| Blog series by Dave | updated 211 days ago | 22 parts | 40556 reads | 522 comments total |
Part 1: Ohh I've been at it again. shhhhh [antiques]
Went shopping again today and have found many things. I found 2 fore planes, molding planes, grooving planes, rabbit plane and a folding ruler. My tool restoration skills are fixing to be sharpenedhey Dennis I need to borrow your gutterHey Mike do you think I will have time to catch up on the bucket My lovely wife allowed me to spend $150.00 bucks today. She came back with a pig piggy bank. And our daughters go prom dresses.I think I got the better deal.
Part 2: fore plane, rabbit and 2 bead molding planes
The day started with me preheating my shop with my kerosene heater. I fixed myself a tall cup of coffee and off I went. I could not wait to start on my [new to me] planes. I wanted to start on one of the 2 fore planes but I knew the time it would take to work on the iron. So I started on the rabbit skew plane. It was in excellent condition. The main problem is the very corner of the back of the iron is a little concave. With a few sharpening’s it will come into the correct flatness. ...
Part 3: Try and fore finished, one fore more
I got off a little early today and caught some shop time. I had a nice couple of chunks of ceder and wanted to try my try out. Its a Dwights and French & co. try plane. I couldn’t help myself.Now I cleared all that away and continued to hone on my fore plane iron. Its a Alex Mathieson & Sons Glasgow Scotland fore plane.I have been working on the iron with a honing jig. I have about 4 hours with it on a diamond stone. I would polish the back with my worksharp 3000. Then I finishe...
Part 4: SLOW DOWN DO IT RIGHT its only waited a 140 years
I had been rushing with the refurbish and stopped took a step back and started over.I was not happy with the wedge and started to look closer. It was not the original it is to long and to narrow. It also has a crack in a very bad place. My C A repair would have held for a while but I was optimistic of its durability with heavy use. So a new wedge was in the near future. I have a lot of 5/4 red oak scrap. So I found a fairly straight grained piece. Tuning the angle. I chose to make t...
Part 5: A smoother and a plow plane
Today was a great day I had paid a visit to a fellow l j [william]. We had a great time. Then I picked up two more planes. First I will show some pictures and then give a little provenance of the history of the planes. Or as much as I can.First is a smother. Sorry about the pic’s, it seems I loose about 30% of the right side of every picture! The tool maker markings are New York Tool Co. From what I can find out The New York Tool Co. is a name used buy Aurborn Tool Co. From 1864 to 1...
Part 6: Wedged plow plane
Had a small amount of time today to work on my plow plane.Need a wedge built. I used navel jelly, brasso, mill file and sandpaper to clean most of the steel and brass hardware. I oiled it with linseed oil. On all the parts and pieces. Put her back together and this is what I got. Now for a test run. This is the first time with me and this type of plane. Not bad a little heavy on the shaving. But its joinery not finish planing. This is only pine I need to test it on somethin...
Part 7: The making of a simple Plain TOTE
OK I am running out of shelf space and am in need of storing my planes with a better method. I will attempt to build a plane tote that I can change its configuration as my plane habit grows. I have purchased some s4s 4/4 tiger maple. I ripped them down to 5” wide by 2 1/2’ long. Now let us see how that refurbed coffin plane works out. The vendor I purchase my wood from is in need to sharpen his planer blades. The maple does have some interlocking grain. So I broke ou...
Part 8: A suprize from a fellow LJ
My wife has been sick the last few days, so I stayed home from work to tend to her. Every now and then I would go out to the shop and get a little done while she slept. I had started back on the dovetails and am near finished. This is one of the largest box frames I have dovetailed by hand. Pairing and rasping to clear the saw marks. The dozuki might not have much kerf but my hands wander a little while I saw. Not being able to see well doesn’t help either. Then the mail ca...
Part 9: Work on the till and a tote catastrophe
First and foremost. This Saturday at our Agriculture Museum there will be a meeting of the Pearl River Woodcarvers guild. I do believe 4 lj’s will be there showing support. That in itself will be fun. And I might even find an old gouge or two. ;)Another cool thing I had a fellow LJ, William, stoped buy this week. He brought me an old #5 fluted craftsman plane. That wiil make another great refurb and user.Now the plane till is coming together. Dry fit went alone fairly well. So I w...
Part 10: Sandusky jack plane off of ebay
My latest find from eBay came today. It is a Ogontz #13 jack Plane. Sandusky Tool co. is on the iron. First a little provenance on the plane.Sandusky Tool Co. Sandusky, Ohio 1869-1926 Tool Types Axes, Clamps, hammers, Hoes, Metal Planes, Picks, Plane Irons, Screwdrivers, Shaves Aside from planes, this company may have solely been a distributor for some items. Patented planes include one by Cyrus Kinney in 1855, two by Ellis H. Morris on 8 November 1870 and 21 March 1871, and one by Harmon ...
Part 11: Finishing of the Sandusky plane iron
Well I spent over 3 hours getting the iron and chip breaker sharp and square and wow. I had left them in this state Friday.The iron had a heavy camber to it. But with some honing. There is a tiny bit of damage to the corners but I had removed a lot of material and the damage will be removed with future sharpening. The first chips on the edge of a 2/4. Not to bad. I had to get a piece of walnut and give it a try.before after I am pleased with the outcome. Not bad for $22....
Part 12: Stanley 71
I won a bid on eBay for a Stanley 71 for $19.02 plus shipping. I was very pleased for the chance to own such a fine plane. Here is the picture that was posted on eBay. And here is a bit of a break down when I received it. After break down. Sorry no pictures of the process. I wiped everything down with acetone and a wire brush. I took my roto tool and got the rust out of all the nooks and cracks. The original finish was only 60 percent there. I am wanting a good clean user th...
Part 13: Electrolysis is my method of choice for rust removal, what is yours?
Electrolysis has become my favorite way to clean an old tool. It is a chemical method but is one of the cleanest and greenest ways to do it. First I clean the dirt and debris off of the project. Then take a roto tool with a brush and loosen paint, grease and large rust deposits. I believe this method leaves as much of the original metal as possible. There are some fine articles on the subject. WWGOA , americanwoodworker , and a ton of or lj’s have posted on the subject, here is just one...
Part 14: An old stick n rabbet
Here is an old plane that BoxCarMarty helped me find. It seems that the British used a whole bunch of planes to make a window sash. The Americans invented a version to cut the inner and outer groves at the same time.The outer is called the stick because of the sticking board used to make it. The inner grove is a rabbet that the glass would be set in then glazed. My wife has been on me to get her a few old windows so she could put pictures in them and hang em on the wall. Well being the cheaps...
Part 15: Stanley 95 and holdfasts
I had bought a Stanley 95 and it was missing the cap screw. I searched the internet high and low to find one. There were none to be found. I had gone as far as New Zealand. Some of the LJ”S were taking screws from other style planes and letting me know if they would swap out. I couldn’t even find those screws. Thanks Smitty. A fellow LJ offered to get his brother to make me one. I sent the cap and BoxCarMarty returned it with a wonderful screw. Thanks, now I have a working 95 and ...
Part 16: A Tune-up on a Fore Plane
As most of you guys know I love my wood planes. I try to keep them in razor sharp condition at all times. They are a bit more needy than a metal plane. The sole doesn’t rust but is made of wood and it has a tendency to move. I don’t have any big projects sitting on the bench and had a half an afternoon. I grabbed one of my fore (some call it a jack) planes and tuned it up. You will first see the removal of the wedge. You can hit the plane on the top of the toe or heel. After the w...
Part 17: Irwin Auger Bits
One after noon I had some time on my hands and took a little trip on my bike to one of my favorite antique shops. There was a almost complete set od Irwin auger bits in a boxed set. I had to wait a few days and went back with $30 and brought it home.This is what I got. The set was off a bit or two. It had a few extra of the same size. I scrounged around the shop and managed to come up with the missing ones the make the set completely Iwin. I then broke out the electrolysis buck...
Part 18: Refurbishing an eBay $10 traditional smoother
This is a 9” coffin smoother purchased from eBay. It is a Cassy Clark and Co. from Auburn NY with a Clover Leaf iron.Cassy Clark and CO.The firm is known to exist from 1864 to 1893. George Casey reorganized the firm of Casey, Clark and Company as a joint stock company in 1864, under the firm name of Auburn Tool Company, capitalized at $700, 000. The 1865 New York State Census noted the firm as a manufacturer of plane, plane irons, and skates.During 1864-65 and from 1874-77 the company used pr...
Part 19: Coffin Smoother part 2
A little more on the history of our American Planes.Prison Labor was used by a lot of plane makers.From the early 1800’s development efforts appear to be aimed at reducing labor costs and those reductions translated to a steady decline in the quality of wooden planes. American plane makers seem to have led the way in the effort save labor but British planes also suffered from the effects of cost cutting. The ultimate expression of this cost cutting probably was the use of prison labor b...
Part 20: Traditional Moulding Plane
Here is a video on a plane refurbish from out of the box to use. The plane was bought online and a pleasant surprise when I got it. I have also posted this on my blog. It goes a bit more in depth.ChiselandForge.com Enjoy.
Part 21: A four inch coffin smoother.
Hello, I found this little plane on ebay and had to have it. I believe David Ward made it. I used turpentine and BLO for the refurbish The shavings and finish it left are amazing.
Part 22: Wood Plane 101
A few people have had some questions about the ways I have done some of the refurbishing and purchasing of old traditional wooden planes.Here is a short video on some of the things I have learned through the years.These are my methods and opinions in refurbishing ole planes.
