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406K views 352 replies 114 participants last post by  Mambrax 
#1 ·
Intro and first step of cleaning & rust removal

There are many good blogs, articles and web pages out there that give you all you need to know about restoring old hand planes. Most of what I learned I got from other peoples advice. Even though there are many resources out there for restoring planes I found myself learning new tips and tricks from each and every one of them. I decided to do a series of blogs on my methods for restoring planes. Most of what I discuss you may all ready know from reading other blogs and sites but hopefully I can offer some new tips and advice that you may be able to use.

NOTE: Of all the How to's that I have read I have learned that there are many different methods to doing this stuff. My blogs may not offer the best possible way to do it but rather just my method of doing things. If you have any of your own advice feel free to share it with me as I am always looking for new tips.

Choosing which planes to restore - Choosing what is worth restoring is all a personal preference. I have read sites and blogs where the writer says not to waist your time on certain planes. I say its your time and you can spend it how ever you want to spend it. The first plane I ever restored was a Shelton Jack Plane. When researching Shelton planes I found many comments saying they were junk and not to waist your time restoring them. I did it anyway and the Shelton IMO is just as well built and good as my Stanley Bailey planes. Had I not "waisted" my time on it then I would have missed out on a good plane and forked over more money to buy a Stanley. Don't get me wrong old Stanley planes are great to restore but there are other plane makes out there that have the same design as the Stanley Bailey planes that will work just as well as the Stanley's. Its not up to me or anyone else to tell you how to spend your free time so don't let anyone make you think something is not worth the time. Even if the plane is considered a junk plane, you will learn a lot restoring it and if your like me you will have a lot of fun and get a lot of enjoyment out of the whole process.

Step 1- Cleaning and Rust Removal - I personally look for the planes with the most rust. For one they are usually a lot cheaper on Ebay and I also like the challenge. I get such joy out of taking a hunk of rust and making it look new again. Don't be scared of Rust. I have never not been able to remove all rust from a tool.

The pictures that I post throughout this blog series will be from a number of different planes that I have restored.

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The first thing I do is take the plane apart. You may need to spray some WD-40 on the screws if they wont turn. Make sure all parts are there and nothing is broke. If anything is missing or broke you may not want to restore. Many parts can be bought on Ebay so if its just a screw or two its not a big deal. I take the planes apart next to my kitchen sink. Once apart I wash each part off with simple green. I don't take a lot of time washing them, just enough to get any chunks sawdust and dirt off. Once cleaned the rusted parts are ready to be soaked over night in Evapo-Rust

EVAPO-RUST Every woodworker should have a jug of Evapo-Rust in their shop. This stuff is amazing. Most woodworkers deal with rust on their tools. Saw blades, router bits, nuts, bolts, saws, ext ext. Soak it in this stuff over night and the rust will be gone. I have cleaned rust off of all of my tools with this stuff. Even a badly rusted plane or tool will come out pretty much rust free after a nights soaking. You can find this at auto parts shops and Harbor Freight sells it as well. I have seen it in two sizes. The larger jug is 20 dollars and the smaller is 10 dollars. For 20 dollars you get a lot more. It is kind of expensive but I came up with some ways to help make it last.

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For the smaller screws and parts I just pour a small amount of Evapo-Rust in an empty glass jar. You only need enough to cover the parts.

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For the larger parts of the plane I came up with a good way to soak them without using up all of the solution. What I do is put the larger plane parts in a plastic bag. A zip lock freezer bag will work best but any bag will do. If its not a heavy duty bag you may want to double or even triple up the bags. The sharp parts can poke through the plastic. Once in the bag bring you can pour in the Evapo-Rust. You will want to do this over the sink or an empty container in case you have a hole and some leaks out. Using a bag will allow you to completely cover the object without using much solution. Tie off the bag and let it soak over night. After soaking for a night (don't panic if you let it soak longer) you can remove the plane from the bag. Carefully take the parts out of the bag and into the sink or a container to be washed. The left over Evapo-Rust in the bag is not to throw away. You can use this again, and again and again. If you have it in a zip lock bag you can just zip it and leave it for next time. Another thing you can do is put the bag in a funnel with a few coffee filters and poke some holes in the bag. Filter the solution into another container. The filters will clear out any larger chunks and you can seal the rest in another container to use again down the road. You can also filter the solution that is in the jar with the smaller parts.

After your parts are removed from the Evapo-Rust you will want to wash them right away. The parts will still have loose rust and dirt on them, you don't want that to harden as it will take more time to get it off. I use a green abrasive pad and scrub them with soap and water in the sink. After a good scrubbing you will all ready see a huge improvement in the looks.

Once you are done washing you will want to dry them right away! Dry them off as good as you can and then some. I have found if you let them sit a day or so you will start to see some surface rust form again.

If you have not used the Evapo-Rust before you will be amazed at the difference it makes. If you choose you can go head and rust proof your plane or tool with some wax or spray, tune it and start using it after the cleaning and rust removal. I like to do a complete restore though and really make it shine. My next blog entry will discuss the finer detail steps with many more pics. Thats all for now. Hope these tips help someone.

Thanks for reading and watch for more.
 
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#5 ·
Big Tiny - I have not tried it yet no. I have read a lot about it and have all the plans/directions to do it so I will probably give it a try sometime. I don't think I have a power source laying around to hook up to it so I would have to get something.
 
#6 ·
Good blog. Looking forward to future installments. Definitely a worth topic. I also like to restore "junk" planes to nice looking users. I use Evapo-rust, electrolysis, and other paint on chem. methods.
I've found that sometimes a totally rusted (but not deeply pitted) plane is easier to restore as you don't spend time getting the rest of the jappaning off .
 
#7 ·
Nice info, thanks. I am in the process of restoring some planes that I got from my father-in-law and have been using Bio Shield Rust Free with a green scrub pad, works pretty good but lot of scrubbing. Curious about the Evapo-rust, does it remove the Japanning or paint when soaking overnight?
 
#8 ·
rrj- I have used the EvapoRust on a dozen planes or so and it has not taken any of the Japanning off. It wont take the dirt off either. It only removes the rust. It works great I strongly recommend it for rust removal.
 
#9 ·
I have gotten a few planes and wanted to restore them, i must admit it seemed kinda daunting mostly because I have never restored well anything. I got some answers I was looking for and am interested to read the rest of what you have blogged.
 
#12 ·
Cleaning Brass and making it shine!

Many old planes and tools featured brass elements such as screw caps, adjustment wheels ext ext. In most cases you cant even tell that its brass because of how dirty it is. Most all of the old Stanley planes have brass nuts on the knob and tote and a brass adjustment wheel. There are other makes that featured brass nuts and wheels as well.

If there is one area of the cleaning/restoring process where you spend a little extra time and effort this is it. When polished and cleaned the brass elements stand out over everything else. Sure it has no effect on the use of the tool but it makes it look great when its sitting on the bench, wall or shelf.

In my opinion Brass is much easier to clean and polish then steel. I use nothing more then some brass polish, fine grit sand paper and some Q-tips. I personally do all of this work by hand. I like doing this kind of thing in my house at the kitchen table or even in the recliner as I am watching tv. As time consuming as this stuff can be its much more comfortable doing in the house while you are relaxed. If you want to speed it up a Dremmel tool with a buffing attachment works fantastic for this also.

In most cases I can get the brass cleaned without sanding it at all. If I do need to sand I just cut a small square of 2000 grit wet/dry paper and sand the brass with the polish on it. I use Q-tips to polish the small parts as they just work best for me. Apply the polish and clean with your pad or Q-tip. The trick to a great shine is to just keep repeating this process until your pad or q-tips no longer turn black when buffing.

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I will show finished pictures of the planes at the end of the blog series. However here is a before and after of an old Disston hand saw that I restored. I used same process on the brass for the saw and it really stands out over everything else.

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Thats all for todays blog. I am doing this blog in a series as it takes a bit of time to load all the pics and resize them. In my next blog of the series I will discuss re-painting and sanding/polishing the plane soles.

Thanks for reading!
 
#13 ·
huu niiice looking saw there :)
I know some wuold say overdone ,lost its value etc.etc.
but when it comes to a user tool it doesn´t matter ,what matters is that it a joy to take
the tool from the shelf and have a good feeling when you use it
and if thats meen you have to have a new shinny good looking tool …....then go for it :)
I think we have seen some great shinny restorings the last year on L J

take care
Dennis
 
#32 ·
Re-painting the plane body

Its been a little bit since I have added to this series but I have been very busy as of late. This blog will focus on re-painting the plane body and frog.

This is one thing that I usually skip over when restoring planes. Most of the planes I have restored still had pretty decent japanning and showed only minor chipping and wear. That is fine with me, especially if I am going to be using them. However I have restored planes where the japanning was so damaged that I felt they needed a new paint job.

I have seen a number of different methods to doing this and a lot of them are more detailed then mine. I am personally ok with just a simple and cheap paint job that will look good and hold up. I also don't always strip all of the old japanning off the plane. You MUST scrap or sand off any loose finish but if your just looking for a minor touch up you don't have to remove all the old finish. I recently finished my #7 Stanley Jointer plane and that plane was in super rough shape. That one I removed all of the old finish. To do that I used my drill press with a wire brush attachment. Paint strippers will work if your removing a lot. After hitting it with the wire brush for a while I went in by hand with some sand paper and sanded everything smooth. I first applied two coats of primer, sanding after each coat then I used some spray paint that I bought at an automotive store. I applied 3 or 4 coats of the final finish.

There are many different spray paints and I am sure many of them will work just fine. The paint I used works great for me but may not be the best choice for someone else. I just went with fast, simple and easy. I don't like re painting them, its just not a fun thing for me to do so I wanted easy.

Just make sure to take your time in the prep work. Removing all loose japanning from the old finish, sanding everything smooth, wash the surface thats to be painted very well and make sure all loose dirt/rust is off, tape the parts that you don't want painted and then apply the primer and finish in multiple coats.
Smoothing plane Plane Wood Rebate plane Tool


Tool Font Bumper Composite material Concrete


Pliers Tool Hand tool Metalworking hand tool Slip joint pliers


Liquid Cosmetics Fluid Material property Tints and shades


Belt buckle Eyewear Rectangle Automotive exterior Cable


Office supplies Wood Rectangle Writing implement Hardwood


Wood Bumper Composite material Hardwood Auto part


The Jointer plane is the plane that I used the spray paint on, the #3 shows how I taped it off. I don't have a finished pic of the #3 yet but as you can see with the #7 the new paint job looks much better then the before pic.

Thats all for this blog. Not the best blog for info on painting. I will spend a lot more time in the next blog talking about polishing and sanding the rest of the sole and then I will show all my before and after pics.

Thanks for reading
 

Attachments

#33 ·
Re-painting the plane body

Its been a little bit since I have added to this series but I have been very busy as of late. This blog will focus on re-painting the plane body and frog.

This is one thing that I usually skip over when restoring planes. Most of the planes I have restored still had pretty decent japanning and showed only minor chipping and wear. That is fine with me, especially if I am going to be using them. However I have restored planes where the japanning was so damaged that I felt they needed a new paint job.

I have seen a number of different methods to doing this and a lot of them are more detailed then mine. I am personally ok with just a simple and cheap paint job that will look good and hold up. I also don't always strip all of the old japanning off the plane. You MUST scrap or sand off any loose finish but if your just looking for a minor touch up you don't have to remove all the old finish. I recently finished my #7 Stanley Jointer plane and that plane was in super rough shape. That one I removed all of the old finish. To do that I used my drill press with a wire brush attachment. Paint strippers will work if your removing a lot. After hitting it with the wire brush for a while I went in by hand with some sand paper and sanded everything smooth. I first applied two coats of primer, sanding after each coat then I used some spray paint that I bought at an automotive store. I applied 3 or 4 coats of the final finish.

There are many different spray paints and I am sure many of them will work just fine. The paint I used works great for me but may not be the best choice for someone else. I just went with fast, simple and easy. I don't like re painting them, its just not a fun thing for me to do so I wanted easy.

Just make sure to take your time in the prep work. Removing all loose japanning from the old finish, sanding everything smooth, wash the surface thats to be painted very well and make sure all loose dirt/rust is off, tape the parts that you don't want painted and then apply the primer and finish in multiple coats.
Smoothing plane Plane Wood Rebate plane Tool


Tool Font Bumper Composite material Concrete


Pliers Tool Hand tool Metalworking hand tool Slip joint pliers


Liquid Cosmetics Fluid Material property Tints and shades


Belt buckle Eyewear Rectangle Automotive exterior Cable


Office supplies Wood Rectangle Writing implement Hardwood


Wood Bumper Composite material Hardwood Auto part


The Jointer plane is the plane that I used the spray paint on, the #3 shows how I taped it off. I don't have a finished pic of the #3 yet but as you can see with the #7 the new paint job looks much better then the before pic.

Thats all for this blog. Not the best blog for info on painting. I will spend a lot more time in the next blog talking about polishing and sanding the rest of the sole and then I will show all my before and after pics.

Thanks for reading
Holy smokes thats quite a transformation. Nice work Dan.
Don't forget to include the obigatory shaving pic when complete.
Thanks for sharing.
 

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#38 ·
Sanding and Polishing the body and metal parts

In my first blog of this series I talked about removing the rust using Evapo-Rust. The following picture shows my Stanley #4 after it was soaked over night in Evapo-Rust and washed and scrubbed clean.
Composite material Tool Automotive exterior Metal Fashion accessory


I have polished and sanded the sides a number of different ways. I have done all by hand with folded up sand paper and sanding blocks, I have used my dremmel tool with different attachments and I have used my drill press with wire brush. I find all of these to be way to time consuming. I find it fastest and easiest to lap the sides of the body the same way you would lap the sole. Lapping the sides wont necessarily effect the use but I now do it on all the planes I restore. I usually start with 180 grit paper attached to some plate glass. I will lap it with this grit for a min or two and then check to see where it is at. If it looks to be touching on most of the sides then I continue with this grit and work up to 800 or 1000 grit. You don't have to polish it to a real high grit, in most cases 400 grit will be just fine. It just depends on how shiny you want it to be. You can go higher then 1000 if you want to as well.
Wood Office ruler Composite material Metal Hardwood


Wood Creative arts Ruler Art Measuring instrument


Plant Tints and shades Terrestrial plant Wood Paint


Wood Automotive exterior Rectangle Tints and shades Bumper


If the plane is in rough shape I may move down to 120 grit. I don't stay on one grit for long. I try and move back and forth so that I don't end up with deep scratch patterns from the lower grits. As far as the paper goes I was using all automotive paper but I recently found that the 3M purple sandpaper that Home Depot sells works great for the lower grits. I move to wet/dry paper once I am at 400 grit. I do most of this work with dry paper. I may get the last few grits a little damp with some water or mineral spirits. The following is the plane side after 400 grit.

Bottle Water bottle Plastic bottle Wood Tableware


And then after 800

Finger Wood Art Fish Creative arts


You will have some areas that are low and just are not hitting the paper. I just hit these areas by hand with paper or sanding block. I also use a sanding block and paper on the top edge of the sides and around the front of the sole edge. Wear gloves and mask unless you want black hands and a nose full of metal dust.. It leaves a really bad taste in the back of your throat when you breath to much of it in.

The frog of the plane gets the same treatment however I try and get the face of the frog pretty flat. I remove the york adjustment thing to do this.

Sleeve Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Font Auto part


Once I am done with the lapping and sanding I go over it with some polish. I have used a few different types of polish and they have all worked well. I do this by hand. I would assume a buffing wheel would work better but I don't own one. The polish I have in the picture I had bought for an Aluminum project but it said on the label that it worked on all metals. I tried it out and it worked really well so I have been using it on the planes. Check the automotive store and I am sure they will have a large selection of metal polish in all different price ranges.
Paint Tin Automotive tire Bumper Gas


Musical instrument Safety glove Kitchen utensil Watch Wool


Just keep buffing/polishing until you reach the point that you want to reach. Some pits, scratches and dings will be to deep to completely sand and buff out.

This does not take much time, even if the plane is in bad shape. It is messy though. I hope I covered enough. Pretty simple really.

Here is before and after of the Stanley #4

Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Jack plane Rebate plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane
 

Attachments

#39 ·
Sanding and Polishing the body and metal parts

In my first blog of this series I talked about removing the rust using Evapo-Rust. The following picture shows my Stanley #4 after it was soaked over night in Evapo-Rust and washed and scrubbed clean.
Composite material Tool Automotive exterior Metal Fashion accessory


I have polished and sanded the sides a number of different ways. I have done all by hand with folded up sand paper and sanding blocks, I have used my dremmel tool with different attachments and I have used my drill press with wire brush. I find all of these to be way to time consuming. I find it fastest and easiest to lap the sides of the body the same way you would lap the sole. Lapping the sides wont necessarily effect the use but I now do it on all the planes I restore. I usually start with 180 grit paper attached to some plate glass. I will lap it with this grit for a min or two and then check to see where it is at. If it looks to be touching on most of the sides then I continue with this grit and work up to 800 or 1000 grit. You don't have to polish it to a real high grit, in most cases 400 grit will be just fine. It just depends on how shiny you want it to be. You can go higher then 1000 if you want to as well.
Wood Office ruler Composite material Metal Hardwood


Wood Creative arts Ruler Art Measuring instrument


Plant Tints and shades Terrestrial plant Wood Paint


Wood Automotive exterior Rectangle Tints and shades Bumper


If the plane is in rough shape I may move down to 120 grit. I don't stay on one grit for long. I try and move back and forth so that I don't end up with deep scratch patterns from the lower grits. As far as the paper goes I was using all automotive paper but I recently found that the 3M purple sandpaper that Home Depot sells works great for the lower grits. I move to wet/dry paper once I am at 400 grit. I do most of this work with dry paper. I may get the last few grits a little damp with some water or mineral spirits. The following is the plane side after 400 grit.

Bottle Water bottle Plastic bottle Wood Tableware


And then after 800

Finger Wood Art Fish Creative arts


You will have some areas that are low and just are not hitting the paper. I just hit these areas by hand with paper or sanding block. I also use a sanding block and paper on the top edge of the sides and around the front of the sole edge. Wear gloves and mask unless you want black hands and a nose full of metal dust.. It leaves a really bad taste in the back of your throat when you breath to much of it in.

The frog of the plane gets the same treatment however I try and get the face of the frog pretty flat. I remove the york adjustment thing to do this.

Sleeve Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Font Auto part


Once I am done with the lapping and sanding I go over it with some polish. I have used a few different types of polish and they have all worked well. I do this by hand. I would assume a buffing wheel would work better but I don't own one. The polish I have in the picture I had bought for an Aluminum project but it said on the label that it worked on all metals. I tried it out and it worked really well so I have been using it on the planes. Check the automotive store and I am sure they will have a large selection of metal polish in all different price ranges.
Paint Tin Automotive tire Bumper Gas


Musical instrument Safety glove Kitchen utensil Watch Wool


Just keep buffing/polishing until you reach the point that you want to reach. Some pits, scratches and dings will be to deep to completely sand and buff out.

This does not take much time, even if the plane is in bad shape. It is messy though. I hope I covered enough. Pretty simple really.

Here is before and after of the Stanley #4

Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Jack plane Rebate plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane
Awesome job in your plane restoration. I follow your method for working the sides of the plane as well. One added benefit to this process is that, with the sides flattened, the surface is even and stable for shooting board style operations where the plane is setting on its sides.

Thanks for posting,

David
 

Attachments

#51 ·
Tip on replacing Stanley Bailey plane parts

This is just a quick blog with a tip for other guys like me who like restoring old planes.

Sometimes you will run into a plane where you have a missing a small part such as a screw or bolt. You may also run into one where the part is stripped or damaged beyond repair. I see that there are a lot of people who sell these parts on ebay and sometimes the bidding price for the part is more then you paid for the plane.

I recently won an auction on ebay for a Wards Master plane. My bid winning bid was 0.99 cents. With shipping I only paid 11 dollars for the pnd lane. I was the only bidder and I assume its because its a Wards Master and not a Stanley. I got the plane and cleaned it up a bit and was surprised to see that it was almost an exact copy of the Stanley Bailey planes. The tote and knob bolts as well as the adjustment screw were both solid brass, identical to the brass hardware on the Stanley's. The frog was the same type as the later Stanley models and was an identical match to my Stanley frog when I compared them.

I actually needed some of these small parts so I cleaned them up and put them on my Stanley planes. I checked ebay again and found another Wards Master plane again with a very very low price. I bid on it and won that one also. That one also had solid brass hardware and was a clone of the Stanley planes.

I could turn around and sell just the brass parts on ebay and get more for those then what I paid for the planes.

I thought I would share this. Rather then buying just the parts you need, it may be cheaper to buy a whole plane like this and then you can have all the parts. Or even just fix the plane up and use it. Its no different the the Bailey planes and would make a great user for a fraction of the price.
 
#52 ·
That a great concept , BUT, every time I found one for parts, I would think this just needs a knob or screw, so I would set it aside and look for another, then another ,then ?,well now I have many planes, some are complete and some are waiting for that "special piece".lol
 
#62 ·
Stanley Bailey #6 complete restore w pics!

After many weeks of hunting and bidding on Ebay I was finally able to win an auction for a Stanley #6 at a decent price. The #6 planes usually sell somewhere around the 50 dollar range and I got this one for 38 dollars. My goal is to someday have the whole set of Stanley bench planes #1 through #8. I am only 3 shy of my goal excluding the 4 1/2, 5 1/4 and 5 1/2. I still need 1, 2 and 8. I don't see 1 or 2 ending up in my collection anytime soon but the hunt is on for the #8! Stay tuned!

The #6 I got was in really good shape so it wasn't to hard of a restore. The most time consuming part was the sole. It is actually a 6C so it has groves on the bottom. The groves were pretty clogged up with dirt. I used my Dremmel tool with wire brush to get most of it out and then did the rest by hand with tooth brush and Q-tips.

For this plane I tried something new for the wood knob and tote. I had been sanding the handles starting with 180 grit and working up to 800 grit. It was a lot of work and I noticed the Rosewood turning a really dark almost black like color after applying a finish. With this planes Rosewood I eliminated sand paper and used abrasive pads only. I started with the green abrasive pad followed by the silver then finished with the white which is very fine. I didn't spend nearly as much time as I did when I used sand paper and I am a lot happier with the results.

The before pictures were taken with my cell phone so they are not all that great. I don't have a nice shaving picture yet as I am still working on the blade.
Smoothing plane Plane Wood Bumper Jack plane




Smoothing plane Jack plane Block plane Plane Hand tool


Gadget Composite material Carbon Metal Fashion accessory


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Hand tool


Bumper Plane Bicycle part Automotive design Carbon


Mobile phone Gadget Communication Device Tool Camera accessory


I should have some more stuff up soon. I am currently working on a few planes which have been a ton of fun for me to work on so far. I am completely restoring a #45 combination plane as well as a #48 T&G plane. There is so much detail in the bodies of these planes that cleaning them has been a real challenge. I hope to have them finished soon.

Thanks for looking!
 

Attachments

#63 ·
Stanley Bailey #6 complete restore w pics!

After many weeks of hunting and bidding on Ebay I was finally able to win an auction for a Stanley #6 at a decent price. The #6 planes usually sell somewhere around the 50 dollar range and I got this one for 38 dollars. My goal is to someday have the whole set of Stanley bench planes #1 through #8. I am only 3 shy of my goal excluding the 4 1/2, 5 1/4 and 5 1/2. I still need 1, 2 and 8. I don't see 1 or 2 ending up in my collection anytime soon but the hunt is on for the #8! Stay tuned!

The #6 I got was in really good shape so it wasn't to hard of a restore. The most time consuming part was the sole. It is actually a 6C so it has groves on the bottom. The groves were pretty clogged up with dirt. I used my Dremmel tool with wire brush to get most of it out and then did the rest by hand with tooth brush and Q-tips.

For this plane I tried something new for the wood knob and tote. I had been sanding the handles starting with 180 grit and working up to 800 grit. It was a lot of work and I noticed the Rosewood turning a really dark almost black like color after applying a finish. With this planes Rosewood I eliminated sand paper and used abrasive pads only. I started with the green abrasive pad followed by the silver then finished with the white which is very fine. I didn't spend nearly as much time as I did when I used sand paper and I am a lot happier with the results.

The before pictures were taken with my cell phone so they are not all that great. I don't have a nice shaving picture yet as I am still working on the blade.
Smoothing plane Plane Wood Bumper Jack plane


Wood Communication Device Hardwood Composite material Gadget


Smoothing plane Jack plane Block plane Plane Hand tool


Gadget Composite material Carbon Metal Fashion accessory




Bumper Plane Bicycle part Automotive design Carbon


Mobile phone Gadget Communication Device Tool Camera accessory


I should have some more stuff up soon. I am currently working on a few planes which have been a ton of fun for me to work on so far. I am completely restoring a #45 combination plane as well as a #48 T&G plane. There is so much detail in the bodies of these planes that cleaning them has been a real challenge. I hope to have them finished soon.

Thanks for looking!
She's a beauty & the frog looks fantastic. The #6 is an oft forgotten plane & one of my favorites. I have no doubt that you'll love this plane.
 

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#92 ·
Stanley Bailey #3 complete restore w before & after pics. I am on a role!

Just the other day I posted a blog on the completed restoration of my Stanley #6. Well last night I finished up my Stanley #3 and took some final after pictures for this blog.

I have been working on this plane for months. As with a lot of my planes I got this one off of ebay. The plane was in rough shape as you can see in the photos. All the pieces were heavily rusted, the rear handle was broke at the top and the top of the frog was broken off. You can see in the before pictures that the lateral adjustment is missing from the frog. I went ahead and restored the body and small parts and then set them aside. After a couple months of searching ebay I finally found and won an auction for a #3 frog that would fit my plane.

Due to the heavy rust there was some pitting on the sides of the body that I just couldn't get out. Also the blade was to badly rusted to restore to user condition so I am going to be buying a replacement blade and breaker for this plane soon. I didn't bother to fix or replace the handle. Even though the top is broke off it still works just fine for a user plane.
Wood Smoothing plane Hardwood Plane Composite material


Wood Hardwood Metal Wood stain Varnish


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain Composite material


Tool Composite material Font Concrete Bumper


Wood Musical instrument accessory Auto part Fashion accessory Hardwood


Sports equipment Tool Wood Auto part Rebate plane


Tool Composite material Bicycle part Auto part Bumper
 

Attachments

#93 ·
Stanley Bailey #3 complete restore w before & after pics. I am on a role!

Just the other day I posted a blog on the completed restoration of my Stanley #6. Well last night I finished up my Stanley #3 and took some final after pictures for this blog.

I have been working on this plane for months. As with a lot of my planes I got this one off of ebay. The plane was in rough shape as you can see in the photos. All the pieces were heavily rusted, the rear handle was broke at the top and the top of the frog was broken off. You can see in the before pictures that the lateral adjustment is missing from the frog. I went ahead and restored the body and small parts and then set them aside. After a couple months of searching ebay I finally found and won an auction for a #3 frog that would fit my plane.

Due to the heavy rust there was some pitting on the sides of the body that I just couldn't get out. Also the blade was to badly rusted to restore to user condition so I am going to be buying a replacement blade and breaker for this plane soon. I didn't bother to fix or replace the handle. Even though the top is broke off it still works just fine for a user plane.
Wood Smoothing plane Hardwood Plane Composite material


Wood Hardwood Metal Wood stain Varnish


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain Composite material


Tool Composite material Font Concrete Bumper


Wood Musical instrument accessory Auto part Fashion accessory Hardwood


Sports equipment Tool Wood Auto part Rebate plane


Tool Composite material Bicycle part Auto part Bumper
excellent restore. looks good to me
 

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#100 ·
Complete restore of my Stanley #5 Jack Plane w finished pics

Here is yet another one of my plane restorations. I don't have a before picture of this plane because it is actually a mix of 3 different Stanley jack planes. I was restoring 3 of them at the same time and I mixed and matched the parts on them. I believe this one to be a type 11.

The only thing to note about the restoration of this one thats different from the others I posted is that I did my first handle repair. The Rosewood handle on this plane was broke in two pieces when I got it. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to repair and restore the handle to the shape that I did.

To fix the handle I first cleaned the surface area in which I was going to glue with mineral spirits. I made sure to scrub it really good with a fine abrasive pad. Once clean and dry I applied some wood glue and then simply clamped it by screwing the handle back onto the plane. The screw in which attaches the handle to the plane body gave plenty enough pressure to clamp it tightly.

Once dry I used yet another new approach to sanding the handle. This time I used my Dremmel tool with a fine abrasive buff attachment. The sanding drums on the Dremmel tool are way to coarse and leave burning and remove to much material. However I found these abrasive buffs to do a fantastic job. It made sanding the handle a breeze and it allowed me to spend special attn to fixed area. You can see in the pictures only a very slight line where it was repaired.

These abrasive buffs also work great on the small metal & brass parts and hard to reach areas.
Automotive tire Headgear Automotive wheel system Jewellery Button


Plane Smoothing plane Scrub plane Tool Block plane


Bicycle part Tool Plane Composite material Auto part


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Rebate plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Shoulder plane Rebate plane

Tire Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive design


Tire Automotive tire Tread Motor vehicle Synthetic rubber


In the coming days I will be posting my finished restorations for my #4, #7 and some different block planes.
 

Attachments

#101 ·
Complete restore of my Stanley #5 Jack Plane w finished pics

Here is yet another one of my plane restorations. I don't have a before picture of this plane because it is actually a mix of 3 different Stanley jack planes. I was restoring 3 of them at the same time and I mixed and matched the parts on them. I believe this one to be a type 11.

The only thing to note about the restoration of this one thats different from the others I posted is that I did my first handle repair. The Rosewood handle on this plane was broke in two pieces when I got it. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to repair and restore the handle to the shape that I did.

To fix the handle I first cleaned the surface area in which I was going to glue with mineral spirits. I made sure to scrub it really good with a fine abrasive pad. Once clean and dry I applied some wood glue and then simply clamped it by screwing the handle back onto the plane. The screw in which attaches the handle to the plane body gave plenty enough pressure to clamp it tightly.

Once dry I used yet another new approach to sanding the handle. This time I used my Dremmel tool with a fine abrasive buff attachment. The sanding drums on the Dremmel tool are way to coarse and leave burning and remove to much material. However I found these abrasive buffs to do a fantastic job. It made sanding the handle a breeze and it allowed me to spend special attn to fixed area. You can see in the pictures only a very slight line where it was repaired.

These abrasive buffs also work great on the small metal & brass parts and hard to reach areas.
Automotive tire Headgear Automotive wheel system Jewellery Button


Plane Smoothing plane Scrub plane Tool Block plane


Bicycle part Tool Plane Composite material Auto part


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Rebate plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Shoulder plane Rebate plane

Tire Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive design


Tire Automotive tire Tread Motor vehicle Synthetic rubber


In the coming days I will be posting my finished restorations for my #4, #7 and some different block planes.
any particular place you picked up those abrasive pads? I am almost done with my 4 1/2 restoration, i will post pics when its done.
 

Attachments

#107 ·
Stanley Bailey # 7 complete restore w pics!

Ahhhh the No. 7 my toughest and most challenging restoration yet. I won this big hunk of rusted metal off Ebay for 38.00. Thats a rather good deal when you look at what most No. 7 planes sell for on Ebay.

This plane was in worse shape then any of other bench planes I had restored. It was covered in rust, had countless dings and scratches all over the sides and bottom and the front knob was an obvious home made replacement. On the bright side most all of the original japanning was rusted right off of the body so it didn't take me long to strip the old finish. The first thing I did as I do with all my restorations is scrub clean the entire plane wipe it dry then soak it over night in EvapoRust. As much rust as this plane had I was surprised to find that the EvapoRust took all of the rust off. I really cant express enough how great that product works. Once out of the EvapoRust I scrubbed it down again with an abrasive pad and washed it clean.

The next step I take is to lap and or clean the sides of the plane. I like to do this before I repaint the plane so that the new paint job doesn't get all that junk on it. This was a bit of a challenge due to the size of this plane. The piece of plate glass that I have for lapping was not quite large enough so I had to do the best I could with what I had. My goal here was not really to get the sides flat but rather to remove as many of the dings and scratches as I could. I lapped it as flat as I could or wanted to and then finished sanding the sides by hand. This part took a long time and there were a few times I was ready to call it good but I tend to be a perfectionist and I wanted to get it as perfect as I could. I never did get it perfect as you can still see some dings on the sides but its a TON better then it was when I started. I wish I had a better before picture showing the damaged sides.

Once the sides were finished I stripped the rest of the paint using a wire brush on my drill press. I then masked the plane and re-painted it using the spray paint and primer shown in the photo. I think I applied 5 or 6 coats of the finish paint. As that was drying I restored, cleaned and tuned the rest of the metal plane parts using the methods I have described in my earlier blogs.

The back handle was broken off at the top but I can live with that. The front knob on the other hand HAD to go. Although it would have worked just fine as a user handle I wanted the plane to match my others. I ended up snagging a rosewood knob off another one of my restoration plane projects. Its always nice to have other planes on hand for parts.

Once that was all finished I put her back together and started lapping the sole. Once again, this part took a long time as the bottom also had a lot of dings and deep scratches. After lapping the sole for a couple hours with various grits of paper I realized a problem. There were two small deep gouges/scratches directly in front of the mouth opening. This is the part of the plane that many plane users say is crucial to be dead flat. After close inspection I realized that these gouges were to deep to be removed by lapping the sole. I lapped the sole as flat as I could and called it good. Once the plane was done I spent a great deal of time flattening the blade and squaring it. I put a new 25 degree bevel on it with a 29 degree secondary and 31 degree third bevel as well as the ruler trick on the back.

The last photos show the plane shavings that I took off a piece of Walnut. I was able to produce very fine, full width shavings and guess what? The area in front of the mouth was not "dead flat". With that said I now ask is it really all that crucial to have that part of the sole dead flat?
Smoothing plane Plane Wood Rebate plane Tool


Eyewear Cable Gadget Rectangle Belt buckle


Liquid Cosmetics Fluid Tints and shades Paint


Sleeve Grey Wood Collar Communication Device


Wood Hardwood Composite material Bumper Auto part


Wood Smoothing plane Musical instrument accessory Bumper Wood stain


Bumper Automotive design Automotive exterior Composite material Tool


Gadget Composite material Font Metal Tints and shades


Plane Wood Bumper Sculpture Building


Plane Wood Gas Auto part Shoulder plane
 

Attachments

#108 ·
Stanley Bailey # 7 complete restore w pics!

Ahhhh the No. 7 my toughest and most challenging restoration yet. I won this big hunk of rusted metal off Ebay for 38.00. Thats a rather good deal when you look at what most No. 7 planes sell for on Ebay.

This plane was in worse shape then any of other bench planes I had restored. It was covered in rust, had countless dings and scratches all over the sides and bottom and the front knob was an obvious home made replacement. On the bright side most all of the original japanning was rusted right off of the body so it didn't take me long to strip the old finish. The first thing I did as I do with all my restorations is scrub clean the entire plane wipe it dry then soak it over night in EvapoRust. As much rust as this plane had I was surprised to find that the EvapoRust took all of the rust off. I really cant express enough how great that product works. Once out of the EvapoRust I scrubbed it down again with an abrasive pad and washed it clean.

The next step I take is to lap and or clean the sides of the plane. I like to do this before I repaint the plane so that the new paint job doesn't get all that junk on it. This was a bit of a challenge due to the size of this plane. The piece of plate glass that I have for lapping was not quite large enough so I had to do the best I could with what I had. My goal here was not really to get the sides flat but rather to remove as many of the dings and scratches as I could. I lapped it as flat as I could or wanted to and then finished sanding the sides by hand. This part took a long time and there were a few times I was ready to call it good but I tend to be a perfectionist and I wanted to get it as perfect as I could. I never did get it perfect as you can still see some dings on the sides but its a TON better then it was when I started. I wish I had a better before picture showing the damaged sides.

Once the sides were finished I stripped the rest of the paint using a wire brush on my drill press. I then masked the plane and re-painted it using the spray paint and primer shown in the photo. I think I applied 5 or 6 coats of the finish paint. As that was drying I restored, cleaned and tuned the rest of the metal plane parts using the methods I have described in my earlier blogs.

The back handle was broken off at the top but I can live with that. The front knob on the other hand HAD to go. Although it would have worked just fine as a user handle I wanted the plane to match my others. I ended up snagging a rosewood knob off another one of my restoration plane projects. Its always nice to have other planes on hand for parts.

Once that was all finished I put her back together and started lapping the sole. Once again, this part took a long time as the bottom also had a lot of dings and deep scratches. After lapping the sole for a couple hours with various grits of paper I realized a problem. There were two small deep gouges/scratches directly in front of the mouth opening. This is the part of the plane that many plane users say is crucial to be dead flat. After close inspection I realized that these gouges were to deep to be removed by lapping the sole. I lapped the sole as flat as I could and called it good. Once the plane was done I spent a great deal of time flattening the blade and squaring it. I put a new 25 degree bevel on it with a 29 degree secondary and 31 degree third bevel as well as the ruler trick on the back.

The last photos show the plane shavings that I took off a piece of Walnut. I was able to produce very fine, full width shavings and guess what? The area in front of the mouth was not "dead flat". With that said I now ask is it really all that crucial to have that part of the sole dead flat?
Smoothing plane Plane Wood Rebate plane Tool


Eyewear Cable Gadget Rectangle Belt buckle


Liquid Cosmetics Fluid Tints and shades Paint


Sleeve Grey Wood Collar Communication Device


Wood Hardwood Composite material Bumper Auto part


Wood Smoothing plane Musical instrument accessory Bumper Wood stain


Bumper Automotive design Automotive exterior Composite material Tool


Gadget Composite material Font Metal Tints and shades


Plane Wood Bumper Sculpture Building


Plane Wood Gas Auto part Shoulder plane
Awesome! That original knob was hilarious.
 

Attachments

#122 ·
Stanley #103 Block/Pocket Plane restored and upgraded! w pics

This small pocket sized plane is probably used more then any of the planes in my shop. The plane is what I suppose you could call a cheap plane. The blade depth adjustment is a pain in the ass and the plane chatters and chokes very quickly if your blade is not set just right. However once you get the hang of the blade adjustment and once you know the limits of this plane it is extremely handy for small jobs and touch ups. The planes size make it very easy and comfortable to hold or keep in your pocket. I have found this plane most useful when making small boxes or other smaller projects. It is also very useful for touching up projects that have been assembled where a full size block plane is just to big.

I picked up this plane for a dollar or two but it was in very rough shape. Most guys probably would not have taken the time that I did to bring this cheap plane back to life but I like a challenge. The plane was rusted and covered with over spray from different spray paints. You could tell this was a well used plane. This plane was originally japaned black over the whole body but decided to sand and polish the sides rather then re-painting them. I think it looks a lot better that way. The rest of the body was painted using the same paint and methods that I have discussed in earlier blogs. I also lapped the sole flat as I do with all of my planes.

The only downside with the restoration of this plane was that the blade was shot. The blade was badly pitted from rust and there was no way for it to become usable again. So the search was on for a replacement blade so I could get this plane back to use. I checked a few places and found that Woodcraft had a IBC replacement blade for the 103 sized plane. The blade was expensive but I all ready went this far with this cheap plane so why not go all out. The new blade is a lot thicker so I had to file the mouth of the plane a little bit so that it would take the new blade right.

All in all its a very handy plane that serves its purpose.
Art Composite material Creative arts Wood Tool


Plane Smoothing plane Food Shoulder plane Block plane


Helmet Headpiece Knife Bridal accessory Fashion accessory


Plane Hood Automotive exterior Bumper Auto part
 

Attachments

#123 ·
Stanley #103 Block/Pocket Plane restored and upgraded! w pics

This small pocket sized plane is probably used more then any of the planes in my shop. The plane is what I suppose you could call a cheap plane. The blade depth adjustment is a pain in the ass and the plane chatters and chokes very quickly if your blade is not set just right. However once you get the hang of the blade adjustment and once you know the limits of this plane it is extremely handy for small jobs and touch ups. The planes size make it very easy and comfortable to hold or keep in your pocket. I have found this plane most useful when making small boxes or other smaller projects. It is also very useful for touching up projects that have been assembled where a full size block plane is just to big.

I picked up this plane for a dollar or two but it was in very rough shape. Most guys probably would not have taken the time that I did to bring this cheap plane back to life but I like a challenge. The plane was rusted and covered with over spray from different spray paints. You could tell this was a well used plane. This plane was originally japaned black over the whole body but decided to sand and polish the sides rather then re-painting them. I think it looks a lot better that way. The rest of the body was painted using the same paint and methods that I have discussed in earlier blogs. I also lapped the sole flat as I do with all of my planes.

The only downside with the restoration of this plane was that the blade was shot. The blade was badly pitted from rust and there was no way for it to become usable again. So the search was on for a replacement blade so I could get this plane back to use. I checked a few places and found that Woodcraft had a IBC replacement blade for the 103 sized plane. The blade was expensive but I all ready went this far with this cheap plane so why not go all out. The new blade is a lot thicker so I had to file the mouth of the plane a little bit so that it would take the new blade right.

All in all its a very handy plane that serves its purpose.
Art Composite material Creative arts Wood Tool


Plane Smoothing plane Food Shoulder plane Block plane


Helmet Headpiece Knife Bridal accessory Fashion accessory


Plane Hood Automotive exterior Bumper Auto part
As usual, you've saved an old timer from an undeserved grave. Congrats!
 

Attachments

#130 ·
Stanley #48 Tongue & Groove plane restoration complete w lots of pics. SWEET!

This is the first specialty use plane that I have restored back to user condition. It was a long process but it was worth it as this is a very sweet plane to use. On my very first attempt I was able to cut an almost perfect tongue & groove within 5 minuets. It is a very well designed plane and is a great addition to my collection.

I got this plane off Ebay for around 30 dollars. It was in pretty rough shape from a cosmetic point of view but its all cast solid so there is not much you can do to damage or break the plane. The entire body of the plane is nickel plated and I spent a while cleaning and polishing it. After many hours of detail cleaning and polishing I still was not happy with the appearance of plane. There were a lot of small chips in the nickel coating and I decided I wanted to somehow refinish the plane. I spent a little time looking into the process of nickel plating and how to do it as I toyed with the idea of doing this myself. I also looked into metallic nickel colored spray paint as my 2nd choice. I gave it a lot of thought and finally decided to go with the spray paint. For the paint I used a spray can of Rust Oleum Metallic Satin Nickel. This spray paint went on really nice and covered very well. I applied a total of about 5 thin coats. I was very happy with the finish and it looked a lot better then I had expected it to.

I let the plane sit for about a week before I did anything else. I don't know if there is a set cure time for the paint but better safe then sorry. I spent some time cleaning and waxing the spring loaded fence pin. I wanted to make sure the fence would work real smooth when put back together. It was a little tricky getting the fence reattached but I got it on.

I spent a lot of time with the blades as well as they were in bad shape. I flattened the backs and grinned new bevels on them. The blades were a little small for my honing jig so I basically did most of it free hand.

Once complete I tested the plane out on a couple scraps of pine. The pictures show my very first attempt and as you can see I was able to cut an almost perfect tongue and groove on my very first try. This plane is that easy to use. Its a very sweet user and now I just have to find more uses for T&G joints.
Wood Rectangle Tool Art Metal


Wood Metal Titanium Art Wrench


Hand tool Wrench Tool Metalworking hand tool Wood


Hand tool Tool Wood Font Metal


Hand tool Tool Wrench Wood Pipe wrench


Gas Machine Composite material Metal Wood


Wood Gas Metal Audio equipment Office equipment


Gas Office equipment Metal Household appliance accessory Machine


Musical instrument Gas Kitchen utensil Wood Auto part


Wood Gas Engineering Metal Auto part


Wood Gas Metal Tool Engineering


Bicycle part Bicycle drivetrain part Tool Auto part Bracket


Wood Tool Bottle Rotary tool Metal


Wood Gas Beige Tool Automotive exterior


Wood Flooring Creative arts Hardwood Art


Hand tool Ratchet Wrench Metalworking hand tool Wood
 

Attachments

#131 ·
Stanley #48 Tongue & Groove plane restoration complete w lots of pics. SWEET!

This is the first specialty use plane that I have restored back to user condition. It was a long process but it was worth it as this is a very sweet plane to use. On my very first attempt I was able to cut an almost perfect tongue & groove within 5 minuets. It is a very well designed plane and is a great addition to my collection.

I got this plane off Ebay for around 30 dollars. It was in pretty rough shape from a cosmetic point of view but its all cast solid so there is not much you can do to damage or break the plane. The entire body of the plane is nickel plated and I spent a while cleaning and polishing it. After many hours of detail cleaning and polishing I still was not happy with the appearance of plane. There were a lot of small chips in the nickel coating and I decided I wanted to somehow refinish the plane. I spent a little time looking into the process of nickel plating and how to do it as I toyed with the idea of doing this myself. I also looked into metallic nickel colored spray paint as my 2nd choice. I gave it a lot of thought and finally decided to go with the spray paint. For the paint I used a spray can of Rust Oleum Metallic Satin Nickel. This spray paint went on really nice and covered very well. I applied a total of about 5 thin coats. I was very happy with the finish and it looked a lot better then I had expected it to.

I let the plane sit for about a week before I did anything else. I don't know if there is a set cure time for the paint but better safe then sorry. I spent some time cleaning and waxing the spring loaded fence pin. I wanted to make sure the fence would work real smooth when put back together. It was a little tricky getting the fence reattached but I got it on.

I spent a lot of time with the blades as well as they were in bad shape. I flattened the backs and grinned new bevels on them. The blades were a little small for my honing jig so I basically did most of it free hand.

Once complete I tested the plane out on a couple scraps of pine. The pictures show my very first attempt and as you can see I was able to cut an almost perfect tongue and groove on my very first try. This plane is that easy to use. Its a very sweet user and now I just have to find more uses for T&G joints.
Wood Rectangle Tool Art Metal


Wood Metal Titanium Art Wrench


Hand tool Wrench Tool Metalworking hand tool Wood


Hand tool Tool Wood Font Metal


Hand tool Tool Wrench Wood Pipe wrench


Gas Machine Composite material Metal Wood


Wood Gas Metal Audio equipment Office equipment


Gas Office equipment Metal Household appliance accessory Machine


Musical instrument Gas Kitchen utensil Wood Auto part


Wood Gas Engineering Metal Auto part


Wood Gas Metal Tool Engineering


Bicycle part Bicycle drivetrain part Tool Auto part Bracket


Wood Tool Bottle Rotary tool Metal


Wood Gas Beige Tool Automotive exterior


Wood Flooring Creative arts Hardwood Art


Hand tool Ratchet Wrench Metalworking hand tool Wood
sweeeetttt
 

Attachments

#148 ·
Stanley Bailey #4 Restored w/ new premium blade & chip breaker

This #4 smoothing plane is the most fine tuned of all my planes. I also upgraded it by replacing the old blade and breaker with a premium quality Pinnacle IBC blade and chip breaker. Once I got this gem tuned and sharp the power sanders were tucked away on a shelf in my shop. I use this plane to finish smooth my projects and the new blade makes it a true joy to use on almost any type of wood. The restoration process for the plane is the same as I used in the other planes. You can check my previous blogs in this series to find the how to's on my rust removal and polishing as I explain them in great detail. In this blog I want to focus on the blade and its advantages on the old plane.

When I first got into hand planes I knew nothing at all about them or how they worked so I did my research. I spent many many hours reading various blogs, forums and websites with hand plane information. I also watched a lot of videos on how to tune and use the planes. When researching the planes I would find some guys say "you need a quality blade for your plane to work" while others would argue great results with the original blades. Had I not done my research I might think I need to buy a premium blade in order to use my old plane. Well if any of you are researching just like I did and you have stumbled across this blog let me tell you that "you DON'T need an expensive premium blade/breaker to make your old plane a great user". However replacing the blade and chip breaker with a premium set will make your plane perform a lot smoother.

I actually bought new blades and breakers for two of my planes. I bought an A2 Hock blade and breaker for my #7 and I got the Pinnacle set for my #4. The IBC Pinnacle set cost me 5 times what I paid for the plane so it was not an easy purchase to make but I am glad I did. The new blade and breaker are much thicker and the big advantage is the plane does not chatter or tear out when working with harder woods or woods with difficult grain patterns. With the old blade I had to be careful and pay close attn to the grain direction or I would get tear out. With the Pinnacle blade I have not had any problem with grain direction. I have even planed the wood against the grain without getting any tear out. The blade also works much better on edge and end grain. If I hit a knot in the board it does not slow the new blade down at all where the old one would chatter. It really does make a big difference in the performance of the plane.

My advice on upgrading to a new blade is this… If you use the plane a lot and work with a lot of hard woods and have the money then go for it. If your on a tighter budget you may want to save the money for other more needed tools and make do with the old blade. I think its more of a luxury then anything to have the premium blade. The last couple pictures show the plane in use on a piece of cherry wood which in my experience has been very tricky to plane without tear out. The new blade went through the cherry as if was a piece of softwood.

Smoothing plane Scrub plane Shoulder plane Plane Wood


Smoothing plane Plane Block plane Rebate plane Jack plane


Auto part Handgun holster Fashion accessory Font Metal


Auto part Automotive exterior Wood Engineering Nickel


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane


Plane Block plane Hand tool Tool Wood


Hand tool Wood Tool Finger Metalworking hand tool
 

Attachments

#149 ·
Stanley Bailey #4 Restored w/ new premium blade & chip breaker

This #4 smoothing plane is the most fine tuned of all my planes. I also upgraded it by replacing the old blade and breaker with a premium quality Pinnacle IBC blade and chip breaker. Once I got this gem tuned and sharp the power sanders were tucked away on a shelf in my shop. I use this plane to finish smooth my projects and the new blade makes it a true joy to use on almost any type of wood. The restoration process for the plane is the same as I used in the other planes. You can check my previous blogs in this series to find the how to's on my rust removal and polishing as I explain them in great detail. In this blog I want to focus on the blade and its advantages on the old plane.

When I first got into hand planes I knew nothing at all about them or how they worked so I did my research. I spent many many hours reading various blogs, forums and websites with hand plane information. I also watched a lot of videos on how to tune and use the planes. When researching the planes I would find some guys say "you need a quality blade for your plane to work" while others would argue great results with the original blades. Had I not done my research I might think I need to buy a premium blade in order to use my old plane. Well if any of you are researching just like I did and you have stumbled across this blog let me tell you that "you DON'T need an expensive premium blade/breaker to make your old plane a great user". However replacing the blade and chip breaker with a premium set will make your plane perform a lot smoother.

I actually bought new blades and breakers for two of my planes. I bought an A2 Hock blade and breaker for my #7 and I got the Pinnacle set for my #4. The IBC Pinnacle set cost me 5 times what I paid for the plane so it was not an easy purchase to make but I am glad I did. The new blade and breaker are much thicker and the big advantage is the plane does not chatter or tear out when working with harder woods or woods with difficult grain patterns. With the old blade I had to be careful and pay close attn to the grain direction or I would get tear out. With the Pinnacle blade I have not had any problem with grain direction. I have even planed the wood against the grain without getting any tear out. The blade also works much better on edge and end grain. If I hit a knot in the board it does not slow the new blade down at all where the old one would chatter. It really does make a big difference in the performance of the plane.

My advice on upgrading to a new blade is this… If you use the plane a lot and work with a lot of hard woods and have the money then go for it. If your on a tighter budget you may want to save the money for other more needed tools and make do with the old blade. I think its more of a luxury then anything to have the premium blade. The last couple pictures show the plane in use on a piece of cherry wood which in my experience has been very tricky to plane without tear out. The new blade went through the cherry as if was a piece of softwood.

Smoothing plane Scrub plane Shoulder plane Plane Wood


Smoothing plane Plane Block plane Rebate plane Jack plane


Auto part Handgun holster Fashion accessory Font Metal


Auto part Automotive exterior Wood Engineering Nickel


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane


Plane Block plane Hand tool Tool Wood


Hand tool Wood Tool Finger Metalworking hand tool
Man, you do good work. That could pass for a new plane.
 

Attachments

#165 ·
Old woodworking square restored... A little break from the planes

I have restored mostly just hand planes but I do sometimes find other old tools that I will restore. Somewhere along the road of searching for old planes I found this square and picked it up. Any old tool with Rosewood and brass is worth restoring IMO.

I have no idea who made this as there are no markings other then some hand cut markings on the metal rule, maybe previous owners stamp idk? That really does not matter though, what matters is that another old tool has been rescued, given new life and will now serve me in my shop.

This restoration only took me a couple hours which is quick compared to the planes. I cleaned the metal rule up with oil and wet/dry paper. I removed the brass parts which was the biggest challenge due to the small screws and their condition. Once removed I lapped the brass plate flat and polished the rest. I spent a little time tuning it all so that it would be fine tuned for using.

The Rosewood part was sanded and finished with a couple coats of tung oil.
Household hardware Door Rectangle Wood Handle


Font Fashion accessory Rectangle Symbol Automotive exterior


Wood Household hardware Metal Rectangle Auto part


Wood Tool Gas Office ruler Metalworking hand tool


Rectangle Musical instrument accessory Gadget Wood Fashion accessory


Rectangle Guitar accessory Wood Metal Fashion accessory
 

Attachments

#166 ·
Old woodworking square restored... A little break from the planes

I have restored mostly just hand planes but I do sometimes find other old tools that I will restore. Somewhere along the road of searching for old planes I found this square and picked it up. Any old tool with Rosewood and brass is worth restoring IMO.

I have no idea who made this as there are no markings other then some hand cut markings on the metal rule, maybe previous owners stamp idk? That really does not matter though, what matters is that another old tool has been rescued, given new life and will now serve me in my shop.

This restoration only took me a couple hours which is quick compared to the planes. I cleaned the metal rule up with oil and wet/dry paper. I removed the brass parts which was the biggest challenge due to the small screws and their condition. Once removed I lapped the brass plate flat and polished the rest. I spent a little time tuning it all so that it would be fine tuned for using.

The Rosewood part was sanded and finished with a couple coats of tung oil.
Household hardware Door Rectangle Wood Handle


Font Fashion accessory Rectangle Symbol Automotive exterior


Wood Household hardware Metal Rectangle Auto part


Wood Tool Gas Office ruler Metalworking hand tool


Rectangle Musical instrument accessory Gadget Wood Fashion accessory


Rectangle Guitar accessory Wood Metal Fashion accessory
Very nice restore Dan. I have a similar try square but the brass fence is not held on with screws. I am actually not sure what is holding it on.

How did you remove the brass clover? Mine seem to be held in place by the three peened rods that secure the blade.
 

Attachments

#177 ·
Stanley Bailey #4 1/2 cleaned, tuned and upgraded to super user plane

Just when I thought I had all of the bench planes that I would ever need I found the 4 1/2. When I first took an interest in hand planes I was a little amazed that there were so many different sizes. I didn't understand the need for all the sizes and thats what had me most interested in getting them all. Over the past year I have been buying the different sized planes tuning each of them to go to work. After using each sized plane for a while I would start to see the differences and learn where and when to use them. I had gathered and restored planes #3 through #8 and figured I had a complete set. I had no real plans of getting the less common sizes.

Well a little while ago I was working with some short yet very wide boards. When smoothing the boards with my #4 I thought to myself that it would be great if my #4 was just a little wider and had a wider blade like my jointer planes had. Then I could smooth out these wide boards with a few less passes. If only I had such a plane… So the search for a 4 1/2 was on!

I started keeping an eye out for one on ebay. They don't come up as often as the common sized planes and when a good one is listed there is usually a handful of bidders to compete with. After a couple months I finally landed a winning bid for a nice Stanley 4 1/2. With shipping I think it came out to be a little over 70 dollars which I think is a good deal considering the great condition of the plane. There only some very minor rust on the plane, hardly any scratches or dings, the rosewood tote and knob were great and there was almost 100 percent of the original japanning still in good shape. So this plane did not require my normal restoration process. It didn't take me long to just clean and polish up the plane. I then spent a few hours tuning the frog, frog bedding and lapping the sole. Then it was on to the blade….

I lapped the back of the old blade for about 20 minuets and it still was a long way from flat. The blade was also off square pretty bad and I just didn't feel like spending another entire day lapping and grinding. I decided my best option was to just swap blades with my #7 which had a Hock blade and chip breaker in it. I figure I can just swap the good blade back to my 7 when I want to use it there.

I have only used the plane to test it out a little but I can tell I will love this one and I expect I will be using it very often.
Plane Smoothing plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane Tool


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Rebate plane Wood


Wood Bicycle part Hardwood Machine Composite material


Smoothing plane Plane Block plane Scrub plane Jack plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Jack plane Block plane
 

Attachments

#178 ·
Stanley Bailey #4 1/2 cleaned, tuned and upgraded to super user plane

Just when I thought I had all of the bench planes that I would ever need I found the 4 1/2. When I first took an interest in hand planes I was a little amazed that there were so many different sizes. I didn't understand the need for all the sizes and thats what had me most interested in getting them all. Over the past year I have been buying the different sized planes tuning each of them to go to work. After using each sized plane for a while I would start to see the differences and learn where and when to use them. I had gathered and restored planes #3 through #8 and figured I had a complete set. I had no real plans of getting the less common sizes.

Well a little while ago I was working with some short yet very wide boards. When smoothing the boards with my #4 I thought to myself that it would be great if my #4 was just a little wider and had a wider blade like my jointer planes had. Then I could smooth out these wide boards with a few less passes. If only I had such a plane… So the search for a 4 1/2 was on!

I started keeping an eye out for one on ebay. They don't come up as often as the common sized planes and when a good one is listed there is usually a handful of bidders to compete with. After a couple months I finally landed a winning bid for a nice Stanley 4 1/2. With shipping I think it came out to be a little over 70 dollars which I think is a good deal considering the great condition of the plane. There only some very minor rust on the plane, hardly any scratches or dings, the rosewood tote and knob were great and there was almost 100 percent of the original japanning still in good shape. So this plane did not require my normal restoration process. It didn't take me long to just clean and polish up the plane. I then spent a few hours tuning the frog, frog bedding and lapping the sole. Then it was on to the blade….

I lapped the back of the old blade for about 20 minuets and it still was a long way from flat. The blade was also off square pretty bad and I just didn't feel like spending another entire day lapping and grinding. I decided my best option was to just swap blades with my #7 which had a Hock blade and chip breaker in it. I figure I can just swap the good blade back to my 7 when I want to use it there.

I have only used the plane to test it out a little but I can tell I will love this one and I expect I will be using it very often.
Plane Smoothing plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane Tool


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Rebate plane Wood


Wood Bicycle part Hardwood Machine Composite material


Smoothing plane Plane Block plane Scrub plane Jack plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Jack plane Block plane
Nice work on your new 4 1/2, I would recommend get extra blades with different angles 50 and 55 for those extra wild grain pattern. Nice to see you interest in hand tool, there so much fun to use and rewarding as well, enjoy …BC
 

Attachments

#190 ·
Discovering the history and wonders of an old plane/tool

When I first took interest in restoring old planes and tools I didn't pay much thought to the individual tools history. I just took a hunk of rusted metal and made it look new erasing the tools past in the process. I have no issues doing that as its my belief that you are only adding a new chapter in the tools history. On the other end I can also now understand leaving the tools history alone and getting a joy out of wondering what its story is. It wasn't until I had restored a dozen or so planes that I started to take an interest in the tools past.

As I restored more and more tools I would start running into marks and modifications on the tools that just stumped me. I would be sitting there scratching my head trying to figure out why the tool was altered. How did this altercation assist a previous owner?

One of the first things I ran into was this lever cap off of a Stanley plane.
Grey Font Art Gas Concrete


Gas Metal Font Number Rectangle


When I saw this lever cap I couldn't help but wonder why someone had put a grinder to the end of it. I will never know for sure but its the guessing game that makes its history interesting to me.

Another example that I want to share is this side damage to the #8 Stanley plane I have.
Rebate plane Smoothing plane Tool Plane Bumper


The grinding marks that you see in the picture are also on the other side in the exact same spots. I was completely puzzled and confused as to why someone would have put these gouges on both sides of the plane in the exact same spots. Judging by the amount of damage it couldn't have been done by mistake. After sanding the sides for a while I got a closer look and reviled some more clues..
Table Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Floor


Wood Rectangle Bumper Automotive exterior Tints and shades


Do you see it yet??? No? Then lets take an even closer look!
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Pattern Glass


You should be able to see the letter "H" hidden in the scratches. You cant see in the photos but there is also a letter "B" and "D". "B.D.H" was stamped on the bottom front and back side of each of the planes sides. My guess is one of the owners had his initials stamped at the 4 bottom sides of the plane. Then I believe there is a good chance the plane was stolen from this owner. The reason I think it was stolen is because it looks to me like someone took no care at all when trying to erase the initials. Who ever put the gouges and scratches in the sides didn't seem to care at all about the damage but rather to just make sure his name was removed. I could be completely wrong but again thats the joy of these old tools. You can guess and guess and guess on what the tool has been through and it will always be interesting to me.

Although I have don't some heavy restore to most of my planes, I still respect the past of the tool and don't mind leaving some of it alone.
 

Attachments

#191 ·
Discovering the history and wonders of an old plane/tool

When I first took interest in restoring old planes and tools I didn't pay much thought to the individual tools history. I just took a hunk of rusted metal and made it look new erasing the tools past in the process. I have no issues doing that as its my belief that you are only adding a new chapter in the tools history. On the other end I can also now understand leaving the tools history alone and getting a joy out of wondering what its story is. It wasn't until I had restored a dozen or so planes that I started to take an interest in the tools past.

As I restored more and more tools I would start running into marks and modifications on the tools that just stumped me. I would be sitting there scratching my head trying to figure out why the tool was altered. How did this altercation assist a previous owner?

One of the first things I ran into was this lever cap off of a Stanley plane.
Grey Font Art Gas Concrete


Gas Metal Font Number Rectangle


When I saw this lever cap I couldn't help but wonder why someone had put a grinder to the end of it. I will never know for sure but its the guessing game that makes its history interesting to me.

Another example that I want to share is this side damage to the #8 Stanley plane I have.
Rebate plane Smoothing plane Tool Plane Bumper


The grinding marks that you see in the picture are also on the other side in the exact same spots. I was completely puzzled and confused as to why someone would have put these gouges on both sides of the plane in the exact same spots. Judging by the amount of damage it couldn't have been done by mistake. After sanding the sides for a while I got a closer look and reviled some more clues..
Table Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Floor


Wood Rectangle Bumper Automotive exterior Tints and shades


Do you see it yet??? No? Then lets take an even closer look!
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Pattern Glass


You should be able to see the letter "H" hidden in the scratches. You cant see in the photos but there is also a letter "B" and "D". "B.D.H" was stamped on the bottom front and back side of each of the planes sides. My guess is one of the owners had his initials stamped at the 4 bottom sides of the plane. Then I believe there is a good chance the plane was stolen from this owner. The reason I think it was stolen is because it looks to me like someone took no care at all when trying to erase the initials. Who ever put the gouges and scratches in the sides didn't seem to care at all about the damage but rather to just make sure his name was removed. I could be completely wrong but again thats the joy of these old tools. You can guess and guess and guess on what the tool has been through and it will always be interesting to me.

Although I have don't some heavy restore to most of my planes, I still respect the past of the tool and don't mind leaving some of it alone.
Very interesting. I have come across a few odd ones when restoring some tools myself. The lever cap above is rather curious. In so doing, that lever cap will never be able to adequately do it's job any more. My guess would be that someone, who did not understand the purpose of the lever cap ground it to remove a gouge or damage of some sort, but as you say, it's anybody's guess. When I use an old tool that I have brought back to life, I like to think that I am yet another along a line of craftsmen that have used the tool. Somehow that makes me feel like part of a great tradition. I have a couple of planes that belonged to my grandmothers brother who was a cabinet maker back in the post-WWII era and I like to think about the kitchens and other things that he made with those planes when I use them. I will never sell them because of that connection.

Doc
 

Attachments

#198 ·
Stanley Bailey #2 Restored

I hadn't planed on buying the #2 sized plane because of the price and the fact that its small size is not much use for me. Well a few weeks back this #2 plane was up for sale on Ebay and it caught my eye. The plane was in rough shape and the price was lower then what I see a lot of Stanley #2's sell for. My love for collecting these things got the better of me and I placed my bid. I won the auction for what I feel was a decent price.

To restore or not to restore that is the question….

Collector value comes into question with this plane but the truth of the matter is I don't ever plan on selling this plane so the actual collector value really means very little to me.

This plane was defiantly a heavy user plane for someone. The plane had a decent amount of rust, there were paint drops on the handles and the iron had seen a lot of grindings. The back tote was broken at the bottom and a piece was missing and the round part of the sole behind the tote was broken off. The plane was probably dropped a few times. So all in all the plane was not all that pretty and it needed some attn before it could be placed on my shelf next to my others. I debated on how far I was going to go on the cleaning/restoration of this plane and I decided to just start working on it and see where it took me.

Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Jack plane


I took the plane apart and soaked the metal parts in EvapoRust. As they were soaking I cleaned up the handle and knob. I didn't get extreme here, I just scrapped the paint off with a razor blade and then gave them a light sanding. After that a few coats of lacquer and called em good.

After the metal parts soaked for a few hours I pulled them out and gave them a light polishing. The sole was begging me to repaint it but I decided not to. I just cleaned it as best as I could and waxed it to prevent further rust.

Sleeve Dress Collar Wood Rectangle


The sides were cleaned and lightly polished. I flattened the face of the frog and polished it a little as well. I didn't get extreme when cleaning the brass but I gave it a good cleaning/polish. I flattened the sole and I cleaned the blade with a wire wheel and then ground a new bevel on it. After flattening the back and honing a micro bevel it now cuts fine shavings.

After using this plane I realized what I had all ready expected and that is this plane is much to small for me to use. However its the perfect size for my boys to use once they are ready to start learning. I plan on hopefully teaching all 3 of my boys how to use a hand plane using this #2.
Wood Bicycle part Hardwood Camera accessory Wood stain


Wood Camera accessory Audio equipment Hardwood Gas


Scrub plane Plane Smoothing plane Wood Shoulder plane


Plane Block plane Rebate plane Smoothing plane Wood


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Jack plane Block plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Rebate plane


Plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane Tool Hand tool


Glove Automotive tire Wood Flooring Floor


Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Tool
 

Attachments

#199 ·
Stanley Bailey #2 Restored

I hadn't planed on buying the #2 sized plane because of the price and the fact that its small size is not much use for me. Well a few weeks back this #2 plane was up for sale on Ebay and it caught my eye. The plane was in rough shape and the price was lower then what I see a lot of Stanley #2's sell for. My love for collecting these things got the better of me and I placed my bid. I won the auction for what I feel was a decent price.

To restore or not to restore that is the question….

Collector value comes into question with this plane but the truth of the matter is I don't ever plan on selling this plane so the actual collector value really means very little to me.

This plane was defiantly a heavy user plane for someone. The plane had a decent amount of rust, there were paint drops on the handles and the iron had seen a lot of grindings. The back tote was broken at the bottom and a piece was missing and the round part of the sole behind the tote was broken off. The plane was probably dropped a few times. So all in all the plane was not all that pretty and it needed some attn before it could be placed on my shelf next to my others. I debated on how far I was going to go on the cleaning/restoration of this plane and I decided to just start working on it and see where it took me.

Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Jack plane


I took the plane apart and soaked the metal parts in EvapoRust. As they were soaking I cleaned up the handle and knob. I didn't get extreme here, I just scrapped the paint off with a razor blade and then gave them a light sanding. After that a few coats of lacquer and called em good.

After the metal parts soaked for a few hours I pulled them out and gave them a light polishing. The sole was begging me to repaint it but I decided not to. I just cleaned it as best as I could and waxed it to prevent further rust.

Sleeve Dress Collar Wood Rectangle


The sides were cleaned and lightly polished. I flattened the face of the frog and polished it a little as well. I didn't get extreme when cleaning the brass but I gave it a good cleaning/polish. I flattened the sole and I cleaned the blade with a wire wheel and then ground a new bevel on it. After flattening the back and honing a micro bevel it now cuts fine shavings.

After using this plane I realized what I had all ready expected and that is this plane is much to small for me to use. However its the perfect size for my boys to use once they are ready to start learning. I plan on hopefully teaching all 3 of my boys how to use a hand plane using this #2.
Wood Bicycle part Hardwood Camera accessory Wood stain


Wood Camera accessory Audio equipment Hardwood Gas


Scrub plane Plane Smoothing plane Wood Shoulder plane


Plane Block plane Rebate plane Smoothing plane Wood


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Jack plane Block plane


Smoothing plane Plane Scrub plane Block plane Rebate plane


Plane Rebate plane Shoulder plane Tool Hand tool


Glove Automotive tire Wood Flooring Floor


Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Tool
Nice Job! Since you said the plane is broken. Shouldn't that lower the value enough to make the restoration Acceptable.
 

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