removing totte on woodie

[Eric Rathhaus]

The tote on a wooden jack broke. I was hoping it was attached with hide glue and tried soaking the offending end in hot water for 10, ' which didn't seem to loosen the remaining piece at all. Was my method of loosening the hide glue incorrect? Or maybe a different type of glue was used? If so, any suggestion on how to remove it? Thanks. Eric

[Phil Mueller]

If it is hide glue, I’ve had more luck using a hair dryer on high heat. Hide glue melts around 140 degrees. If you just used hot water from the faucet, it may not have been hot enough.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

They are usually keyed in. Unless someone has reglued it over the years it is almost certainly hide glue.

There is a trick to it. The mortise is angled to create a mechanical lock as well as the glue. You need to be applying pressure at the right angle, or you are just putting pressure on the mortise and not the glue.

If I am remembering correctly, the front of the mortise is angled 10 degrees or so (angle back towards the rear of the plane). So you have to apply pressure straight up at the rear of the tote. As the rear comes up, it disengages the front angle.

I just reglued one yesterday, wish I had taken pictures. Perhaps someone else can confirm I have the angle right?

ETA: I just found a photo on Steve Voigt’s instagram page that looks like he runs the angle the other way (towards the toe). But I am 90% sure the one I reglued yesterday was angled back toward the heel.

[Bob Glenn]

Nicholas, I think you are right about the angle of the mortise. IIRC, my totes are mounted this way. Slide the tote up and under the angled mortise then down in the back a glue and insert screw if it has one.