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I wanted to share some work I did on a cheap hand plane I recently acquired. It had plastic handles and I wanted to replace them with wooden ones using my Goldie. The front knob was turned on the SS. The grip was rough cut with a hand held jig saw screwed to the bottom of a worktable (I don't have a band saw). The greatest convenience with the SS was the disc sander. That enabled me to quickly round the grip to its final shape.

The handles are mad of red oak I had laying around the shop and a strip of alder (courtesy of Mark/mbcabinetmaker) for an accent. The long grain in the grip runs parallel to the sole which provides strength for the fingers on the top and bottom of the grip. A carriage bolt runs through the center to provide cross-grain support.

Lastly, I used a 1400 grit pad on the sanding disc to smooth the sole and it put a near mirror finish on it.

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Nicely Done!!!!!

Tools beget tools, great job!

Nothing better than seeing an old tool brought back to life and in better shape than before -- Great job there!!

Very nicely done. I also noticed the Harbor Freight clamp in the background. I went and bought a few of them today as they were on sale. Unfortunately the 12" sale clamps were all gone but I bought 4 24" and 2 36" at 7.99 and 8.99 ea. I thought they were pretty good for the price. I quickly learned when i got home why they are so cheap. One of the 24" clamps broke as soon as I clamped it to something. That was pretty disappointing to say the least. But it is repairable and will be much better once repaired. They use these little plastic round columns to hinge the handle with and if you put too much pressure on it boom it breaks. So that is the weak point of those clamps. But a quick drilling and a thru bolt and nut should have it back in business.

wannabewoodworker wrote:Very nicely done. I also noticed the Harbor Freight clamp in the background. I went and bought a few of them today as they were on sale. Unfortunately the 12" sale clamps were all gone but I bought 4 24" and 2 36" at 7.99 and 8.99 ea. I thought they were pretty good for the price. I quickly learned when i got home why they are so cheap. One of the 24" clamps broke as soon as I clamped it to something. That was pretty disappointing to say the least. But it is repairable and will be much better once repaired. They use these little plastic round columns to hinge the handle with and if you put too much pressure on it boom it breaks. So that is the weak point of those clamps. But a quick drilling and a thru bolt and nut should have it back in business.

A pin(metal dowel) works better than a bolt.

These are not suited for heavy duty clamping. They slip when they don't break.

Also the pads like to slip off.

But hey! For $2!

Currently 1.99 here(12")

JPG40504 wrote:A pin(metal dowel) works better than a bolt.

These are not suited for heavy duty clamping. They slip when they don't break.

Also the pads like to slip off.

But hey! For $2!

Currently 1.99 here(12")

That is if they have not already been scarfed up before you get there. The pad slipping problem could easily be rectified with a little CA glue. And where Mr. JPG would I source metal pins like what you mentioned? I would think a machine screw with washers and nyloc nut would be better than a pin but hey what do I know??

wannabewoodworker wrote:That is if they have not already been scarfed up before you get there. The pad slipping problem could easily be rectified with a little CA glue. And where Mr. JPG would I source metal pins like what you mentioned? I would think a machine screw with washers and nyloc nut would be better than a pin but hey what do I know??

5/16" od threaded spacer 1/4" long. Hole drilled thru both sides(clearance to the threads of a thru bolt that threads into the spacer., but leave the shoulder on the 'unbroken' side). The bolt need only be 7/8" to just fit into the hole on the opposite side.(tapped also would be better than clearance!) The 5/16" provides more bearing surface and as the plastic has spoken, the stronger the better.

Wow,Nice tools you have there! Great Job!