New Tote for My Trusty #4

The plane I've used the most over the last 7 years is a type 19 Stanley #4 that I got for free.  It used to belong to a man that taught shop at a local high school.  When I got it, the tote was broken and I made a new one from maple.

Type 19 Stanley #4

Tote still bears some layout marks

I've used this plane a lot and have gotten used to the tote.  But a few weeks ago I repaired the totes of two other planes and I really liked the feel of them.  So I thought I'd make a new tote for the trusty #4.

Repaired totes: Stanley #4, type 9 at left, Stanley #3, type 19 at right

When I made the maple tote for the trusty #4, I used the Lee Valley template and at the time I had power tools, including a drill press.  I don't have access to those tools now, so this time it's with hand tools.  First I made a prototype in poplar.  I made two "final" totes from unknown woods that might be from the mahogany family.

Both unknown woods were diffuse porous, far more tyloses in the darker one

I started by getting the angle of the threaded rod directly from the plane and comparing it to the template.

Angle of the threaded rod - about 63°

Angle on template was about 64°

I altered the template slightly with the new angle and transferred some lines to the blank.  When boring the through hole for the threaded rod, you first have to bore a larger hole at the top for the 7/16" barrel nut to an appropriate depth.  That depth is shown on the template, but some adjustment might be needed later - just don't bore too deep or you'll have to shim the barrel nut with small washers.

Boring the through-hole from top edge to half way, then came from bottom edge to join

Bored a little too deep on the prototype so made some washers to shim the barrel nut
(picture out of order)

Then cut the angle that will become the tote's foot

Now comes a tricky part.  With a drill press, this is no problem, but when using hand tools I struggled to come up with a way to bore the 21/32" deep (it doesn't need to be anywhere near that deep), 9/16" diameter hole that sits over the "boss" that the tote's threaded rod screws into.  This hole is perpendicular to the angled cut that defined the foot, but there is already the hole for the threaded rod, so there is nothing for the lead screw of the 9/16" auger bit to pull into.

Bottom of tote shows layout lines for the 9/16" hole, the hole with big chip-out
and inside the hole you can see the 5/16" through hole for the threaded rod

Here's how I did it.  First I made a jig - a squared-up piece of oak with a 9/16" hole bored straight through it.  I clamped that jig to the tote blank as best as I could so the jig could guide the auger bit.  But it was tough clamping the jig to the blank because the angled bottom that the hole was being bored into made it so that one clamp face had to press on the corner of the blank.

Jig clamped to one of the mahogany tote blanks

... But the jig slipped so I aborted

To allow the clamp to grip better, I sawed a small flat for the non-movable jaw of the clamp to rest against, parallel to the blank's foot.  But it couldn't be very big or I'd cut away some wood that would eventually become the horn of the tote.  It worked out, but still wasn't ideal.  I'd love to know if other people have a better solution.

One solution would be to bore the 9/16" hole before boring the 5/16" through hole for the threaded rod.  But then I'd have the issue of having to start the 5/16" through hole somewhere inside the 9/16" boss hole.  If I could bore all the way through from the top, maintaining straight and plumb this would be a cinch.  But over about 4.5", I didn't think I'd exit where I needed to.

And now as I write this I'm thinking of a better way to make the boring jig.  I could have glued a fence to the side of it that would reference on the side of the tote blank.  Then clamp the fence to the side of the tote blank to keep it in place much more firmly.  Why didn't I think of that before?

It worked out OK though - just not easy.

Anyway, with that hole bored, I could test it out in the plane body and get to the shaping.

Testing the fit of the unshaped tote to the plane body

Testing the fit of the poplar prototype after some shaping

I didn't take many pictures during shaping, but did want to note here that boring the 1 1/4" hole where the web between thumb and first finger goes did not o well.  I aborted all three attempts, practically ruining the reddish mahogany tote.  The expansive bit I used started great, but bogged down half-way through.  I came from the other side, but it bogged down once the lead screw had nothing to grab on to.  I ended up using a coping saw to remove the waste.

After sawing out the general shape, final shaping was done with chisels, rasps and files, finishing with sandpaper to smooth things out.

Work holding was a challenge, but this worked

Here's the darker mahogany tote fitted to the plane

When tightened, I could slip a couple thicknesses of paper under the front ...

... so I planed a little off the back end of the bottom, though it did little good

The totes are solid on the plane, no wiggle at all.  The small hole, just forward of the large hole on the bottom, fits over another boss in the plane body and I got a good tight fit which really helps the stability.

And here are the three totes all shaped.

The three stooges, er, totes

And with the mahogany totes oiled

In the end I selected the darker mahogany tote, even though I like the color of the lighter one better.  For the lighter colored mahogany tote, when boring the hole for the thumb web, the bit diverged from plan and went about 1/8" too deep into the keeper wood.  So that web area is thinner than I wanted it.

And here she is - new tote on my trusty #4

If the dark mahogany proves not to be up to the task, I can always replace it with the red mahogany tote or the original maple tote.  But so far it looks good.  I guess I was very much used to the feel of the maple tote because this one feels less substantial.  But I'm sure I'll get used to it in time.