{"id":4109,"date":"2021-10-21T21:18:34","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T21:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2024-02-08T08:48:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T08:48:32","slug":"workshop-new-plane-handle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=4109","title":{"rendered":"HOME\/DiY: Workshop – New Plane Handle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tote handle done, frog removed. Knob next?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I made a wooden handle for one of my Stanley Handyman planes some few years back. Don\u2019t recall now if that was \u2018cause the plastic one broke, or simply because I just prefer the aesthetics of wood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The old broken DIY handle (dark!), new one, and a \u2018blank\u2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Masked it off in situ\u2019\u2026 why not?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I made the original replacement from some very, very<\/em> hard wood. Very hard, but also very dry and brittle. So, not like oak. Don\u2019t know what type of wood that previous handle was. It lasted longer than I expected, but finally broke, just a day or two ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Varnish, coat #1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My planes all need cleaning, setting up and sharpening. And I really ought to sell a few. As I have more than I need. I\u2019d like all the planes I keep\/use sporting wooden handles and knobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Varnish, coat #2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Making the handles is relatively easy, with gear I already own. And it\u2019s really pleasurable, shaping all the curves. But the near spherical knobs would be a lot easier to do on a lathe, a tool I don\u2019t as yet have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Varnish, coat #3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I tried to make two handles today, using soft construction pine. So, if they fail – and the first attempt did split on the thin forward \u2018foot\u2019 of the base – it\u2019s all good practice for when I finally get around to making some in a more durable (perhaps prettier?) wood. Not sure what might be best: oak, cherry, yew? I really don\u2019t know! Something to look into. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Varnish, coat #4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And\u2026 whaddya know!? As I\u2019m sitting working on this, Steve Ramsey gives way to Paul Seller\u2019s on YouTube, and – with no input from me – after videos on saw horses and other stuff, up pops his plane handle tutorial! Serendiplodocus or what!? It turns out he uses yew. So I\u2019ll try and get me some o\u2019that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Varnish, coat #5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And now, the following day, a sand with 255 grit, and a sixth (and I hope final?) coat of varnish. I\u2019ll give it an hour or so to dry. And if it\u2019s still tacky – the previous coats were still a bit sticky after 24 hours! – I might speed things up with a hair dryer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sanded and lacquered.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then I\u2019ll remove the masking tape, clean and polish the rest of the rest of the plane, and sharpen the blade, reassemble, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmmm!? Can\u2019t stop fettling it! Wasn\u2019t quite happy with the previous \u2018final\u2019 gloss varnish coat. There were some odd full spots. So I\u2019ve sanded with 255 grit again, and will do one last \u2018final\u2019 coat later today. And that really will be the last, however it comes out. As I need to move on to the front end k-nob!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lightly sanded with 255 grit paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, I think that\u2019s seven coats of gloss varnish in total? And three or four bouts of light sanding. I finally threw in the towel, finish wise. It\u2019s far from perfect – but then the handle is pretty rough \u2018n\u2019 rustic anyway – but one has to stop fiddling and move on at some point! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The block of timber beneath the de-frogged plane, as pictured below, is going to furnish me with a number of knobs, I hope. How long will such softwood replacements last, I wonder? What I need is to find some yew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The wood beneath the plane will furnish a knob!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I made a wooden handle for one of my Stanley Handyman planes some few years back. Don\u2019t recall now if that was \u2018cause the plastic one broke, or simply because I just prefer the aesthetics of wood. Anyway, I made the original replacement from some very, very hard wood. Very hard, but also very dry … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “HOME\/DiY: Workshop – New Plane Handle”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-14h","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11436,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions\/11436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}