Hand Plane Restoration #1: Stanley Bench Plane

Great info. I’ve been wanting to try electrolytic rust removal but not gotten around to it. Any thoughts about getting a hock blade and chipbreaker?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Nice!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Wayne -

I am getting a Hock blade & chip braker. I am going to use this iron & chip breaker in a dowel making jig (hope to post that later!).

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

David are you going to try this on the body of the plane? Also, are you planning to lap the sole?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I have a couple of old Bedrock planes that belonged to my great granfather, and I’ve been wanting to clean them up. I can’t wait to try this out. I also can’t wait to see the look on my neighbor’s face when I’m standing in the driveway looking over a bucket with a battery charger and wires running to it while wearing rubber gloves and safety goggles!

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY

Wayne -

I knew you would ask that . . . !

This worked out really well and I was pleased with the results. The plane body is next in the tank followed by lapping and a new plane iron chip breaker set. I guess the next project will be a shooting board thanks to you guys!

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

JP -

It does look kind of funny with all the wires and bubbles! I did get a lot of funny looks from bypassers . . . should have gotten some video of thier faces as they tried to figure out what I was doing!

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Hey, JP what size bedrock planes? Be careful cleaning them. They may be best left original.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I was wondering about that, Wayne. I’m am very unfamiliar with planes, but I’ll get the numbers off of them and let you know. I may even take some pictures if I get a chance. They are in bad shape. Apparently my great granfather and grandfather really put some hard miles on them. I ran across them last summer when I found my grandfather’s old wooden tool chest. I was so excited to find them, but nobody could understand since they were just “junk”. Oh well… one man’s trash…...

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY

Wayne -

Good advice as always! Just for clarity, I cleaned this plane because it has no other value than just a tool I wanted to tune-up. Obviously some tools should be left in thier original state so you don’t alter value.

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Thanks David.

I would agree this plane is a good candidate for restoration. There are lots of them in service. But with some planes selling for in the multiple hundreds to thousands of dollars, it pay to determine if the plane has any sigificant collector’s value. Ebay is a good way to do it.

Check out what Bedrocks, Stanley #1s and #2s sell for. It may open folks eyes.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Body should go into the tank tonight. We are packing for vacation later this week . . .

Thanks for the link for the Hock blade set!

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Thanks David, I’ve been wanting to know how to use this electrolysis cleaning method. Now I have it. Thanks again.
Tom

-- Thos. Angle

Tom -

You’re welcome! I had a lot of fun with this . . . very impressed with how clean the blade was afterwards. I will be using this technique in the future!

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

David;

Fantastic information. It really makes me want to go buy something rusty!

Lee

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Lee -

Good to hear from you! Thanks for the kind comment!

I have a lot of rusty stuff I am going to work on.

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Hey David:

That’s pretty cool information!!!!! I love how you go after stuff!!!!!! .........now be careful, one wrong touch of a wire and ZZZZZZZZZap, there goes the house siding again!!!!

I like that David…........Neil

Hey Neil, great to hear from you! Curious what you are up to . . .

LOL I was very careful with the wires :-) no shocks from the DC current.

The house is going well – siding is going up quickly under the direct supervision of an on site engineer. Good timing as the weather is starting to turn!

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Cool! I will save this for future use.

-- Bob Lance, DE

Thanks for the informative post, David. Between this one and Wayne’s post on the citric acid approach, I have a lot to try out! You guys always provide great in-depth stuff.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Lance & Jeff -

Thanks!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Great job David, something to try on the old planes I have collected this year.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

David, Thanks for the great information. I have just recently acquired a couple of older hand saws that were my grandfathers. I am wondering now if this may be the way to look in to cleaning them of some the rust they have accumulated.
any idea if the trick would work with them as well?

Thanks again

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

Chris -

This will work on your handsaws. One site I saw did one end at a time. You could also just find a larger container or tank to fit the blade. One word of caution is to make sure you do not de-value the saws by cleaning and removing patina. Send Wayne a PM about this as he is a great resource in this area. In summery the electrolytic process will work for any iron or steel tool. Let me know how it goes!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Chris – Try this link

http://norsewoodsmith.com/node/28

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Chris -

Excellent website link from Wayne (as I would expect!).

Two observations. (1) The anode he is using is somewhat limiting as the electrolytic process is “line-of-sight” so what I would reccommend is a couple of long pieces of rebar connected by wire set-up with one bar down each side of the tub and perhaps one down the center with the saw suspended in the solution above the anodes (rebar). (2) The tub to look for for de-rusting a saw is one of those flat wrapping paper storage bins.

Good Luck!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Help! I’ve been all over town…granted, Wausau WI is kinda the shopping armpit of Wisconsin, and can’t find washing soda. Short of going online and spending $6.00 to ship a box here, where can I find the stuff. I’ve got a Stanley plane thats crying (rusty tears) for the treatment.
I’ve tried a hardware store, grocery store and Target. Have I missed the obvious? Is it at my local Wal-Mart?

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

I also had a bit of trouble locating Washing Soda. I finally found it a a local grocery store (WinCo) in the laundry supply section. I did a quick search online and found a conversation string regarding the same difficulty – excerpt posted below:

“Go to the Arm and Hammer Website, they have a product finder feature where you enter the zip code and they list stores near you that carry the product . . . “

Have you tried the Arm & Hammer website zip coade locator?

I feel bad you are having difficulty . . . hopefully another LJ that is locat to you might give some additional ideas. I did read on another website that some one used A & H Baking Soda ( a different compound ) and was successful – I just don’t have any experience other that with the washing soda.

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Thanks for the info. Oxy-Clean can also be used (sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate) and is widely available. My local supermarket didn’t carry the A&H product. I just wanted to point out that the cartoon graphic has the polarity reversed.

-- GSY from N. Idaho

Scopemonkey -

Thanks for the tip about Oxy-Clean. I also appreciate you catching my mistake regarding the reversed polarity on the first posting! I just posted an update with due credit.

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

David,

In using this method does it also remove the japaning from the plane? I just got a Stanley 140 skew plane that I want to try this on. The japaning is in good shape but the body is quite rusty on the sides and sole.

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Max -

I’ve read on other blogs about electrolytic rust removal that the japanning is not affected. I would use caution as I bet it depends what the actual finish really is – my plane had a blue jappaning which was firmly intact. After removing all the rust the jappaning had lifted in a few areas. This did not bother me as I was intending to re-apply a finish (preferably black). Also, as Wayne mentioned, make sure your plane is not a collector plane with intrinsic value. Cleaning a collector plane may alter it’s value negatively.

Let me know how it goes – I am curious!

Cheers,
David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Thanks, David! I have a plane that is screaming for this treatment! No collector’s edition, just an Ebay special I want to restore to service. I found a link to the Arm and Hammer Washing Soda: Here it is.

It cost around 9.55, delivered to my door. I might have found it somewhere else, but i figure my time is worth the 4.80 delivery fee.

I got a few others that may get dunked, too. Most have rust that is creeping up in hard to get to places.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Opps, clicked on double posting.

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Great informative post and commentary. Something else for me to do in the future.

A couple of things I have picked up in my research is that the japanning is removed only if there is rust beneath the japanning. I have not been able to verify that, but I do have an extremely rusty (with some possible pitting) Stanley Bedrock 603 (which might I gloat and say I picked up for $15) which might be able shed light on this, but I haven’t cleaned the rust dust off of it to tell if there is any japanning to begin with.

By the way, do we have any electrochemists that can explain to me how to create a home nickel-plating rig? If so, ping me with a PM.

That is pretty coo. I should suggest that to my dad who has a old stanly plane that is really rusty because it was not taken care of.

-- Tyler, Illinois

Tyler -

It is a lot of fun cleaning up an old plane and bringing it back to life!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

David,

Great video and write up. I have some old stanleys I will have to try this on.

-- Dave _-^-_ Baltimore, MD

Dave -

Thanks! I had a lot of fun rehabbing this plane.

David

The Folding Rule

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

This process is pretty cool. Its cheap to set up and you can restore all kinds of tools that would otherwise be lost. Now those tools that you would have passed over at the garage sale can be picked up for CHEAP. Who is going to pay for a rusted piece of “junk”? HEE HEE HEEE we can take em home and zap em and presto brand new. I had to buy a charger to do this. I went to harbor freight and tried this one it didn’t work. I returned it and got this one and holy cow it worked. That thing bubbled like crazy! You could see the gas vapor coming out of the 5 gallon bucket. I set up a fan to blow it our of the garage. Coooool!

-- Wipe the blood stains from your blade before coming in.

spaids -

We just had a Harbor Freight open up near by . . . I have plans on checking them out ASAP!

The second charger has the amperage to do a great job with electrolysis. I’m looking forward to seeing what treasures you have rescued from the rust heap!

I’m jealous . . . mine is just a 6amp model. I will have to talk my wife into letting me get a more powerful charger!

David

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

David,
I’ve been trying this process on my own and I’m amazed at how quickly the parts rerust after taking them out (resut is appearing within 60 seconds). You say you spray them with t-9. Do you do that immediately after they come out (while still wet?) I’m just trying to figure out how this works. Also, does the parkerizing only work when you use hot water or can you just use room temperature water? Thanks for any advice you can give!

I apply either WD-40 or T-9 after pulling out of warm electrolyte solution and drying off with a clean shop towel. Warm water works best for the modified parkerizing. Looking forward to photos of what you rescue from the rust heap!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Gosh, you guys are a wealth of knowledge ;-)) I should have thought of this, being an electrician ;-))

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

This is what I use all the time.I have known of civil war collector buffs that use this method to clean up metal artifacts they find in my area. There are faster ways and other stuff like oxyclean you can use. I use a different power supply and a similar setup. I reworked a lot of my tools and a extra benefit is a lot of times it loosens bolts and screws. My lathe was so rusted nothing turned. I did this to some of the parts and it got them broke free with no effort at all. The bolts were like they were just tightened. Don’t use this process with anything chrome or electroplated. I restored my old truck and used the process on the metal frame that holds my vent window glass. I left the knob that was chrome plated on. It started to make the chrome release from the knob. I had to use a different frame and I was glad I had an extra. Just be safe using it since it deal with electricity and water.

I have used this method quite a few times and was also well pleased with the results thanks for showing us kindest regards Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Thanks for looking at this posting again! I appreciate the comments. Safety is always paramount in the shop. This is a very safe procedure and gives great results. It has been a while since I posted this so I updated the entry with an instruction sheet that I have posted on my blog . . . hope it is useful.

PDF ELECTROLYTIC RUST REMOVAL INSTRUCTION SHEET

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

I agree it is a safe procedure. I have used it for years and now have a more powerful supply I use that works fast for me. I always remind people to be safe with it. I put my supply above the tank and have it away from the tub I use. That way if I accidently spill the tub it won’t go into the supply. I also have the supply away from the tank so if it falls it won’t go into the tub. Its a quick and easy way to clean for me. Other than electricity it doesn’t cost me anything. I have a box of soda I used I bought years ago.