I am in the process of restoring a bunch of old Stanley/Bailey planes, and many of them had broken or damaged totes/knobs. This was my first attempt at making my own tote/knob set. I chose Zebrawood, and I decided to make 2 knobs and 2 totes. Obviously, the knobs were turned on a lathe. The totes were a bit trickier. First I cut out the outline with a scroll saw. Next, I routered/chiseled them for more shape. I finished the contours by chucking up a sandpaper cone in the lathe, and working the tote on the cone with my hands. The totes and knobs were then finished with many rubbings of a special blend of spar varnish and oil to give them a glossy, durable finish. I quite enjoyed this project, and I will most definitely be making more.
19 comments so far
intheshop
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47 posts in 1005 days
#1 posted 826 days ago
Great looking work.
-- Cole - Rydal, GA
rayn
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127 posts in 1384 days
#2 posted 826 days ago
Looks great!..... good job on the restoring
-- Ray,Iowa
58j35bonanza
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378 posts in 859 days
#3 posted 826 days ago
Real nice, I just restored a #5 and that was a lot of work. Can’t imagine having to make the tote and knob also. Great work.
-- Chuck
Froggy
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71 posts in 828 days
#4 posted 826 days ago
Love the wood figure! Very nice looking handles.
BTW, for those who want to make replacement totes for your planes, Lee Valley has free templates for Stanley and Veritas planes to download, along with some basic instructions: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=63262. So you don’t need to measure and trace the actual ones… :)
Roman Hrytsak
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379 posts in 852 days
#5 posted 826 days ago
Beautiful work with a nice wood. I have also used zebrawood in making a boot and it polishes nicely and I used a gunstock orange finish.
-- Roman:... there are no mistakes, just opportunities for a design change!
steliart
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1286 posts in 854 days
#6 posted 826 days ago
very nice work
-- I am not so rich to buy cheap tools.
Cubby
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28 posts in 2305 days
#7 posted 826 days ago
WO! Awesome is the first thing that comes to mind. Please let me see it on your vintage Stanley, they deserve to be on a Bedrock rather than your relatively late Stanley.
-- Ron Baird, Pennsylvania, WINDGAP375@aol.com
Cantputjamontoast
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306 posts in 1599 days
#8 posted 826 days ago
Holy smokes!!!!
-- "Not skilled enough to wipe jam on toast!"
mcjibbin
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44 posts in 853 days
#9 posted 826 days ago
Yes – Zebrawood polishes up amazingly. It sure does stink though!
Thanks for looking!
bigike
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4023 posts in 1455 days
#10 posted 826 days ago
nice work, lee valley also makes a router bit for making the totes but you seem to have it down. http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=56664&cat=1,46168,46241,46168,46175&ap=1
-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com
JL7
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3602 posts in 1131 days
#11 posted 826 days ago
Very nice!
-- Jeff - I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
blackcherry
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2902 posts in 1989 days
#12 posted 826 days ago
So cool and well done…
Maveric777
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2593 posts in 1243 days
#13 posted 826 days ago
Yea, that is tool porn if I ever seen it!...lol
Outstanding and beautiful! May have to print off a pin up to put out in my shop….lol
Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed seeing this….
-- Dan ~ Texarkana, Tx.
SawDustJack
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28 posts in 827 days
#14 posted 826 days ago
porn ?? yep love it , is on my list as well
rkoorman
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356 posts in 991 days
#15 posted 826 days ago
Hahaha, Toolporn. That’s very funny. I also am restoring some planes. It might me a nice idea to use some different woods like zebrawood. Thanks for the tip.
-- http://thewoodworkersattic.blogspot.com/
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