![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/img_1391_edited-2.jpg\" "\\"img_1391_edited-2\\"")
<\/p>\nI like\u00a0my Veritas low-angle, bevel-up smoothing and jack planes, but I do not like their rear handles (totes). The handle\u00a0has broad flat sides, and is more vertical and\u00a0less curvy than a classic Stanley or Lie-Nielsen. \u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While some woodworkers\u00a0may like the design, I find it to be unfriendly to my hand. Here is my prototype (in poplar wood)\u00a0of an\u00a0alternative. The shape is based on the classic handles. It feels right to me.<\/p>\n
Adapting this shape to the Veritas handle mount takes some engineering. The Veritas handle is secured with two bolts that enter the base at an angle. The company supplies a full-scale measured drawing<\/a> of its handle that also helps to design your own version. However, the two-bolt system prevents what I consider a nicely shaped handle because the curve intersects one or both of the bolt pathways.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n My\u00a0solution\u00a0involves using a short front bolt to replace the stock bolt. The counterbored stock rear bolt runs through the\u00a0full length of the handle while the countersunk replacement front bolt\u00a0goes through just the front projection of wood to\u00a0enter its hole\u00a0on the mount. This allows\u00a0the wood above it to be cut away to create a hand-friendly curve\u00a0in a classic style. The\u00a0back of the new\u00a0handle projects\u00a0beyond the mount.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For a permanent handle, bubinga would be the best choice because of its strength. It is also a beautiful wood and will match the Veritas front knob.<\/p>\n I mentioned my dislike of the Veritas bench plane totes in a previous post<\/a>. Since then I learned from Chris Schwarz’ blog that Bill Rittner is making\u00a0superb quality\u00a0replacement\u00a0handles for old Stanley planes<\/a>. I asked Bill if he was making an alternative\u00a0for the Veritas handles. He is not yet but is interested. I hope he will because, while I enjoyed\u00a0developing a solution to the Veritas\u00a0tote “problem,” it was painstaking to make even the prototype in easy-going poplar, inelegantly\u00a0sanded to 120 grit. I’d rather make furniture. Pending further testing and refinement, I think that many otherwise\u00a0happy Veritas bench plane users would appreciate this kind of tote professionally\u00a0made.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/img_1395_edited-2.jpg\" "\\"img_1395_edited-2\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
![<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nFor a permanent handle, bubinga would be the best choice because of its strength. It is also a beautiful wood and will match the Veritas front knob.<\/p>\nI mentioned my dislike of the Veritas bench plane totes in a previous post<\/a>. Since then I learned from Chris Schwarz’ blog that Bill Rittner is making\u00a0superb quality\u00a0replacement\u00a0handles for old Stanley planes<\/a>. I asked Bill if he was making an alternative\u00a0for the Veritas handles. He is not yet but is interested. I hope he will because, while I enjoyed\u00a0developing a solution to the Veritas\u00a0tote “problem,” it was painstaking to make even the prototype in easy-going poplar, inelegantly\u00a0sanded to 120 grit. I’d rather make furniture. Pending further testing and refinement, I think that many otherwise\u00a0happy Veritas bench plane users would appreciate this kind of tote professionally\u00a0made.<\/p>\nA\u00a0helpful\u00a0article, “Totes and Knobs for Handplanes,” by Charles Murray,\u00a0in the November 2009<\/a> Popular Woodworking<\/em> describes the use of a shop-made jig to make a plane tote. The resulting tote has flat sides with roundovers made on the router table. However, it would take considerable additional\u00a0hand work, starting with a thicker\u00a0blank,\u00a0to produce the nice elliptical cross section\u00a0seen in\u00a0Bill’s\u00a0totes.\u00a0<\/p>\nI will have more detail on the design and construction in a future post, and possibly an update from Bill. I also have to do more shop testing of\u00a0the prototype.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I like\u00a0my Veritas low-angle, bevel-up smoothing and jack planes, but I do not like their rear handles (totes). The handle\u00a0has broad flat sides, and is more vertical and\u00a0less curvy than a classic Stanley or Lie-Nielsen. \u00a0 While some woodworkers\u00a0may like the design, I find it to be unfriendly to my hand. Here is my prototype […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools-and-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":826,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions\/826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/img_1392_edited-2.jpg\"){kind=link}