Stanley Bailey #3 Restored User

Looks good, nice restoration.

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

Good job!, a really nice smoothing plane.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I have a few #3 and they are one of my favorites too.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, Riddle Oregon

I love a #3 as well. Nice job. Now it’s ready for the next 50-100 years -SST

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

niiice!!!

Dennis

Another job well done. Me i have big paws and the only plane i can find that fits it good is the #4-1/2, the smallest one that feels good is the #4. I can’t wait to see some projects u make with your planes. Everytime i look at mine i want to make something.

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

Looks great. The #3 is a great size I’ve got a Stanley and a Millers Falls (#8) and they both are sitting on my desk looking at me just waiting for things to warm up around here. I think the #3 is truly the smallest of the usable bench plane models, well for me anyway I got bigikes issue, big paws.

What did you do on the sides? Lap them or just clean and polish?

Nice plane.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Thanks for the compliments. I actually removed the rust by refreshing it using a fine belt on my 6×48 belt sander. Since this machine has a large flat machined surface under the belt, this also speeded the initial flattening of the sole of the plane. All I had to do then was to lap the sole with progressively finer sandpaper. I lapped it down to 400 grit and then applied a coat of past wax. It slides like buttah!. If you look closely, I actually did not remove all of the patina from the blade. I only worked on the business end of the blade (original stanley blade) and then the chipbreaker as it contacts the blade. I polished the blade using a 4000 grit water stone. It will shave like a good straight razor. I also filed the frog nice and flat and cleaned up all of the mating surfaces where the frog contacts the body of the plane. It makes great, clean, chatter free cuts down to just a couple of thousandths with not problem.

-- He who dies with the most tools wins!! Doc

As for the handles, this plane actually had a dark red stain on them. I used a Formby’s refinisher product to strip the finish. I then applied 2 coats of tongue oil to provide some protection and then 3 coats of past wax. Going forward, I will simply recoat them with wax occasionally as well as the sole and body of the plane to prevent rust and help it slide better.

-- He who dies with the most tools wins!! Doc

I found the #3 is really easier to tune than the lager planes. I end up using it more. Great plane!

-- JB