# Making New Cocobolo Handles/Totes & Knobs Part 1 of 2



## BigRedKnothead (Dec 22, 2014)

I got a wild hair to upgrade the wood on my Lie Nielsen planes from the stock cherry to cocobolo. There's always more than one way to get the job done, but I'll share my way. There's lots of good pics along the way to help. So here goes.

Safety note: Most all of us are at least mildly allergic to rosewood and other exotics. Where a mask....or you'll wish you had. Just drill cocobolo makes my eyes and nose itch.

*The Handles:*





You'll want some 1x5" (at least) stock. It needs to be that full inch thick. Quartersawn is preferable. If your remaking handles for a stanley plane, Lee valley has great templates on their site as seen in the background. Since I'm making handles for an LN, I'm just using the old ones as patterns.

I think the best way is to roughly lay them out, then figure out where your gonna drill the holes for the posts. Doing that here:




First drill a hole that is the correct diameter for your brass posts/heads. Drill this down a little ways so you know your into the handle. You'll finish the depth later. Then drill the post hole all the way down. I picked bit that was even a little bigger than the stock hole- to give myself a little wiggle room. Your gonna need a long bit too. I had to buy one. Do everything you can to drill these straight. However, don't freak out if it doesn't come out the bottom perfect center. You can make some adjustments with a rat tail file or something. If you really jack it up, glue a dowel and try again. No one will ever know.




Now that you have post holes, you can line up the handle or pattern.




Figure out the correct forstner bits for your curves. Most of mine were around 1 1/4". Then cut of the rest of the waste with a bandsaw, jigsaw, or coping saw.
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If you cut these out with paper patterns you should be good. Since I attempted to trace another handle, I had to eyeball and rasp a bit to get the profile just right.
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You can save a lot of rasp work with a 1/2" router bit. Notice you only round the sides! And please use a clamp if you do this.




I've seen guys use an old transitional frame to hold totes still, which is ingenious. Don't have one of those lying around, so I put a spade bit in the vise for a solid "post."




Bust out the rasps and files. This is what will make this nice....and not so machine made. Round all the edges further. Make it your own. If your gonna do a lot of these, pick up a Gramercy handle makers rasp. It's the perfect too for the job.
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Every handle is gonna need countersunk holes for fitting each plane. Just gotta figure what you need and make it happen. Also a good time to finish drill the hole for the brass in the top of the handle to the correct depth.
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Limited to 10 pics.....so check out *part 2*.

Reactions: Like 1 | Great Post 1


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## ripjack13 (Dec 22, 2014)

Very nice!!! I love it Dan!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## cabomhn (Dec 22, 2014)

Awesome, very nice handles! I need to go find those templates that would be really helpful. Thanks for the tutorial I'll probably be making some soon. Nice chunk of cocobolo there too


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## BigRedKnothead (Dec 22, 2014)

@cabomhn Here you go:

Lee Valley Plane handle templates

Reactions: Thank You! 2


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## Terry Ragon (Dec 23, 2014)

Very nice work, Dan!
Thanks for documenting and sharing this.
The coco really DOES kick up the LN's a bit!


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