Plane handle repair
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- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by Dave Ring.
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Hi,
I bought an old No 3 Stanley plane on eBay.
The handle has previously snapped and been glued back together, but badly. You will see in the attached image that there is a huge gap.
The handle seems solid enough, but I’ve no idea what to do next.
Do you think it is worth filling, glueing, breaking apart and regluing, or should I replace it?
Thanks
Darren.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.23 August 2016 at 2:51 pm #139619I would saw it back in half right on the break. That will give you a good, clean surface to reglue and should make the repair almost invisible. You may need to shorten the threaded rod, holding the handle on.The handle not being firmly held to the plane seems to be how they get broken in the first place. Bob L.
Make a new one. This is a good project imo. Hardest part is getting the angle of the tote screw correct. I struggle with it every time, regardless of my use of a drill-press. But it is still fun to make your own tote and you will appreciate your plane all the more. Lee Valley has templates with instructions. Give it a go!
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=63262
- This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by David B.
23 August 2016 at 7:06 pm #139625Or you could just buy one that’s not broke. There a dime a dozen. And then get to using it asap. I just had one come apart three days ago on a Beautiful # 5 1/2 It was all original but like yours the handle had been glued back after Im sure the plane was dropped. Even though they did a great job at gluing it back it still snapped on me so I just went on ebay and found a matching set tote and knob. Rosewood the exact same color as the original ones and walah. Cost me 10.00 just an option. All will work for sure. Cheers
25 August 2016 at 5:58 pm #139693Darren, that looks like a crack that definitely needs to be fixed. Cutting through the break with a saw might not give you as nice a surface as you need for gluing it back together. And it will also shorten the tote a little bit (not necessarily a huge problem). I repaired a couple of totes last year and wrote it up on this forum – here is a link to the post: https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/discussions/topic/stanley-5-tote-restoration/
Hope this gives you some ideas.
I would also recommend scraping off the old finish from your tote and refinishing after the repair. It’ll feel much nicer.
Hi,
Thanks for the posts.
While I quite like the idea of making a new handle from scratch I don’t have the time right now, so I’ve bought a second hand handle set on eBay.
Not received it yet, but hopefully it will be in good condition.
I’ve been picking up cheap planes on eBay where they were too cheap to pass up, and I have one or two other handles that need some work, so I will need to revisit rebuilding handles at some point.
Thanks again,
Darren.
11 October 2016 at 12:32 pm #141302Lee Valley has PDF file templates for making Stanley #2 #3 #4 and 5 plane totes.
John
- This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by John Hannon.
Making a new tote is doable but it’s a fairly involved project. If you have a nice piece of inch thick rosewood on hand and nothing you’d rather be working on, it makes sense.
Good used #3 and #4 planes are common in the wild and can usually be had for far less than a new handle. The totes on the two models are interchangeable. The larger Bailey Pattern planes use a different tote with a hole for a screw on the toe.
Since you say that the tote on your plane is solidly reglued, I’d suggest filling the gap with epoxy and then refinishing. You can disguise the epoxy repair with paint.
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