Crack in the tote of a plane

[samson]

I have a plane with the tote cracked in half. What is my best option: carve another tote or glue this one? If glue, what kind?

Thanks,

S.

[Lowell Holmes]

Try aligning the tote on a properly sized dowel while glueing with yellow carpenter's glue. You can always carve a new one if it doesn't work. Coat the dowel with wax so the glue doesn't stick.

[samson]

Thanks. I was thinking yellow glue, but for this I wonder about Gorilla glue. It's a rosewood handle.

S.

[nailshooter41]

If it is rosewood, I would think the best would be to use lacquer thinner for a wipe down, then epoxy.

As for Gorilla glue, I finally gave up on that stuff. It stuck when and where I didn't want it to, and didn't when I did. I has some success with it, but a lot more questionable repairs in the end.

Robert

[samson]

Epoxy sounds like a solid choice.

S.

[Lew Hodgett]

If you truly want to repair a cracked piece like this, there is only one good solution.

Laminating epoxy, slow hardener, and micro-balloons.

Mix to the consistency of mayo, slather on all the raw surfaces with a popcicle stick, position and lightly clamp.

At a minimum, let cure for 48-72 hours, remove clamps, clean up excess and let cure another week before putting in service.

A little tip: Coat all exterior surfaces where you don't want the epoxy to stick with candle wax.

As far a Gorilla glue is concerned, it's the most overpriced under peckered adhesive on the planet, IMHO.

A total waste of time and money.

BTW, wait till the temps are at least 65F.

Lew

[Father Haskell]

For rosewood, wash the surfaces to be glued with lacquer thinner to remove the oil, and epoxy. Fill any residual cracks by dripping in superglue and sanding immediately with 400 grit.

[Jeffo]

Very close to what I've been doing with great success.

The local hobby store sells thin wall brass tubing that fits the handle hole perfectly. I cut a piece of tubing to fit the length of the handle, insert tubing into one part of the handle, apply epoxy (Industrial Formulator G2, no lacquer thinner wipe), clamp and leave for a day or two.

I find the tubing helps line things up and keep them there. It can be left in (glued in) to help stop the handle from creeping at the seam, just make sure it's not to long and interferes with the nut that goes on the top.

HTH Jeffo

[Fred the Red Shirt]

This is extremely common due to the cross-grain nature of totes, the brittleness of rosewood and the way the tote is anchored to the bed by a rod clamping it accross the grain.

Changes in humidity cause the wood to expand and contract accross the grain while the rod does not. Over tightening the tote screw under dry conditions will cause the tote to crack when the humidity rises. Under tightening it when humid may cause it to loosen and wobble when dry, making it subject to cracking due to bending t in use.

Of course they also get dropped and have things dropped on them.

The epoxy repair described by others is the norm.

Some folks have suggested using bellevelle springs (conical circular springs resembling washers) under barrel nut to absorb some of the movement. I don't know how that has worked out for them. Let me know if it works...