Well, this one has been on the workbench for about a month now. Before that it was on the shelf for a while. I don’t really know the last time this plane actually saw any use.
Here is how I got it. Honestly it doesn’t look too bad.
But initial looks are a bit deceiving. Iron and cap were a bit rusted. The plane sole had a couple cracks and the wedge was anything but flat.
The wood got sanded down. I used titebond3 to seal and bond the cracks. Then it got a couple coats of 2lb cut shellac. Finished it off with a rub down and paste wax.
The blade has given me a bit of trouble. Not only was it rusted, but it had been beat pretty good. Fortunately no pitting. Once the rust was resolved I went at flattening the back. This turned into a 2 week process. A previous owner had dubbed over one corner badly (probably the same guy who hammered the tar out of the blade). With a combination of coarse paper and grinding the bevel back this is just about remedied. But it was a lot of work. In retrospect it would have been better to take it to the belt sander and forget about preserving the Sandusky logo. Oh well, live and learn.
Well, initial results are in.
a bit slack jawed…
It does cut a nice shaving, but the mouth opening leaves something to be desired if it is ever going to be a smoother. Either I need to re-sole it or camber the blade and make it a scrub. Jury still out on that.
-- Doug, woodworking in Alabama
5 comments so far
John Gray
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1751 posts in 778 days
posted 358 days ago
Beautiful plane! Thanks for the post.
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
Tomcat1066
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776 posts in 689 days
posted 357 days ago
Nice shavings you’ve got there! Very sweet little plane you’ve got there.
-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!
rtb
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678 posts in 606 days
posted 357 days ago
With those shaving’s ‘if it ain’t broke fix it’. any idea about its age?
-- RTB. "dumb animals are not stupid they simply can't talk "
Beginningwoodworker
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4123 posts in 566 days
posted 357 days ago
Beautiful plane.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
dsb1829
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369 posts in 520 days
posted 357 days ago
Thanks for the kind words. I have no idea on the age or original usage of this plane. It was probably just a block plane for rough work.
rtb, I had hoped to use it as a smoother. Those shavings are about .004”, which is far from smoother territory. It needs more support in front of the mouth and a tighter throat to turn it into a smoother. The blade will pull nice thin shavings, but not at full width. I dunno, might just be fighting against the original design intent.
-- Doug, woodworking in Alabama