Reply To: Mr Sellers will send me broke ;)
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[quote quote=650593]On a side note: does anyone have ideas on how to drill the stepped holes in the tote without a lot of specialty tools? My twist drill bit created some small divots from splinters as I drilled into the top of the tote. I also tried to carve the round hole with my knife, and that wasn’t very good.[/quote]
I don’t know if you consider a drill press( pillar drill) specially tool or not, but drilling a 4” stepped hole is a lot easier with one. I find I miss the mark too often by hand.
Drill the holes before you start shaping. The face will be cleaner.
I drill the larger hole at high speed with a 7/16” Forstner bit 3/8 deep followed bY a long haft spur bit either 1/4” or 5/16”. A shorter spur followed by an electrician’s bit will do.
Don’t drill the Forstner hole too deep. You can always make it deeper on final fit
I drill before cutting the bottom angle and the grain is pretty much along the line it needs to be.
Then I cut the bottom angle and start cutting and filing. Again, a band saw speeds things up. The angles I use are 26° for a #3 or #4, and 27° for the larger bench planes.
Lee valley has a template and directions on their website if you don’t have a pattern already. I just used an old tote, which I found more aesthetic.older totes have longer orn. I’ll post a picture of the first page.
Gramercy (Tools for working wood ) has a great hand cut rasp specifically made for totes and saw handles that has a safe back and is curved. I find it makes the work go quicker. I don’t know what it costs now, but I think I paid $50 for it. Good tool and useful for other stuff.
Bill Bittner’s
Plane Shavings blog
Has three part postings called “make a tote” parts 1, 2, &3 I found really helpful. Re-reading the series, that must be where I found out about the rasp.
Just go to the blog and plug “make a tote” in the search box.
- This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by Larry Geib.
- This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by Larry Geib.