Tim Tabor Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 I have 3 Stanley planes. #5, #6, #110. They belonged to my grandfather. They have been in an old tool box for at least 40 years. They are rusted but all the parts seem to be in working order. Is it worth restoring them and if so what is the best way to do this? Or should I just buy new planes? New to using hand tools. Would like any advice you have. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdie Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 They are worth restoring if you want to expend the effort. Irons can always be replaced. There are cases of pitting, twist or other flaws that may make the effort less worthwhile but a tool has to be pretty far gone before it's totally useless. Some pics might make it easier to give you suggestions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Before you do anything, do your homework. Check to see if they're worth anything. Are they collector items? Then, you can decide if you want to restore them. I realize that the sentimental value is there but, actual value may out weigh that sentiment. You could put some pictures up for the hand tool gurus here to offer some advice. Welcome to the forums. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Tabor Posted August 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 I will try to post a picture but it keep saying the files to big. I'm not the greatest on computers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Try reducing the size of the photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Tabor Posted August 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Here they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Nicely done with the pic. I'm sure someone way smarter than I about these will chime in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Welcome, Tim. Check each of them over for any cracks in the frog or plane body before you consider restoring them. To flatten the surfaces of the plane you can expect to spend around 1-2 hours each. There are quite a lot of videos on youtube that show how to restore old planes. #5 - the iron looks pretty well-rusted, but the rest of it looks in good shape. If the iron cleans up nicely then go ahead and use it, but if it's pitted then you might want to look for a replacement iron. You could try soaking the rusted parts in EvapoRust. I did this with an old rusted #7 and it removed every bit of rust within 24 hours. I put the metal parts (no brass or wood) in a garbage bag, poured in some evaporust, then submerged the bag into a bucket of water. The water displaced the air in the bag, which made it so i didn't need much of the evaporust to completely surround the parts. It was about $12 for a quart at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BNZGY0/ #6 - this one looks pretty decent. I'd definitely give this one a chance so long as it didn't have any cracks. #110 - I have one of these block planes and i despise it. It can take nice shavings, but it's such a pain to get the blade aligned. Notice there are no depth or lateral adjusters, so you need to take it apart anytime you want to adjust the blade. It's less than fun to get it lined up so the blade is parallel to the mouth and at the desired depth. I found i use my block plane quite a bit so i ended up forking over the money for a premium model from veritas solely for the easier adjustments. I do still have the old stanley and use it for the dirty work such as plywood endgrain, dirty wood, etc. If you have the budget for a nicer block plane then i'd upgrade and just do minor fettling so you can have the stanley for grunt work. If your budget is small, i'd give one of the cheap (but modern) block planes a try. This $15 Kobalt one caught my eye but i haven't tried it out: http://www.lowes.com/pd_118007-16878-63047_4294607654__?productId=4777021 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 I'm always a fan of restoration if the tool is going to be a user! If not going to be used, sell it on ebay as is and avoid the effort involved in restoring! Bill: check out the reviews on that Kobalt block plane.... you just might change your mind about it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 The block plane isn't worth the effort in my opinion, but you could clean it up as practice before you tackle the other 2. I have several old block planes and I bought the Veritas low angle block plane from Lee Valley (it is awesome and easy to use). Bill is dead on about how to proceed. The plane in the center looks like it is the oldest one. Even if they turn out less than satisfactory to use having your grandfathers planes cleaned up for display beats them rusting in a tool box. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 I'm always a fan of restoration if the tool is going to be a user! If not going to be used, sell it on ebay as is and avoid the effort involved in restoring! Bill: check out the reviews on that Kobalt block plane.... you just might change your mind about it! yea, I'm sure that the kobalt is far from great. Though, it seems like it'd be good for a very tight budget. For only $15 it comes with lateral and depth adjusters. Everything will be thinner metal and there's likely a good bit of slop in the adjusters, but at least they're there. When i was trying to adjust my old stanley i got annoyed to the point where i'd increase depth by whacking the back of the plane against a concrete wall so that only the iron was struck and it'd go deeper. Same thing for lateral, i'd whack the sides of the iron. Anytime, i need to decrease depth i just let out a sigh and start taking it apart, fully knowing it'll take a few tries to get it where i want it. Adjusting it was so time consuming and annoying that i lost too much appreciation for the tool. I think i'd rather have a chinsier tool that has the adjusters than use the style that does not. My assumption is that these non-adjustable models were made for general contractors that just need to fit doors, windows, etc.. not for actual woodworkers. There are likely some other budget-conscious block planes out there as well. Maybe someone else has some experience with them and could suggest one, otherwise, just pay attention to the reviews so you know what to look out for. Just keep in mind that cheap planes sold at box stores are often bought by people that aren't willing or knowledgeable enough to put in the up front tuning time that they require. Due to this they'll leave feedback that it doesn't work, is junk, etc. If you set your expectations to the same level as the price then it will make the experience seem a bit more fair. Toss up some 'after' pictures if you decide to restore the planes. It's always fun to see a tool come back to life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdie Posted August 16, 2014 Report Share Posted August 16, 2014 Hi Tim. I think the irons would be a lot of work and may not be salvageable. They may still be worth ago but if not, replacement irons, not always cheap, can be had. I wouldn't go straight to anticipating hours of lapping the soles of the planes. Start with some sandpaper on a nice flat surface, like your table saw top (double sided tape will help) and run the soles back and forth. If you find it removing the rust and grime evenly across the bottom you've got a reasonably flat surface and it shouldn't take too long to get it lapped nice and flat. If some twist shows up, then you've got a bit of work ahead of you and need to decide just how far you have to go. There is a point that is too far. Remember to work in short sets so that you don't heat the iron, lose its temper and induce your own twist. As far as the body of the plane goes, you want to remove any rust that will inhibit its operation but how far you go after that is a question of cosmetics. I don't like working with tools that look uncared for myself but I'm willing to tolerate some imperfections in a good user. I've got a try plane (#6) that I bought used with a chunk out of the body but the sole is flat and it fits my hand so that's how it gets used. The wooden parts only need a little dressing (sanding) and varnish and should fit your hands nicely. As has been mentioned, if cleaning them up doesn't make them users you can still show them off as collectors' items. I'd go a little further on the cosmetics if that was the plan, however. Whatever you end up doing with them, make sure you try to enjoy the process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted August 16, 2014 Report Share Posted August 16, 2014 The middle one is nice, might be worth a little so proceed with caution. The other two are fine but are not yet worth a great deal. How far you go is up to you. I would get them clean enough, sharp blade and close fitting cap iron and they will hold their own with the best. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Bailey Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I thought about posting this in a new thread, but this seems like a good place for it... I just picked up 2 old rusty planes for 10 bucks, one is a No. 4 Union Smooth Plane, and unless I'm mistaken this is pre-1920. the other is a Stanley block plane. I'm most curious about the Union plane, does anyone know anything about them? they are both pretty rusty but I have them soaking in vap-o-rust. all the parts are there and they actually came apart rather easily and look to have at one time been taken care of. the soles are perfectly flat on both and both of the irons seem to be in decent shape. I'd post a pic but I am having trouble resizing it for the forum heh. wouldn't mind any input on the Union though, whether it's worth restoring or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Stb, I officiated a wedding a couple months back and was given a Union No.5 as a gift. This is my first Union as well. From what I have been able to find, Stanley was a big investor in Union and I believe bought them out 100ish years ago. Union planes are nice. Mine has a heavier sole and much thicker iron than my Stanley planes, even my one Bedrock. If it doesn't look like a boat anchor it is definitely worth the effort to restore. Here is an after pic of mine. I couldnt find the before pic, but it wasnt in terrible shape. Dirty with a little surface rust: http://instagram.com/p/ovvS4ClSKI/?modal=true 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 image.jpg Here they are. They all look like they are in pretty good shape and should restore nicely. Here is a pic of two Stanley No.5's that a coworker brought in that he coincidentally enough got out of his grandpas old tool box. Both planes were in the same shape when I got them so this is essentially a before and after. All this really took was a little elbow grease to get the dirt and rust cleaned off. No chemicals at all. http://instagram.com/p/azRtjplSLX/?modal=true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Bailey Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Stb, I officiated a wedding a couple months back and was given a Union No.5 as a gift. This is my first Union as well. From what I have been able to find, Stanley was a big investor in Union and I believe bought them out 100ish years ago. Union planes are nice. Mine has a heavier sole and much thicker iron than my Stanley planes, even my one Bedrock. If it doesn't look like a boat anchor it is definitely worth the effort to restore. Here is an after pic of mine. I couldnt find the before pic, but it wasnt in terrible shape. Dirty with a little surface rust: http://instagram.com/p/ovvS4ClSKI/?modal=true Nice restoration! thanks for the reply, that looks pretty much identical to the one I have (only a little bigger ofc), so I can imagine what the 'before' looked like (mine were fairly well covered in rust and dust). I did a little searching and it looks like Union was bought out by Stanley in 1919 or 1920, so kinda cool - I've found that this one also has a heavier sole and it appears to have a heavier plane iron too. It took a couple days but the vap-o-rust has done its job, there's a bit of pitting on the sole of the block plane but I haven't yet worked it with an abrasive so maybe I can clean that up. I do have another Q if anyone can answer, there is a bolt in the frog that is threaded on 2 sides, so once i have the brass fitting off there's nothing to grab. it's threaded in such a way that I can't put the fitting back on and grip that (turns the wrong way hah). there's a bit of rust still on the bolt where it seats into the frog and I cannot for the life of me get this bolt out... I do not want to take pliers to it or anything else that will damage the threads. I tried wrapping the bolt with cotton but I am still afraid to squeeze too hard. anyone have any ideas? I suppose if I can't get it out I will have to just live with it, it's currently soaking away in the vaporust and maybe that will do it, but I prefer to get all the parts out and cleaned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Are you familiar with "double nutting"? Binding two nuts together on the bolt and experimenting with heat and cooling can sometimes work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Bailey Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 I am! good idea, dunno why I didn't think of that ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 I wouldn't bother with the 110, but the others will clean up just fine, I've had planes in worse condition that with a little work look just great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Here's a before and after of a Union #7.. Once a boat anchor, not always a boat anchor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Nice work Richard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Wow! What a change! Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 That's why I'm a fan of restoration... With effort and time, you can turn junk into something very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 very nice! Did you sand the rust off or use a chemical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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