take any pics of the tote pre-reshaping, but as you see I basically softened all edges into a more "oval" shaped tote, and then removed ~3/16"-1/4"ish material from both the heel and toe of the tote so that it fit over the nub better and allowed a little clearance in the front between it and the depth adjuster.

I also had to add 3 small washers under the rear brass piece so that it fit flush to the top of the handle.

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[Derek Cohen]

I have re-shaped the original tote so that it lowers the centre of gravity ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/LVLAJ1.jpg

But after a year of using it this way I returned to the original shape. It may take some time to get used to it, but it really does suit the heavier LV BU planes. They encourage one to simply push, rather than press down.

On the other hand I rather like the re-handling on my LAS ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/LVLAS2.jpg

... oh, it is She-oak.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Paulson]

Derek,

That is an awesome wood for the handle. I am looking forward to using a LV BU Jack. I took a test drive at a recent woodworking show and it was sweet to use. I didn't have a problem with the tote at all.

Thanks for posting about the tote.

Jim

[Klaus Kretschmar]

There´s a possibility to lower the LV BU totes remarkably. The originals are rather upright what I felt to be not too comfortable. Some attempts to make lower replacements by using the original threaded rods weren´t satisfying. Then I got a hint from a fellow woodworker to lower the angle of the rods at first. Here a pic of the replacement rods. On the right the original rods, on the left the slightly bended replacements.

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By using those it´s possible to mount totes with remarkably lower hang angle. The following pic shows the BUJ and the BUS with replaced totes and -to compare the angle- the original tote.

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Both planes perform to my eyes very good with the lower totes.

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Klaus