Recently, my beloved 5-1/2″ bench plane fell off the bench, and the handle cracked off at the top so it needed to be replaced. But you have to be careful when removing the soft brass screw that attaches the handle to the plane, because it will scratch and deform easily. In order to prevent that from happening, I wrapped the tip of my flat-blade screwdriver with several loops of electrical tape so that it fit the slot of the screw better. I use the same trick when I need to tighten the screws on my vintage hand saws, because it’s hard to find replacement screws if I damage them.
– Alejandro Balbis
Longueuil, Quebec
