Stanley plane rehabs

[Dan_Shade]

i'm getting old and senile, I thought Dave made that post, Stew!

[Engineer]

I've done a few tools with electrolysis, but no planes yet.   It works very well and there are some interesting tricks over and above what you've learned here and on other sites.   One of the things that all of the different electrolysis sites tell you to use is Arm and Hammer Washing Soda.  It is just a weak solution of sodium carbonate.  Now, you can even use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) but it is just a much weaker chemical solution.  I have been working on a large-scale restoration of a 125-year-old cast iron fountain, that came from a schoolyard, and we have been using HTH pool chemicals for the electrolyte.  There is something called pH Plus that is 98% sodium carbonate, and works extremely well.   We are soaking 400+ pound sections of this fountain in a giant pool made of plywood and sheet plastic, and we use 500 galllons of water and one container of this HTH stuff.  I guess you  could use about a couple tablespoons worth for every gallon of water for a small project.

Another trick is that we use (for the big stuff) sheets of concrete reinforcing mesh suspended above and below the piece.  Anything will work, but the more you can "surround" the piece you are trying to get the rust off of, the better it works.  We are hard-wiring the mesh to a 12-amp charger, and in three days this century-old piece of cast iron is as rust free as the day it was made.  The mesh eventually just gets eaten up.  DON'T use stainless steel or anything else except raw steel or iron for your sacrificial piece.  What I've done for smaller stuff is line the perimeter of a Rubbermaid bin or tote with mesh, or even chicken wire, and put the piece to be cleaned in the middle.  Be patient, leave it for a day or two, more if it's really bad.  When you take it out of the bath, use a Scotch-Brite pad to clean it up and then immediately dry it and oil it lightly, just a thin coat because something fresh out of an electrolysis bath will "flash rust" instantly.   Wire brushes and sandpaper are not necessary and will damage the patina.

For refinishing planes, I just use a high-quality oil-based enamel.  There are places online that you can buy original black japanning, but the process is very meticulous and labor intensive, and you need to bake the pieces, and I don't feel that it's worth it.  In another hundred years when the next person has to restore my planes again, nobody will ever know or care.  I also like to use a different color than black, I like dark green, burgundy, blues, etc.  Black is boring.

Rosewood handles are most common.  Thay can range very highly in color, from almost white to a deep chocolate brown.  I'll bet most plane handles that are original are rosewood.  Cocobolo is not as common but has been used, and the Stanley #40 and some other obscure models used beech handles.  It's best to save as much patina as you can, I usually just get it clean and try to get any paint splatters off.  I have a couple planes that have no handles and I will probably make them out of something interesting, I have some goncalo alves and some large chunks of curly ash and apple in the shop and they proably will yield an interesting plane handle or two. 

Any of you guys that want to really get into this, there is an old tools mailing list that I have been on for close to a decade now, and there are tons of resources (and some really cool auctions) where you can get into it as deep as your wallet and interest will allow.

[Dave Shepard]

Thanks for the extra details on electrolosis Engineer. I definately have a few that will need all the help they can get if they are to be made workable.

I have a friend who makes granite lapping plates, he hass one that is about 8"x20" for me. Will see how that works out. They are actually originally made for a friend of his that makes a proprietary line of sharpening products, and lapping them on the plates is the only way to true them back up.

Here is the 605 Bedrock ready to go in service. I can see a few details that need to be dealt with, like cleaning up the forward tote screw. : I took a few shavings off of the pine block it's sitting on. Doesn't take a full width cut, as the blade has a good curve to it. Don't know if it should have been ground square or not. I was able to take a .0005" shaving, which is almost transparent. I put two coats of tung oil on the tote, and buffed with a cloth after rubbing with 0000 steel wool.



I have two No.4s I want to work on next. A later one that I'm giving to a friend, and one that may be a very early plane. It doesn't appear to have many markings, but does have a Stanley thumbwheel, which should be left handed. Will have to investigate. I also have this 1887-1888 No.10 that I scrounged  :D ;) ;D out of an antique shop for $50.


If anyone else has any planes they'd like to show and tell, feel free, doesn't have to be Stanley either.

Dave

[Dave Shepard]

The old No.4 appears to be a Type 4. 1874-1884. Stanley bench plane dating page


Dave

[Dodgy Loner]

The #605 looks great!  I guess the camber of the iron depends on what you're going to use it for.  I use my #5 for straightening short boards.  It's less tiresome to use than a jointer.  Then again, it ain't a bedrock - it's just an old craftsman, so it wouldn't do a good job of smoothing anyway.  I have a pretty decent camber ground into it.  For my #4 Stanley smoother, I only relieve the corners so I can take almost a full-width shaving.  The smoother is a bailey-pattern sweetheart and works so well I haven't coughed up the dough for a more expensive plane yet.

[thedeeredude]

ok, here are some non stanleys.

This is a millers falls no. 8, equivalent to a stanley no. 3  $8 at the green dragon farm market.




This is a sargent 410 c, equivalent to a stanley no. 4-1/2 corrugated.  From an antique tool dealer.




This is a full size wagon I made over the weekend, I was bored.



Ha, just kidding, it's an antique gruber.  The antique gruber wagon works is about a half hour from me.  Awesome museum with lots of antique tools.  It is described as the door being shut after work one day and never opened again. 

[Engineer]

I don't have pictures of any of mine, I bought a bunch and had a bunch from my grand-dad that are all in storage, waiting for me to do some kind of restoration.  I have found that there are a few brands that were either made by Stanley for others or were based on Stanley designs.  I have some Keen Kutters which are the "K" series (not the 'KK' series) that are Stanley Bedrocks, I have a couple older Craftsman planes, #4 and #6 equivalent to Stanleys that I swear came out of the same mold, and a Sargent 'VBM' (another Bedrock equivalent) also a Winchester #4, and I have a Stanley S4 and S5 which were stamped steel rather than cast iron.  They are tough to restore and have look good.

[thedeeredude]

Pictures engineer   You know how impatient old tool addicts are :D

[Handy Andy]

  Bought an old #5 off ebay, and cleaned it up and lapped etc, planes pretty well, but the rust seems to come out of the pores.  Spose it needs that electralysis done to it, was wondering if maybe that rust reaper would kill the rust back in the pores?  Jim

[Engineer]

The electrolysis will get rid of any rust on a piece, no matter what size the pores of the metal, it will also expose any hairline cracks or other faults that paint or japanning might cover.  What is very important is that after you get the piece out of the zap tank and clean it off, you need to dry it and either paint it or oil it immediately.  I usually will clean something off and then immediately put it in a preheated oven at about 200 degrees to get rid of all the water.  Any flash rust the forms can be wiped off with an oiled rag, or if you paint the item, I have found that a product called "Rust Reformer" sold by Rustoleum works very well.  It goes on like a thin flat black paint and dries almost instantly.  I have tested its' "rust-proof-ness" by spraying parts of my mill - after over a year of exposure with nothing but the Rust Reformer on them, there is still no sign of rust.  You could paint a whole plane with the stuff and then lap the sole afterwards, especially if it's a not-too-valuable plane.  Like I said earlier, gloss oil enamel is a good coating for a user plane, and it looks good too.  The Valspar stuff from Tractor Supply is good.   I bought a can of John Deere green and I think I'll paint all my cleaned planes with it.   ;D

[Dave Shepard]

That 3C in the first thread has been my go to plane for finishing scarf joints and other repair parts in timbers for the last year. I got the hankering for a larger plane and I remembered the 605. It was in the middle of an abandoned sole lapping that was taking forever, so I had to clean it up a little and get the rust off of it. I put it in service last week, and I am really impressed with the plane. It cuts so smoothly and effortlessly. The iron is heavily cambered, as I mentioned a couple of years ago. : I have another iron that I am working on that I will take just a little off the corners. The current iron is almost like a scrub plane. The sole is good enough for the timber work I am doing, but I want to finish lapping the sole and cheeks. Most of the scratching from the name on the side is gone. I don't mind owners marks in the wood, but it doesn't look too good on the cheeks. I've got a No.6 that I want to lap really square so I can set up a shooting board to use with it. I have a regular No.5 somewhere, I'd like to tune that up and compare it to the Bedrock and see how much difference there is.

[dovetails]

Just wondered if I am the only one taught to alway lay a plane on it's side when setting it down? I see all the photos of them setting upright,and grindge,picturing my dad saying "what did I teach you boy!"  To this day,even the rusty plane out in the shop lies on it's side on the shelf,can't remember whan the last time I used it was.

[beenthere]

When the plane is being used and the blade is in cutting position, I learned to lay it on its side. But when not being used, the blade was 'stored' and not exposed for cutting - then store it upright.
Made sense to me.

[clww]

Great thread here. I just found it today while I was surfing. I've collected Stanley planes for the past 15 years and have about 75 of them, so far.

[Dave Shepard]

If I put down a sharp plane, it is parked on a little board under the toe, or if away from the bench, it's on it's side. I've got a special spot for the planes, I'll have to get a clearer pic tomorrow.

[SwampDonkey]

I have a special spot for my one Stanley plane to. In my new tool cabinet, where it slides into a shoe so it can't move. The shoe fits into the round knob and goes all the way to the blade. it looks like your first one Dave. But not the rust and dirt. Shame the abuse that plane suffered. What takes that rust off a might quick is a felt wheel and honing compound. You'll see your reflection. ;D



It is a little dusty, but no rust. ;D I have had this plane 20 years and I think I only used it to plane down a door edge in the old house, where it would catch on the casing. Earthquakes have a tendency to shift door casings. ;) :D

[Dave Shepard]

I really like this Bedrock. As you can see, the cheeks need more lapping, but they are good enough for what I do. Only reason I'd probably finish them is if I was to use it as a shooting plane. For the record, my planes go on a little block of wood, or on their side normally. I will, however, put them on clean wood for a photo op. :D

605 Bedrock on the job: