Tote? Toat? Handle? That wooden thing on the back of a plane.

Why is the handle of a plane called a tote?

I got curious and found this 1883 reference in The Imperial dictionary, on the basis of Webster’s English dictionary, Volume 3; by John Ogilvie.

• Toat: A joiner’s name for the handle of a plane.

Knight’s American mechanical dictionary, 1882.

• The bottom of the stock is the sole. The toat is the handle.

Toat is an English variation of tote.

Joseph Moxon used the term “tote” and if you look at the illustrations in Mechanic Exercises (1678), the plane totes look like carrying handles.

Roubo’s planes also had carry handles.

So by my reckoning, they were called totes because they were used for toting around hand planes. I supposed that's equally true of today's planes although that wooden (or plastic) thing on the back looks more like a handle than a tote but who am I to argue with history. 

What do you think toats, totes, or handles?

Mystery wood ball peen hammer handle

The old handle on this ball peen hammer was cracked, duct tape held for awhile but none of the local hardware (or big box) stores had one to fit. Whoever owned it before hadn't found a proper handle either and whittled a larger handle to fit. 

The new handle is mystery wood salvaged from a broken TV tray leg, almost certainly a poor choice for a hammer handle but this hammer is rarely used. 

The handle was shaped with rasps and files, the tenon cut on my table saw and rounded with files. The wedge was found in a pile of sawdust, a walnut scrap that happened to be the right shape. 

I buffed the hammer head with a wire wheel for good measure. Everything got a coat of linseed oil, varnish causes blisters. 

Special thanks to James Thompson for his article on making a hammer handle.
Making a Hammer Handle