The first bench plane that I purchased was a Buck Bros jack plane. I bought it at Home Depot on a whim. I typically like to research products before purchasing them, but I failed to do that with this plane. It looked nice enough, but I didn’t really know what to look for at the time. Alas, my Buck Bros plane was a big disappointment because I didn’t know how to tune it up and it left a rough, chunky finish on the wood. I wanted to know what was so special about those hand planes that everyone liked to rave about, but my Buck Bros failed to give me a satisfactory answer. This changed when, a few months later, my father-in-law offered to give me some old and rusted hand tools that belonged to his father: mostly saws, drills, and a few hand planes. Two of the planes turned out to be gems in the making: The Keen Kutter K5 plane and the Stanley 45 plane.
The K5 plane was made by Stanley and is built exactly like their Bedrock planes. It also has a corrugated sole. It was obviously a very high quality plane, but it needed a ton of work due to years of neglect. The whole plane was rusted and covered with dirt. The mouth was unevenly filed and enlarged. The tote was cracked in the middle and the horn busted off. The japanning was hit or miss. The iron was poorly sharpened. Unfortunately I neglected to take a photo of it in this state, but believe me it was bad. So how did I go about refurbishing it?
- Soaked all the pieces (sans tote and knob) in a bucket of Evaporust. The Evaporust worked wonders on removing the rust.
- Removed all the loose japanning and painted the sole black, using Rustoleum hammered finish spray paint.
- Made an extra effort at flattening the sole.
- Turned a new knob and carved a tote out of Cebil (Patagonian Rosewood). The knob isn’t the exact shape I was going for, but it’s based on the older Stanley low knobs (this plane originally came with a low knob). I’m pretty happy with this choice of wood for the plane because it’s a nice medium shade and has some beautiful wood grains and colors.
- Installed a new Lie-Nielson iron and a Lie-Nielsen chipbreaker in order to fill in the enlarged mouth.
- Filed the mouth so that it is even.
With the new LN cutter and chipbreaker, this plane performs like a dream and is comparable to premium hand planes produced today. It has easily become my favorite bench plane to work with and has a special place in the shop since it belonged to my wife’s grandfather. It has also made my father-in-law very happy to see his father’s tools given new life and being cared for.
Now on to the eye candy.
-- "hold fast to that which is good"
18 comments so far
Don W
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9954 posts in 737 days
#1 posted 538 days ago
that is eye candy. Very nice!!
-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)
Joe Lyddon
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6395 posts in 2222 days
#2 posted 538 days ago
That is absolutely WONDERFUL!
It’s nice to see good old tools be revived like that and end up better than new.
Thank you for sharing!
Great job!
-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"
ShaneA
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3965 posts in 768 days
#3 posted 538 days ago
Looks awesome, what ever became of the Buck Bros plane? I really like the handle/knob, wood choice was very good.
Brit
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4195 posts in 1012 days
#4 posted 538 days ago
Nice one Brandon.
-- Andy -- Old Chinese proverb say: If you think something can't be done, don't interrupt man who is doing it.
Brandon
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3755 posts in 1121 days
#5 posted 538 days ago
Thanks guys. I still have the Buck Bros plane and it can actually make an okay shaving, now that I know what I’m doing. I’m sure if I invested a little more time on it it would perform even better, but I’ve already got two other Jack planes so I’m not planning on investing much more in it. Plus it’s ugly. :-)
-- "hold fast to that which is good"
Mauricio
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5138 posts in 1321 days
#6 posted 538 days ago
Dude, my first plane was a Buck Brothers Jack, after spending a couple of hours trying to flatten the sole I returned it and went and got a Stanley block plane from Lowes. Not vintage, but works great.
That is a beautiful plane Brandon, nice shavings, enjoy.
-- Mauricio - Woodstock, GA - "Confusion is the Womb of Learning, with utter conviction being it's Tomb" Prof. T.O. Nitsch
Don W
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9954 posts in 737 days
#7 posted 538 days ago
Buck Brothers Jack…..sounds like a Tennessee sour mash :-)
-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)
Mike
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63 posts in 552 days
#8 posted 536 days ago
Nice plane but I have a couple of questions, whats Evaporust, and where can I get it. I’m starting a restore on a baily no 4
-- But hon I need this tool.......
Don W
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9954 posts in 737 days
#9 posted 536 days ago
Evaporust is a rust remover. Some tractor supply’s carry it. Amazon has it along with several other internet resources.
-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)
Brandon
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3755 posts in 1121 days
#10 posted 536 days ago
Evaporust is ambrosia to the vintage tool deities. It seriously works wonders AND its non-toxic. I’ve used naval jelly, electrolysis, and other methods, but Evaporust is my favorite. And its reusable, so don’t throw it away after one use. Wait till its as black as oil. In addition to the locations that Don mentioned, you can purchase it at Autozone and Harbor Freight. Try to find it in the gallon size.
Best wishes on your Bailey #4 restoration. Don’t forget to take before pictures and post the restore here on Lumberjocks!
-- "hold fast to that which is good"
Don W
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9954 posts in 737 days
#11 posted 536 days ago
Here is some help with the restore if you need it.
-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)
Mike
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63 posts in 552 days
#12 posted 535 days ago
Thanks for all the info I appreicate it, I tried navel jelly on it and that didnt do much rust removal, I post some pics soon, thanks again
-- But hon I need this tool.......
Lifesaver2000
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463 posts in 1282 days
#13 posted 535 days ago
Another source of Evaporust is O’Reilly Auto Parts. Toymike, I see in your profile where you are located, and the O’Reilly site shows five stores in or near your city. Price is about $23 per gallon.
Joe Lyddon
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6395 posts in 2222 days
#14 posted 534 days ago
Evapo-Rust
-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"
Smitty_Cabinetshop
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6391 posts in 788 days
#15 posted 525 days ago
Missed commenting on this installment. I do like the K5 – funny how some jack planes just work better than others for no particular reason. I have a single low knob Stanley in my arsenal and it’s my go-to jack. Probably the blade’s camber, if I’d have to guess, but it just goes and goes when I reach for it. Sounds like your Keen Kutter is the same for you. Congrats, nice work.
-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. -- OldTools Archive
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