I filled the pits with JB Weld and was going to leave it at that, but…..

I went to plane B…….

I’ve wanted to try this for a while now and theoretically it shouldn’t be that hard. Unfortunately,  this project was meant to add layers to my graying hair. I broke more drill bits, buried more taps, and created more work for myself than all other plane builds I’ve done to date. Its almost like I angered some plane god with my shenanigans.

But, the frog is bolted directly to the base with holes drilled and tapped, very similar to what it was like in the original base.

The frog, iron, cap and lever cap are what was on the original #2, along with the knob and tote.

The lever cap looks like its was replaced at one time. It looks more like it was one of the painted type. Its a lot courser than most stanley lever caps and the lever hits the cap, there is no spring under it. I may build a new lever cap. I was thinking brass, but I’m afraid it will be to much brass. I like the idea of a cap screw type like I put on my infill’s.

This project is a perfect example that hiding mistakes is just as important in metal work, as it is in wood work. As of this writing, I’ve handed it off to a mechanic friend to extract a 10-24 tap that is in a particular spot I MUST have a bolt.

This next picture is a cross section before starting to fasten things together. Its kind of a “here’s where I’m headed with this” shot. 

The bottom is a piece of 3/8” cold rolled steel I picked up at tractor supply. I’ve used it in a couple of planes now. I like the precision ground better, since my lack of metal working equipment makes it harder to square things up, but I had this piece, so it got used.

The sides are 1/8” brass.

I took a bolt, drilled and tapped it for a receiver for the tote screw. Its beveled to match the Stanley angle and welded in place.

The tote bolt is a piece of 1/4” x 20 threaded rod.

The nut is a piece of 7/16” brass rod, drilled and tapped for the 1/4 x 20 rod. I cut the slot with the dremel cut off wheel, which was another disaster. I had to take my dremel apart and “work” over the switch to get it to work again!

The knob and tote are Bloodwood. The knob bolt and nut were made similar to the tote’s. For the receiver I simply welded a 1/4” x 20 nut to the base.

The sides are pinned with 10 – 24 stainless steel bolts.

I could have sworn I had some money shots, but maybe the plane gods got to them before I did.

I hope you enjoyed the adventure. All comments and thoughts welcome.

Its a defiance #17. Made by Bailey Tool Co. which was owned by Selden A Bailey and William Bailey (no relation to Leonard Bailey). Located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

It’s 21” long, so I’d assume that’s like a #7.

Here are the before pictures. Someone had painted it an awful blue color. The knob and tote had been painted black as well.

After stripping the knob, I am pretty sure its beech. The tote was rose wood, but it has a spacer piece on the bottom. I’m not sure at this time if that’s original or if the tote has been replaced.

During the restore

After sand blasting

I was kind of surprised at the closeness of the mouth opening.

So I don’t really plan to use this plane, but as most of you know, almost every plane in my collect “can” be used. Its tuned, sharpened and tested even if I plan to retire it as a collection piece.

What’s left of the iron on this old girl is pretty short. The previous user sharpened free hand and you can see the slight camber and the rounded bevel that’s much stepper than I normally sharpen. I seen no reason to remove it, so I just dressed it up on the oil stone.

The results where astounding.

Here is the very first swipe on a piece of red oak.

And subsequent swipes proved just as rewarding.

Here is the before.

And the after.

Somebody put a lot of work into this block plane.

After finally getting it stripped, I gave it a coat of Dupli-Color Engine Enamel DUPDE1635 Ford Semi Gloss Black spray paint. The wood got scraped with a cabinet scraper and sanded to 500 grit. A coat of wax and a few coats of BLO rounded out the treatment. I only sanded the front with 500 grit to preserve the stamp.

I sharpened the blade, flattened the back, wire brushed the small pieces and put it back together.

Much to my very pleasant surprise, not only did it come out looking good, but its probably one of the best working transitionals I’ve restored to date. The mouth was tight right away, no fussing with the sole, and the blade was in very decent shape. I was a little surprised the rust had not penetrating the bottom half of the blade or the chip breaker, making sharpening and flattening much easier than most.
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Like all transitionals, the blade is a little difficult to set, and this has the extra adjustment for the blade adjuster, so it takes some fussing to get it right. I was taking some heavy shavings at first, but gradually got the adjustment down, and got some very nice thin shavings.
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I’m glad I got to bring this one home. Its found a spot next to the other transitionals in my shop. It probably won’t get used a whole lot, but it can sit proudly in retirement knowing its got back the respect it deserves.

Now….why anyone but someone with a sickness for hand planes like me would buy this plane is a little beyond my understanding, unless it was given to you or almost given to you. A note, I’d rather have one of these than any handyman though, and I’d put them in a pretty close running with a Defiance line hand plane. Again, the Defiance can be made to work well pretty consistently, but it takes a little more love than a Stanley Bailey vintage or equivalent.

So the following is some advice on how to make almost any plane work well. I’ll try to separate out my experience in the differences between these and vintage plane.

If your plane needs a full restoration, as in stripping, painting, and parts replaced, go to either my restoration blog , Making a tote blog, turning a knob blog, or a list of possible places to find parts.

Sharpen it
So here is what you do. First sharpen it. See parts 7 and 10 It doesn’t matter what your taste in sharpening is as long as it works for you. It MUST be sharp.

Polish the end of the cap iron
Polish the end of the cap iron This is more important than many people think. It helps with the breaking of the chip.

Check and fix the cap iron if needed. The cap iron must have good contatact with the iron. Any gap at all will collect chips, and clog. Make sure its clean and tight. It should be re-rusted by now with whatever you decided (if it needed it), or you can just wire brush it. I go into more detail here.

Flatten the frog. File the frog flat. I lock it in a vise and hold the file flat while filing it. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Some like to polish this as well, but its not really necessary.

here is the aluminum frog flattened. The aluminum actually took a lot to flatten, but flatten quickly because …… well,…….its aluminum. I’m also not thrilled with the amount of contact area on the Blue frog, but in the end, it did work reasonably well.

Check the frog seating
Also check the frog seating. I very seldom have to do this on a vintage plane, but once in a while one does not seat properly. You can use valve grinding compound and usually it doesn’t take much. In my latest restore I used a block of wood and sand paper.

The best way to tell if it needs seating is as your tightening the screws, or just force the frog down on the seat. You should feel no rocking. You can also use some machinist blue to ensure you’re getting good contact with the two parts.

Next flatten the sole. Use a piece of granite or a table saw top. If it proves to be real bad, I’ll start it on the belt sander, like I do the sides, but I always finish it on the flatter surface of the table saw. Turn the plane front and push in all directions to keep it flat and even.

For longer planes, use sand paper from a role or cut a belt for the task.

Note, I’ve found the older the plane, the less flattening it’ll need. You’d think just the opposite would be true with advancements in manufacturing, but anything made after the 60’s usually makes it to the belt sander. The Blue stanley took longer than most I’ve ever done.

As I’m putting everything together I give it a coat of Fluid Film to keep the rust away.

Or Wax it

The knob and Tote

You will decide how much the knob and tote needs but here are a few tricks to help.

I chuck the knob in the drill press.

Grind the head so it fits in the hole (were possible). Put a washer on the bottom of the knob.

I use a bolt with a 1/4” Philips head that’s been ground down slightly so it fits inside the knob where the brass nut goes. Tighten it down with a washer and chuck it in the drill press. Only chuck it hand tight so you don’t trash the threads.

Sand it with 60 grit if it still has a varnish or hard finish. then up through 500 (or more if desired) grit. If it had an oil finish I’ll start with 220 grit. First few coats of BLO goes on with steel wool while in the drill press. If the existing finish is hard, it is usually easier to scrape it first.

This also helps with waxing. You can spin it fast enough in a drill press to heat the wax.

For the tote, I haven’t found an easier way than possibly scraping if its a hard finish, and sanding as you would any other piece of wood.

Finish the wood with boiled linseed oil (BLO). If its a really dry old piece, soak it in the BLO overnight.

Troubleshooting.

If the mouth is to wide, its pretty hard to fix. You can slide the frog ahead just so far. If its still to wide, you have a couple of options.
1. Turn the plane into a jack
2. Buy a thicker iron.
3. Make it a paper weight.

I’ve test with shimming and haven’t had a whole lot of luck.

Chatter
1. make sure its sharp
2. make sure your not taking to big of a bite. Thin down the shavings.
3. check the frog for both flatness, make sure the screws are tight, and make sure its seating well.
4. Don’t go buy a thicker iron thinking it will fix it.

Then enjoy the results

I hope it helps and thanks for stopping by.

dw

Before

After

My Ohio Tools Family shot A #4, #5, #6, #7

A new set of bloodwood knob and tote for a #2. Shown on one of my my #2s

A set of Walnut.

Edit: I have made a template out of 1/4 ply. Its quicker than the paper if your doing more than one or 2 totes.

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I then drilled the holes. Make sure you drill it before you cut it out. First the tote top hole, then I drilled the through hole. I drilled from both sides first, then with a longer bit, cleaned it through. To keep it square I clamped 2 speed squares to each side.

I then drilled the two holes as the template instructions indicate.

Edit: I no longer drill the holes like below, I just cut the tote out with the bandsaw. I’ve done several both ways and really don’t see a difference, so its just an extra step.

Then off to the bandsaw to cut it out.

Edit with additional information:

The next step is to make sure the angle of the bolt is correct. Not all planes where threaded at the exact same angle. If you have a bolt that is bent, its probably been bent on purpose to accommodate a slightly different angle. I prefer to adjust the tote accordingly.

Note the gap under the front of the newly created tote on this #5. I want to eliminate that gap.

Measure and mark it with the correct gap measurement. I’ll then cut or sand it to the line. I’ll use the bandsaw for something this much.

The double check and adjust as needed

Then off to the router table with a round over bit. I’ve done this with a rasp as well, but the router is quicker.

Remember to not go all the way around. I marked the area I wanted to round over using a tote as a guide.

Then, i traced the top and the bottom from another tote. Off to the belt sander to round over and form the top and bottom.

A little bit of rasp work.

Off to the spindle sander.

Then a little hand sanding and we’re pretty close. Here it is next to a tote being refinished.

I’ll finish and post the finished picture when available.

Here is the final.

I wound up painting these. I wasn’t sure how’d they come out so I made them out of a couple maple scraps. I wasn’t crazy about the light color.

Edit, some additional experience:
I typically start the countersink hole for the nut, and finish it after shaping to get it exact.

Use the template but a bit of advice. The angle of the threads for bench planes are not exact. Check the angle against your plane before shaping it and get it exact. We’ve all seen bent tote rods. That bend is to compensate for the difference in the angle. (I learned this from a fellow LJ). I slightly modify the tote to reflect the exact angle before cutting the thing out.

I also struggled to get the front hole on a #5 and larger plane. I’ve found the easiest way to get it exact is with a broken sole. I dropped a #5 on the concrete and shattered it way beyond repair. I was heart broken, but it became my ’’front hole template’’. I drilled a pilot hole all the way through, and now just hook up the tote and drill it exact.

For sanding I have an old transitional frame. I hook up the tote, hold the frame in the vice, and can sand with a long piece of paper (like a lath strip). Any base would work, but the transitional frame doesn’t have the wider hump to get in the way.

As with all woodworking, make more than one at a time to save time

I very seldom make these one at a time. I started making a few cherry totes.

I also found it helpful to make a jig buy cutting a broken plane to get the front distance exact. If your only making 1 or 2, you can use trial and error. This way is quicker.

To do the back of the tote, use an old #4 base. It’s the same for most planes, a #4 will fit the raised bed of a #5.

So the first thing I did was soak it in evapo-rust. I was hoping the soaking would loosen some of the screws and parts. I had removed the knob before immersing it in the bath.

It soaked over night and in the morning I came out looking like this.

I took it completely apart and  took to wire brushing all the parts.

I hit the brass nut with the buffing wheel.

I then sanded the knob, Starting with 60 grit up through 500.

I laid out the part, sharpened the irons and oiled each piece.

Now I put it all back together.

All That is left is trying it out.

After the first run I realized I had the blades in backward. Switched them around and kept on making shavings.

One more plane to add to the till.

I restored it and Painted the sides to help hide the weld. I used some prototype knob and tote I had made previously. It had a Sweat heart iron.

So today I took it for a spin. Using my new #604 Bedrock Jack and my #604 Bedrock smoother I prepared a couple pieces of rough sawn, just for test sake. The first is a piece of pine.

Now grab the 604 smoother

Its still my favorite smoother.

It came out nice, rough to finish.

Next do the same with a piece of Ash.

Rough sawn off the band saw mill.

Stroke two ways with the Jack.

And smooth.

Here is the before shot.

Another block plane I think the adjuster is cool on. I believe this is a Type 2.

A Type 1 has a 5-point star cap and a raised receiver for the front knob. The front knob is made from applewood on a type 1.

I liked the bronze look so I did not repaint it.

I thought this Shelton Block was the coolest thing. The iron adjuster is different. Its cleaned up and sharpened. I think it’s a keeper.

Here are the as found pictures.

Here are the as now pictures.

After taking this apart I had a missing wedge for the knicker, the main wedge was to small, the threaded bolt for the depth stop is in pieces, the bolts that hold the fence was stripped, and the fence itself was beyond repair.

This sat on my bench for a long time in pieces. I wasn’t sure if I could fix the threaded piece so it looked correct and it intimidated me a little.

The threaded piece for the depth stop came out in 3 different pieces. I re-threaded everything for 1/4 x 20 threads. I had to drill out the brass wing head and re-tap that as well. I should have snapped a picture, but this is 3 pieces. The top (wing) the plate that’s screwed to the plane, and the bottom. The bottom is threw drilled with a pin. I re-drilled and used a 6 penny finish nail peened on both sides to prevent the bottom from moving.

The top (wing) is simply threaded in and tighten down.

I had some cherry scraps laying around and decided top use that for the replacement parts. I’ve made a few thing out of cherry lately and kind of like the look.

2 new wedges, made from cherry.

The Holes in the bottom that held the fence were stripped. I drill and glued some dowel and re-drilled for the screws to hold.

And finally completed.

First thing I typically do is take everything apart and place the parts in a container. I will often be restoring more than one plane at a time, and it is easy to start forgetting what part goes with what plane.

Its not that uncommon to have the parts rusted together. I typically wire brush as much of the rust off as I can. Some parts, like the cap iron, can be wire brushed to completion. Other parts, such as the frog will often have moving parts that you don’t want to try to take apart (like the lateral adjustment) and dips and hollows hard to wire brush. These go into evapo-rust. (For more option for removing rust, see my blog on bench plane restores) Also, after some time in the evapo-rust, the parts should come apart easier.

The base will get the same treatment as the bench planes mentioned above. It is easier however to wire brush the base of a transitional without to much head ache. I will often wire brush them instead of setting up the sand blaster. I then paint the needed parts with Dupli-Color Engine Enamel DUPDE1635 Ford Semi Gloss Black spray paint.

All of the parts shown above are brushed with a course brush. When dealing with the brass parts, switch to a fine brush to avoid removing to much brass.

I also find the dremel brushes can help in these situations

I will the put a piece of rag over the piece and chuck it in the drill press. Depending on what is needed, I’ll sand the inside (inside only, and never if it has writing) up to 500 or 800 grit.

Give the iron and cap iron the same treatment as described in the bench plane blog buy ensuring a tight bond between the cap iron and the iron and polishing the chip breaking section. A cap iron blog is here.

After cleaning up the iron, give it a good sharpening.

Now off to the wood parts.

Restoring wood parts of a plane are the same as almost any wood restoration. If you have a favorite way, it probably can be incorporated.

I typically use a cabinet scraper on the bigger pieces first.

I then sand, some power, some hand sanding as needed.

Depending on the severity of the dryness, I will often soak the ends in BLO. I flip from end to end every so often and coat the entire plane. Once its removed, a complete wipe down to remove the excess.

Its not uncommon to need knob and tote repairs. Again, this is just typical wood restoration. I typically use Brownells Agraglass gel. I have used it in my gunsmithing hobby and know it works well. Any epoxy would work, and many just use glue, although I’ve seen glue not hold on the oily woods like rosewood. Also many times the break is old and hard to get really clean.

For a tip replacement, we’ll sand to get a good clean and flat surface.

then we’ll find a suitable piece. I typically don’t try to match. I’ve found it difficult to match the color and grain of such a wide variety of wood used.

Prepare it

Mix the epoxy. I like to add dye to color the mixture.

And typically with this type of epoxy, no clamping is required. Another big plus. Just be careful, when you walk away it will tend to slide if gravity has its way.

To sand the knob, (after repairs if needed) I have a bolt with the head ground enough to slide into the counter sunk hole, and will chuck it in the drill press.

Sand to 500 grit.

The knob gets the same treatment. I may soak them in BLO, or just coat, depending on condition.

And finally start the re-installation.

So the before and after shots of the 2 I restored for this blog.

An Upson #29

—After—

Sargent #3415. I don’t have a before pictures of the second. The reason. It looked so bad I didn’t think it was restorable. Yep, even I didn’t think it had possibilities. I planned to use the frog for another one of the High angle planes I planned to save as much of the base for future repair pieces. As I started scraping and sanding, this began to emerge.

The cap iron and iron are pitted so bad the iron will never be usable. I even tried the ruler trick but the pitting is to deep. I decided to paint the cap iron to hide some of the pitting. It will be a show piece until I stumble onto a new iron.

I had the fortunate coincident to pick up a Ohio Tools #6 and #7 bench plane a few days apart. I took this as a sign. Someone was telling me I needed to put together a few more of these wonderful bench planes. The hunt is one.

What intrigued me the most was the different style frog adjustment screw of the #7.

The #6 Does not have a frog adjustment screw, but the other thing I like about the Ohio Tool bench planes is the style of the tote and the large low profile front knob.

Here is the #7.

the #6.

The #5 soon to come

I decided to clean and tune it up to see how it would work. First I wire brushed everything.

Then I buffed what I could.

Then made sure the sole was flat

It had a little hump right behind the mouth, so I very gentle tapped it out a little.

Shined the sole  up just a bit on the DMT.

Soaked it in evapo-rust to be sure I got all the “inside” rust out.

Hit the fine spots with the dremel.

The onto the blade. I gave it a good wire brushing.

Flatten the back as needed

Put it together

And put it to the test. It made some super fine shavings.

It is definitely a keeper.

This is the plane I started with.

I cut a groove on the side toward the raised panel and sharpened the blade on that side as well.

I cut it on the table saw and finished it up with my new Veritas shoulder plane.

I added a nicker to cut the line around the panel. I tried it without it and got some fur on softwood.

I then added a piece on the other side that would wrap around the bottom and form the fence.

I then clean it up down to the line. The line, all the way around, it’s the width (typically 1/4”). I used my VVeritas Plane’>eritas small shoulder plane

I cut the panel with the panel raiser, then clean it up with one of the 3 planes (#62, #604 or shoulder) I fnd the #62 works best on the end grain typically, and my 604 works best on the long grain. I use the shuolder plane to clean up around the raise.

The picture below shows where cleanup will be needed with th shoulder plane.

I raised 2 test panels so far, one in pine and one in oak (oak is a real small one). I need to find a more convenient way to raise and lower the spur blade, but it works well enough that I will use it until I do.

Thanks for looking.

General:
The mother of all Stanley information http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~alf/en/antique-tool-faq.txt Antique Tools FAQ (as of 11/97)
http://www.handplane.com/
https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/planes101.htm
https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/planes101.htm
http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/WoodHowTo/INDEXHowTo.htm
Millers Falls here—http://oldtoolheaven.com/bench/bench.htm
http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/stanleybenchplane/
Learn to use the plane at his blog—- http://www.logancabinetshoppe.com
The Hardware Companies Kollectors Klub – http://www.thckk.org/history.htm
Find the plane manufacturer by lever adjustmenthttp://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/graphics/plane%20id.html
” http://www.shop.roseantiquetools.net/408a-Stanley-39-3-4-Dado-Plane-408a.htm”:http://www.shop.roseantiquetools.net/408a-Stanley-39-3-4-Dado-Plane-408a.htm
flatten the soles of planes http://www.tablesawtom.com

WayneC also has a set of really good reference sites.

Other Reference Sites
http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/WoodHowTo/INDEXHowTo.htm

Refinishing:
http://www.majorpanic.com/SlideShow.htm
https://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/japanning/japanning.htm

Plane Parts:
http://stjamesbaytoolco.com/
http://antique-used-tools.com/
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/search.aspx?find=stanley+plane+parts
http://www.stanleytoolparts.com/planes.html

Restoration:
http://lumberjocks.com/WayneC/blog/series/40
http://lumberjocks.com/Dcase/blog/series/3462
http://www.majorpanic.com/handplanerestor1.htm
WKFinetools

Engraving
http://www.catharinekennedy.com/
http://www.toolengraver.com/
www.cajunhandplanes.com

Dating References:
Rexmills type Study
antique-used-tools.com frog comparison
Plane dating flow chart
Brass City quick plane ID
http://primeshop.com/access/woodwork/stanleyplane/DataMisc.htm

Sharpening
Rexmills sharpening
WayneC resources
Scrub Plane Iron Cambering
antiquetools.com A Guide to sharpening

Antiques tools for sale and Auctions
Meeker’s Mechanical Nature Antiques
Martin J. Donnelly Antique Tools
http://antique-used-tools.com/
Supertools List
www.sydnassloot.com
www.finetoolj.com

I figured since this plane needed almost anything a plane restore could need, I would expand on it a bit and talk about my methodology for metal bench plane restoration, because when I pulled it from the pile it looked like this.

First i should note that you may find the occasional picture from another plane restore. I’m not trying to trick anyone, just get the details in and I can’t guarantee i have all the pictures I need from the Millers Falls #10. Most of my planes are Stanleys, but I have to admit I have a sort of soft spot for the good Millers Falls planes. Maybe its because they are the underdog, or maybe its the brighter shinier metal that I usually have to strip because its flaking away, either way, here we go.

First I take it all apart and put the parts in a plastic container. That to keep all the parts together as best as i can. I tend to have multiple projects happening in my shop, and since I don’t do this for a living, its possible i don’t get back for a few days or a week. I don’t want to have to remember where I put the parts. I then stand for a minute to contemplate what to start on first. The decisions are usually based on mood more than a real process.

Lets talk about the japanning. I’m a firm believer in leaving the japanning on an older plane if its reasonable. It could increase the value of the plane, but a lot of the planes I find the japanning is shot. Determining what to do next will take some trial and error if you’ve never done it, but here is what I use.

If your not going to repaint, its a good idea to give the japanned areas a couple of coat of shellac. This will bring back a bit of the luster and help protect both the japanning and any bare metal where the japanning is gone.

Electrolysis. Its a a great process and will get rid of the rust, or at least make it easy to brush off. I have used it and I will continue to use it at times. The draw backs are this. It takes a little time. You need to get it set up and it typically takes over night for most planes. You need a plastic container big enough for the piece your de-rusting and you need a battery charger. I will guarantee once you’ve used it you will continue if you plan to do this often. See Al’s blog for further instructions.

Evapo-rust. Sold at some Tractor Supply’s and internet sites. Its $20 a gallon so its more expensive than electrolysis. A gallon will do a quit a few plane and other tools though. Just set the piece in it and let it set over night. Again the rust will either wipe off or wire brush right off the next day. I wire brush my parts first, just to make the evapo-rust last longer and try to keep it cleaner.

Sand Blasting. My favorite for planes that you know you need to paint. I bought a $30 sand blasting gun at amazon.com and haven’t looked back. Again, I try to leave the japanning if I can, but if it needs painting this is the way to go. Screened play sand will work just fine, but I bought some aluminum oxide blasting grit which works a little better. Don’t be afraid to stick with the play sand for a while. Its does a fine job. The draw back of sand blasting is you need a decent air compressor.
Black Diamond Blasting Abrasive

EDIT: I’ve noticed recently the sand blasting guns are even cheaper at Amazon.

Air Sand Blaster Gun

The old fashion way. Wire brushes and scrapers and screw drivers and sand paper and whatever else you have to work the stuff off. This is the hardest way, but if you plan to only do one or two, it may be your choice.

Paint Stripper. Paint stripper will work if added to “the old fashion way” above. It will usually take a few applications. I have used it but for me its messy and time consuming. Again, if you are only going to do a few planes, it may a choice.

This is what the Millers Falls looked like when it came out of the evapo-rust. I had hopes I could save the japanning, but there was to much rust under the japanning that I didn’t see until it was lifted.

I knew it needed to be painted, so lets break out the sand blaster.

I also created a small blasting cabinet. You can re-use the media and it keeps it contained. Plus it doesn’t get all over my shop.

Note most of it is plastic except for a piece of glass in the front. That’s so its easier to wipe off and see through. The bottom is open so I set it on my bench on a flat piece of steel (plywood would work too) to catch the sand. Note the 2 hand holes in the front. What you can not see is the top. I have 2 holes drilled in a piece of plywood. One is for the air hose. The other is for a shop vac. When using play sand for media, it helps to suck the dust out so you can see.

It takes me 30-40 minute to setup and clean a base using the Sand Blaster. Obviously doing 2 or 3 at once is quicker.

Take a look at my #8c restore for more picture of before and after sandblasting.

Edit. I upgraded my blaster. See the blog.

To use evapo-rust, you can use a plastic tote like the electrolysis, or I made an aluminum tray out of flashing material. Its narrower so it takes less to cover the plane. I can also tilt it in one direction so its deeper on one end.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE. MAKE SURE THE WHOLE PIECE IS COVERED. EVAPO-RUST WILL LEAVE AN ETCH MARK AT THE WATER LEVEL THAT WILL NOT EASILY COME OUT!

I also made a wire basket for the smaller parts.

Next you will want to wire brush the frog so you can paint them together. I don’t have a picture wire brushing the frog, but you will want a course and a fine wire brush like this one:

There is usually a little hand work on the frog as well. I have some larger and smaller wire brushes I use. Use what ever works for you. I also have a collection of wire brushes for the drill. I will use whatever works.

Buy your wire brushes here.

It’s typically easier on the frog to tape off the areas to not be painted. If the base hasn’t been cleaned up I don’t bother, but If I have the rest of the base complete, I’ll mask it with painter tape.

Next paint it. Wipe it down with mineral spirits or paint thinner to get all the dust off it. I use Dupli-Color DE1635 Ceramic Ford Semi-Gloss Black Engine Paint – 12 oz.
spray paint or Rust-Oleum Hammered Black paint. I find the Dupli-Color to be a little closer to the original finish. What I like about the Dupli-Color Engine Enamel is you re-coat after 10 minutes. I usually let it sit for 15 minutes and add a coat. I will give it 4 or 5 coats. Note you can not re coat if you wait longer than about 1 hour though. If it starts to set up the fresh paint will cause the semi dry paint to peel and curl up. If you need to repaint wait 7 days as described on the can.

A lite masking off what’s not to be painted helps save some time.

I try to paint the frog and base together just to save time.

I may take the fork off if it comes apart easily. I paint the fork as well.

Next Polish the sides of the base. I use a belt sander, but have done a few by hand sanding.

Flatten the frog. File the frog flat. It really doesn’t matter if you do this before or after painting. I usually wind up doing it after. I lock it in a vise and hold the file flat while filing it. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Some like to polish this as well, but its not really necessary.

Check and fix the cap iron. First thing I do is wire brush it. It should be re-rusted by now with whatever you decided, or you can just wire brush it. I find I will wire brush it first, then throw it in the evapo-rust if It still needs a little help. You can also touch it to a belt sander to shine it up a bit if needed. I go into more detail here.

Sharpen it After cleaning up the iron (just like the cap iron) you’ll need to sharpen it. How I go about that process is described here.

Now for the wood. I chuck the knob in the drill press.

Sand it with 60 grit if it still has a varnish or hard finish. then up through 500 grit. If it had an oil finish I’ll start with 220 grit. First few coats of BLO
goes on with steel wool while in the drill press. If the existing finish is hard, it is usually easier to scrape it first.

For the tote, I haven’t found an easier way than possibly scraping if its a hard finish, and sanding as you would any other piece of wood.

Finish the wood with boiled linseed oil
(BLO). If its a really dry old piece, soak it in the BLO overnight.

If you need to make a new tote.
If you need to fix a broken tote

For the adjustment knob, I wire brush the outside. I try the fine brush first, if its bad enough you’ll need to start with the course, just be careful, you can take the ridges off. Then I chuck it in the drill press. I will add a piece of paper towel or rag between the jaws and the knob to protect it. Just tighten it hand tight. I then rip some pieces of sand paper about 1/4” by 1” and sand the inside. If its bad I’ll start with 120 grit up to 500 grid.

The brass nuts that holds the knob and tote on will go straight to the buffing wheel.

Cap Irons get wire brushed. I usually leave it with the brushed look. This Millers Falls was chromed, but it was shot, so I took it right off and left it. I painted this one on a Solar.

To get the red background, I will mask the outside outline, paint it, let it dray and sand it with a sanding block. 220 grit, 320 grit, and 500 grit works for me.

Next flatten the sole. I don’t have a piece of granite yet, so I’m still doing it on the table saw top. If it proves to be real bad, I’ll start it on the belt sander, like I do the sides, but I always finish it on the flatter surface of the table saw. Turn the plane front and push in all directions to keep it flat and even.

Wire brush all the remaining screws and washers. I typically add a little axle grease before putting the screws back in.

As I’m putting everything together I give it a coat of Fluid Film
to keep the rust away.

Or Wax it

And a few more “After” pictures.

For more information, check out the links on my reference blog.

I haven’t repainted the Stanley #40 yet. I’m not sure if I will or not. What you see in the picture that looks like rust is just the fluid film. I’m not sure why the picture make it a “rusty” color.

Here are the before pictures.

After getting the plane I just gave it a quick cleanup and sharpening to give it a test run. I’ve never used a scrub before. I was pretty impressed with its ability to remove wood quickly.

Basically all I did was refinish the wood as I normally do, using BLO
as a finish, give the rest a good wire brushing and put it back together all cleaned and oiled. Unlike a bench plane, the #40 typically has painted sides. This didn’t have much left, but for now I am not repainting.

The #S5 was an added bonus for me. Not that I needed another #5, but I don’t have an S#. Stanley made an S4 and an S5. If you haven’t seen the S5, here is what Patrick Gore has to say about them:

“Offered as indestructable planes, Stanley made these planes for heavy duty abuse. They advertised them as being useful for shops that had concrete floors. If I were in Stanley’s marketing department, back when the planes were offered, I would have added that the planes were also designed for those workdudes prone to losing their temper, where the planes can withstand their being slammed to the ground during a fit of rage, like after you smash your thumb with a hammer or something like that.

These planes beg abuse, and have a pressed or forged steel bottom. The steel is bent to form a U-shape. A piece forward of the mouth and rear of the mouth are riveted to the steel bottom. The lever cap and frog are made of malleable iron (the normal bench planes have their bottom casting made of gray iron), with the frog’s casting having a noticeably coarser texture than those provided on the Bailey line.”

Here are the before pictures:

I pretty much did a normal restore here is my normal restore blog but here are the highlights for the S5.

The japanning was so far gone i just soaked it in Evapo-rust overnight, then added a little paint remover. There wasn’t much to remove, so it didn’t take a lot of effort. Finished the clean up and painted it several coats of the engine enamel. Knob and tote got the same treatment as above.

The original cap had the background on the logo painted red, so I redid that, sharpened it, and put it back together.

Its got a few pitted spots on the side walls, but all-in-all it came out pretty reasonable. Its found a spot in my cabinet (which is already running out of room).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you found some interesting tidbits to make it worth your time.

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But with a lot of TLC, I think its back in true form. A type 9 I believe. The blade is pitted bad enough that I can’t see what the logo was, but the pitting stops at the cap.

Advice from “real” turners is more than welcome.

So first I’ll show how serous I am. I made a little tool box to hold the stuff I need to make knobs and totes. (here is the tote blog) If its used to refinish or manufacture a knob or a tote, its probably in this box or the ones next to it.

Next I’ll show the templates. These are just 1/4” luan cut to the desired profile.

Next thing you’ll need is some calipers. I typically use 2 for knobs, one for the widest part, one for the narrowest part and one for the base.

Next, cut the piece of wood. You’ll want it just a little longer. You can make it long enough to make more than one knob if you need. Cut it square the size you want. It needs to be just a little bigger than the total width of the knob. I like to make it a little bigger, than I don’t have to be so fussy getting my center perfect.

Next mark center.

I then drill a small hole completely through the piece. This will become center. Drilling from both ends helps keep center straight, but if your piece is big enough, its not extremely important at this point.

Now just mount in the lathe. My lathe is just an old craftsman. Someday I’ll upgrade, but so far this has done what I need it to. I really need some better cutters, but again, they work, so its not moved high enough on my priority list.

Now turn the piece down to the widest point. I leave it just a little big to allow for sanding.

Use a pencil to mark out the primary points.

Then start shaping.

Check occasionally against the profile template.

Once the shape has formed, I sand it. I sand all I can right down to 500 grit.

This is actually backwards from what I typically do. The drive center is typically at the bottom of the knob, or I turn the knob from the center of the blank. Now I’ll have the marks from the drive center to deal with, but they will sand out easily.

I don’t seem to have the cutter to allow me to cut the piece to length right on the lath, so I always use the band saw.

Now its off to the drill press. Re-drill the center hole with a 1/4” bit. (note some are actually smaller, so check the knob you’re reproducing)

Next drill for the nut countersink. A typically vintage Stanley is 7/16” but I’ve seen a lot with several other sizes. They are also different depths, so I use the actual nut as a guide. Drill and check. Drill and check.

I’ve tried several kinds of drill bits for this. The spade bit seems to work the best for me. If your going to use something else, you may want to do this step before drilling the center hole.

You can also use a stop or marker for the depth. I have a spade bit that I files a notch in, but there are so many different depths, the stop would need to be adjustable.

Until its just below the surface.

Now for the bottom receiver countersink. These are usually bigger. And there are a lot of different sizes.

Same as the top, I drill and check to get it right. I’ve also used a stop one the drills.

Next I sanded out the marks from the live center. I’ve done this several times in the past, always swearing I’d make sure the live center is one the bottom. I still sometimes forget. Either way there will be some sanding on the top.

Next I grab a special bolt I have for spinning the knob in the drill press. Its jut a 1/4”x20 bolt, but the head has been ground down enough to fit into the countersink.

Chuck it up, set the drill press on warp speed and generate some heat.

Take it out once in a while to have a look see.

Again, I sand down to 500 grit.

The reach for the wax/turpentine mixture and some steel wool.

If I didn’t have the camera in my hand, you’d see my other hand on the knob as well, generating friction to help heat the wood to help soak up the wax.

Next a rag soaked with BLO.

And we’re complete.

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Note the condition of the knob and tote. They obviously needed replacement, and I wanted something other than rosewood. I decided on bloodwood. A lot of Sargent’s came with Mahogany, but I didn’t have any available. I thought this was a suitable replacement. And Of course I never make one at a time.

The japanning was shot as well, so it needed to be stripped and repainted. As with the #708 and all my repainting, I used Dupli-Color Engine Enamel DUPDE1635 Ford Semi Gloss Black spray paint

I put a modest camber on the blade, so no full width shavings, but a nice jack style plane for my collection.

And the two together

Thanks for looking and may all your irons stay sharp and your shaving stay crisp.

After looking around a bit and emailing a few people, Bob Kaune over at http://www.antique-used-tools.com emailed and said he had a blade, so I bought it.

The plane needed repainting so I sandblasted it and stripped it. Painted it with Dupli-Color Engine Enamel DUPDE1635 Ford Semi Gloss Black spray paint as I suggest in my restoration blog.

The Sargent 708 has a feature I haven’t had on any bench plane before. The front piece acts as the cap iron and its adjustable, so you can fine tune it for a very thin shaving, without taking anything apart.

This plane works amazingly well. This piece you see it sitting on is a piece of ash I use for testing. This is the first plane that totally eliminates tear on this stuff, including the Ulmia 25.

Note all the pictures. I just kept stopping what I was doing (restoring a Sargent 415) to take a few shavings. It was wonderful.

I can find any before pictures, but its in with a group.