how does one restore a hand plane?

[Pbmaster11]

I purchased this plane on ebay for cheap, I do not know if it is worth it but thought it would be good to put on a shelf as shop "goods"

but if one can restore a plane and if it is worth the effort... how does what do it?

[wilburpan]

Bob Rozaieski did a nice podcast on rehabbing a Stanley-style plane. You can find it on his website, Logan Cabinet Shoppe.

[PMR]

Thanks Pb and Wilbur, I also picked up a stanley from ebay and really did not know where to start. I'll watch the rehab vid and then have a plan. Pat

[jhl.verona]

I made a few notes when I rehabbed a 073 and a few bench planes. If you're after a pretty paperweight, it'll be enough to remove the rust, for a user you'll also need to sharpen the blade - at least.

It can all become a lot of work after the derusting, so try to do as little as possible. Once you've sharpened the blade and made a few shavings that may be enough for you. The whole fettling process, including lapping, is extremely messy and time consuming. Do it only if absolutely necessary IMHO.

John

[CubsFan]

I took Rob Cosman's "Hand Plane Revival" seminar, where he shows you how to do just this. He did a nice job of restoring a plane, but in his view (I don't know enough to agree or not) an absolute must is buying a new, much thicker, blade. The blade ran around $80 if I remember right. At least for me, the price of an old Stanley (~$30) plus the blade (~$80) put the price of the plane very close to a brand new Wood River one, so that's the way I chose to go. Now, keep in mind that the blades had his name on them, and he's helped design the Wood River planes.

Anyway, just some things to think about.

[Don Z.]

This talks block planes, but I think it explains the process well...

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?67034-Block-Plane-Selection-Rehab-and-Tune-up

[Onboard]

Here are a few sites to give you an idea as to what could be involved in restoring an old hand plane. You might take a look at Evapo-Rust for removing the rust. Possibly someone else can share their experience with Evapo-Rust.

Plane restoration #1 – More links below.

Plane restoration #2 – Mainly the 4^th and 6^th link.

Plane restoration #3 – 3 part series

Plane tune up #4 – Video – A tune-up video on a block plane. Some things to do after the plane is cleaned up.

[Mister Pants]

Evaporust works well, though you'll likely want to clean it up afterwards (it leaves a dull grey residue). Flattening the sole is probably the biggest issue, I've used the outfeed arm of my jointer with psa sandpaper to flatten refurbs in the past, it's long and flat so it's a good surface and I can get a larger work area than a small granite block. I find it enjoyable, and it's a significantly cheaper investment if purchasing a good old plane that needs refurbishing to a new one. Overall the process is pretty simple, and the links above have all the information needed. One caveat I'd mention is ideally make sure you've used a good well trued plane before you refurb as it will give you a frame of reference as to what to expect.

My everyday Stanley #4 smoother looked like this when I got it. Shipping cost more than the plane did:

http://www.flashblac...Stanley4_05.JPG

It looks like this now. I replaced the iron as the old one was battered, but my #6 and #7 which were refurbishes as well have the stock irons and they're still running well.

http://www.flashblac...Stanley4_07.JPG

btw how do you get the thumbnails in? I initially posted the images, but changed to links as the images are pretty large.

[Kenji Horvath]

I recently restored an old stanley 604 bedrock plane. It wasn't in too bad of shape. I first determined if it was worth restoring by seeing how flat the sole of the plane was by running it across my DMT diamond plate. I was delighted that almost the entire sole except for 1/4" at the toe and about an inch at the heel was dead flat. I then dismantled the entire plane. Some of the screws were rusted on a bit but after a bit of googling found some advice on how to loosing those screws. I took a screw driver and tapped the top of the screw several times with hammer. I didn't use a ton of force. Not even the amount you would use to drive in a nail. After that I was able to unscrew the screws to get the frog off. After everything was disassembled I put everything into a white vinegar bath for about 24 hours. After that I rinsed everything off and took some steel wool to clean things up a bit more. I then put everything into a bath of water and baking soda. I think I used about 1/3rd of a cup of baking soda for about half a gallon of water. This is supposed to neutralize the vinegar so it won't keep eating away at the metal parts. I then took q-tips to clean the insides of all the screw holes to make sure they were clean. After that i dried everything off first with a paper towel to get most of the moisture off of it. Then I took a hair dryer to completely dry off the parts. After that I sprayed down everything with a rust inhibitor. I didn't have T9 Boeshield so I used some other product from home depot. I then sprayed the bottom of the frog with a graphite dry lube as well as the inside threads for all the screws. Then I put everything back together and rubbed down the the plane with a paste wax. I didn't both trying to deal with the blade and chip breaker. I ordered a new PM-V11 blade and chip breaker from lee valley which is scheduled to arrive on friday. I hope it fits without a problem. Anyway I hope this helps anyone in the future who is trying to restore an old vintage plane. Take care.

[Daniel Kuehl]

That plane is certainly worth restoration and here's 10 EASY steps to do it.

 

Your main goal is RUST REMOVAL. You'll need to completely disassemble and then use remove as much rust as possible. There's many ways available on the internet to remove rust. If this is your first time with the process, I recommend using a vinegar bath. (white vinegar, 5% acidity) It's cheap and available at the grocery store.

 

1. Fill a plastic tote with enough vinegar to soak all the metal parts together. When you see little bubbles forming on the parts, you'll know that the vinegar is eating away at the rust.

2. Soak the parts for an hour, take them out and dry with a towel. 

3. Spray the parts with wd-40 and start scrubbing with a brass bristle brush and a scour pad.

4. If the rust is particularly stubborn or pitted into the metal, then let them soak in the vinegar overnight and scrub again the next day. (vinegar will also eat away at metal, so don't soak too long)

5. If the cutter has rust pitting at the business end, it will probably need to be replaced. If not pitted, then you're good to go. No need to buy a new blade unless YOU WANT TO.

6. Use some sort of thin oil or wax to prevent rust from forming again.

7. (optional) If you want to you can rehab the wood tote and knob. It's a simple matter of sanding off old finish, and applying a new one of your choice. I prefer an oil based finish mixed with a varnish.

8. Reassemble all of the parts

9. Shape and sharpen the cutter.

10. Make shavings.

 

 

Your plane should now look completely different than it once did, and you'll know it inside and out. You should now be able to determine if the sole or frog mating surfaces needs to be lapped and tuned up.

[G S Haydon]

I can see you becoming a vintage tool buff Daniel

[brooklyngohardwood]

I followed along with Chris Schwartz on his video "Super Tune A Handplane" and it worked great for me. He takes you thru removing crud and rust (his citric acid method worked great and it's non-toxic), flattening the sole and other bits in the plane, and then tuning the plane to be a fine smoother.

 

Not the cheapest option, though. You can buy the DVD from Popular Woodworking, but I signed up for a 6-month subscription to Popular Woodworking's Shop Class site which has the whole thing as a series of videos plus a lot of other videos you can watch online as well. Was worth it for me.

[Tom King]

I tuned all mine, but I avoided buying any that needed a whole lot of cosmetic work.  I think the worst I had to do was remove some paint splatter on one.

[Daniel Kuehl]

I can see you becoming a vintage tool buff Daniel

 

I'm no buff yet, but I think I have a problem. I've started to inventory my old tools and create a spreadsheet (yeah, it's bad).

 

There's something about the process of taking an old, abused, and neglected tool back to a useful state that is therapeutic to me. It's the feeling of redemption that does it for me. 

[Kenji Horvath]

Thanks for sharing, daniel. I agree that you don't have to replace the blade if it is in good shape but something to keep in mind is that older blades tend to be thinner than replacement blades and can introduce chatter when planing. Also personally I don't enjoy rehabbing a blade so it is in perfect working order. Getting a new replacement blade from a high end manufacturer will yield much quicker results to get the blade to working order. To me that is worth the 67 bucks for a pm-v11 blade from lee valley that has a nicely lapped back. Just my opinion and I respect others' choice to rehab and use the older stock blades. Cheers!!

[Chuck Melton]

Up until today, every plane I have owned has been a rehab from eBay, craigslist, or a family heirloom.

 

I just got a new Veritas low angle block with a PM-V11 blade and I have to say getting a new plane is fantastic. With absolutely no effort, I put the blade in, adjusted the mouth and was getting tissue paper thing shavings.

 

I think I am going to be ordering more LV blane blades for my old rehabs in the near future. I think the #4 is first up, I just wish I had done it before spending the time to flatten, and sharpen the blade and cap iron.

[G S Haydon]

I'm no buff yet, but I think I have a problem. I've started to inventory my old tools and create a spreadsheet (yeah, it's bad).

 

There's something about the process of taking an old, abused, and neglected tool back to a useful state that is therapeutic to me. It's the feeling of redemption that does it for me. 

Sounds great Daniel! I'm still waiting on that saw file to turn up. I was reflecting on saw sharpening today and I got to the point where I can't see the point of it from an economic stand point anyway. This is especially true for 22" ish crosscut handsaws. I can buy sharp durable hardpoint handsaws that will stay sharper for longer (perhaps three times longer?) for almost the same price as a saw file.

That said you cant buy hardpoint rip saws (that I know of) and I think it's a great skill to have and I look forward to learning a new skill. That said I can completely understand why general carpenters and joiners put their old saws to one side.

[Kenji Horvath]

Hey, Chuck. I just received my Veritas PM-V11 blade for my old stanley 604 (basically #4 smoother) and it works great. Fit in the body without a problem and I'm creating nice shavings with very little effort. The only thing I kinda wish is that Veritas wouldn't put that coating on the back of their PM-V11 blades. I always need to go down to a relatively low grit stone to remove that so I can easily remove the burr as my last step in sharpening. I find that trying to remove that burr with that coating on the back of the blade causes too much friction on my high grit stone and makes that last step really annoying. So even though Lee Valley says you don't have to flatten the back of their plane blade I find that it does help to remove that coating on the last inch or so of the blade before working on the bevel does making your sharpening process easier. Plus you only have to do it once for the life of that blade.

Up until today, every plane I have owned has been a rehab from eBay, craigslist, or a family heirloom.

 

I just got a new Veritas low angle block with a PM-V11 blade and I have to say getting a new plane is fantastic. With absolutely no effort, I put the blade in, adjusted the mouth and was getting tissue paper thing shavings.

 

I think I am going to be ordering more LV blane blades for my old rehabs in the near future. I think the #4 is first up, I just wish I had done it before spending the time to flatten, and sharpen the blade and cap iron.