How clean should I make my vintage plane?


42andrising

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Hi Folks!

I recently purchased a vintage Stanley No.5 plane. Before I got to work cleaning it I figured I should ask...how much should I actually clean it?

It's got a nice patina on the sides and sole, but that may just mean it's dirty and needs to be cleaned! I was thinking of using some scotch pads on the sole and sides to clean it up, and also clean up any and everything else I can; maybe even lapping the sole and sides to get them shiny again. But I also kind of like the idea of having 60+ years of use showing on the tool.

So...how far would you go to clean up this plane?

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Personally, I'd just sharpen the iron and use it as is, but I like my tools to look their age. Some folks like to take old tools and polish them and repaint them and strip and refinish the wood. That's fine if it's what you are in to. I'd rather work wood so I don't spend a lot of time worrying about how pretty the tool looks. I just sharpen them and put them to work. Making it pretty won't make it work any better, so it's really personal preference as to how you want your tools to look and how much time you want to invest in aesthetics. So the real question is how much cleaning would you do! ;)

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I like the look of shiny and new. I would clean it up until is shining. I have some dingy fingerprints on my #4 smoother from regular use, and I plan on cleaning it this weekend.

I am the same with my power tools. I regularly clean, wax, and rust proof my Table saw top, jointer top, etc. Of course, they show signs of wear and use - but I do what I can to keep them looking good. Happiness is having clean (and sharp) tools ready to go!

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I just went through the same issue!

Being a newbie, I took mine to a local handtool enthusiast, who did the bare minimum to it - I think it looks great with some patina left.

Other than sharpening, he used the green scotch pads from 3M (I think they might be a scratch-free variety) and WD-40 on everything, the wood, the sides, the frog etc. WD-40 also rust protects, so that's a bonus. My handle had some darker skin gunge on it that didn't look so nice, so that came off very easily with Methylated Spirits and a rag. First make sure the varnish isn't the kind that softens with Metho.

Go easy on it. You can always clean it up more later if you like, but you can't unclean it!

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As others have said, that's already pretty dang clean - cleaner than any I find. I would sharpen the blade and put it to work. Only if I had issues would I then go back and check the bed, the frog's mating surfaces and the sole. If your going to be using it for coarse work than a sharp cambered blade and a wide mouth is all that's really going to matter anyway. If you are going to be using it for fine work, than some lapping may be desired.

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I'm the flip of Bob and Shannon, I like to recondition to make my stuff look like it's new (polishing the brass, stripping and redoing the totes etc.). That said though that's just purely my own personal aesthetic. Looking at what you've got, if you just want to use it and save the patina, ensure the sole is flat and sharpen the iron.

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Wow, thanks for all the input folks! I think for now I'm going to try to just sharpen it up and use it. The less work I have to do to the tool the better...I want to build something already! =)

I got another No. 4 and it's got a lot more rust so I'll probably get some evapo-rust and try that as Shannon suggested for some old saws...then again I do like playing with electricity.

The down side for me is that I'm completely new to planes, so the fact that it does or doesn't work right could be completely blamed on my "technique". I'll have to practice practice, maybe take a local class on hand planes.

Thanks!

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I also like my handtools to have their patina in tact. I lap the sole and frog, match the frog to the plane, sharpen the iron and have fun. For power tools I am completely different, all pretty and shiny! As for tuning and using handplanes, there are a lot of great sources out there. Rob Cosman has a fantastic video called The Handplane Revival which I highly recommend. There are a lot of good books as well, I bought The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack and it is basically my plane bible. Chris Schwarz has a book called Handplane Essentials that I am sure would be great as well, I am a fan of most things Schwarz. For just fixing up one or two planes just watching a video like http://woodtreks.com/how-to-tune-up-a-hand-plane/19/ should get you going. You will continue to learn as long as you continue to play. The only danger is the more you play=the more you learn=the more you spend on more planes=the more you play=.................................................................

Just my 2 cents, and I am an addict.

Nate

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<p>THE BEST WAY TO RESTORE A PLANE IS...</p>

<p>What I do is lap the sides and sole... some people say to start at 220 or 180 grit but if you do you will be working all day long... buy 60 or 80 grit at the highest then go to 150 or 180 then 220 then 400 then it should be good truthfully but you can go as high as you want I suppose, I have seen 1000 grit paper.... Then take it all apart, sand and then steel wool or polish on a grinder with felt wheel all the brass screws and the silver screws, then lap the top of the frog flat also, that will make it so the blade does not chatter, which is as important as lapping the sole flat, again start at 80 then work your way up, then I use &quot;SIMPLE GREEN&quot; and some 000 or 0000 grit steel wool and paper towels to clean the jappaning and everywhere else on the plane, the knob and tote I use simple green on also but not steel wool, and when your using the steel wool only rub it hard in places where there are paint stains or grime buildup where there is nothing just glide over it with the wool and then use paper towels as to not DULL the jappanning .... then get out your paste wax and wax the sides and sole very well, let it dry, then polish it out, same for the jappaning but this is not as important, not as much as the bare metal, but you should do it pretty well, then wax the frog and the blade and everything, but dont wax the blade until you lap and sharpen it or it will just come off on the sandpaper and waste your sand paper, then after you have scrubbed the knob and tote with simple green, wax them as well to give them a nice shine and protection... then youll be good... when it comes to the blade, I use 80 grit on the whole blade and chipbreaker to get it nice and shiny and looking new, especially if it is rusty and dirty, or you can just use simple green if you want it to have patina, and steel wool, then sharpen it however you normally do and adjust the frog so that your mouth opening is about a 1/16 bigger than the shaving size you aim to make with it... so for a number 5 youll want about a 1/4 or so opening.... maybe a lil smaller/bigger.... thats personal preference and it changes from plane to plane, even from a stanley 5 to another stanley 5 of the same era will be different when it comes to how they perform with different size openings in the mouth,.... ok I think thats ALL!</p>

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Oh and yes Shannon, a patinad plane is rust protected, basically a plane not taken care of and waxed or wd-40d more likely (old timers do this more than wax) will rust... a plane that is waxed or wd-40d for 80 years will develop a patina... so that being said if you get rid of the patina by lapping the sole and sides it will take you probably at least 10-20 years of using and taking care of (but not lapping) the plane to get that patina back.... for me though, I dont care, I want it to look brand spankin new.... so new that you could sell it as NOS... if you had no back bone that is...

Edited by jimithing616
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