When I bought my Tote Turner a few months ago from Woodyah, I picked up this block tail accessory at the same time. This, like the Tote Turner, is printed on a 3D printer and fits Stanley block planes.

However, I wanted to install it on my Ohio Tool Co O9 1/2 block plane. Similar in size, it’s nearly identical to a Stanley No 9 1/2.

Unfortunately, the threads on my Ohio Tool Co plane are not the same as a Stanley, so the brass hold down piece won’t work. Luckily, I have an old Ohio Tool Co brass blade adjuster wheel in my parts bin, so I cut the very bottom off of the brass wheel and filed four notches in it so I could turn it with a screwdriver.

My little homemade brass hold down screw was a little too small, so I used a washer underneath to hold down the tail better.

Everything worked, but I was not a big fan of the big black knob to the handle. I wanted something more historic and natural looking, so I decided to make a new knob out of cherry.

I turned a 2″ diameter knob on the lathe and added a 1/4″ tenon on the bottom.

Then I sawed the ball off the tail and drilled a 1/4″ hole to accept the tenon from my wood handle.

After I cleaned the rust off the block plane, I wanted all the parts to match in color and sheen, so I japanned everything during a hot day so I could use the sun as my oven.

After a couple of weeks, when the japanning dried, I put the plane together to see how everything turned out. As you can see, my japanning looks similar to the old Stanley 45 japanning behind it.

The only thing left to do was to sharpen the blade and try it out. The plane works fine. Ironically, the handle doesn’t make the plane cut any better, which begs the question, what was the purpose of them? The one thing I hear is that they were good for craftsmen who have arthritic hands, making the plane easier to hold.

Honestly, I don’t know how often I’ll use this plane as I already have a couple of my favorite block planes that I use, but it’s still a fun plane to own.