Bailey No. 6 Hand Plane - New Handle

Got this No. 6 to round out my collection and like many of these vintage pieces the handle top was broken off and missing
I know that you can find them on the net but I decided to make it myself. Also decided to make from Cherry wood. The knob is original bu may need an upgrade as well some day.


I copied the original shape in CAD but then decided to go one better and make it my own
 I developed the whole shape in CAD and tried out the fit with paper cutouts.
Two things had to be confirmed with the paper cutouts; The size of the handle and the location of the 30 deg. hole.

The original I felt was a little too small front to back so I looked at increasing that dimension but then I started thinking about a pistol grip

With full size finger forms there is only room for three fingers but often I found using with my index finger aiming forward is comfortable too

This is a tow sided milling and so you have to be able to index the other side accurately
I left 0.030" from the center of the laminate  and so ended up with 0.060" of web between the stock and part

The real problem with this project was getting the hole down the center at 30 deg.

Drilling is impossible

I cut two wood panels and on the radial arm saw cut a groove at 30 deg.

Bonded them together with Gorilla Glue and when the part was finished I could pass a drill thru for clean-up
Sorry no pictures of the blank