Hand Plane Restorations

Vintage Stanley planes are great restoration projects. They can be found in all manners of deterioration, and often come at a very reasonable price.

The following website will help identify what year plane you are dealing with by some of its features. http://www.timetestedtools.net/2016/01/27/stanley-bench-plane-typing/

Disassemble the planes and keep track of all the parts. Photos are a good way to document the assembly process.

Two of the planes I purchased were spray painted all over, with a good helping of rust underneath. I used aircraft remover to remove the paint and japanning.

I used a vinegar salt solution for rust removal. The process acts much faster than vinegar alone. You have to be careful how long you soak the parts for and the strength of the metal because this can cause deterioration to the metal.

Soak the parts in baking soda while you clean them with a wire brush. This will neutralized the acid from the previous solution.

Dry the parts so they don't flash rust. You can do this in the oven or hot sun.

Use a buffing wheel with compound to buff any parts that can use a shine.

Tape off any parts that you do not want painted.

Prime the parts to give a solid base for paint.

Paint the frogs and bodies.

Attach the frog to the base.

Shape and hone the Irons. I used a grinding stone, water stone and leather with green compound. I will not go into the intricacies of blade geometry here, but the primary bevel, micro-bevel, relief bevel and back bevel are all important aspects of the cutting edge.

Reassemble the iron and chip breaker. The distance the chip breaker sits from the edge of the iron is important. The following article is worth a look if you are interested in chip breakers.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/reconsidering-chipbreakers-as-not-totally-evil

Turn some front knobs on the lathe to fit the different bases. Then apply your desired finish.

Fashion a tote from a block of wood. Drilling the center hole can be a bit tricky. Make sure you test the alignment before you complete the piece.

Use a belt sander to roughly shape each tote.

Use finer sanding instruments and hand sanding to complete the totes.

Apply a coat of Danish oil and when dry buff on some wax.

Complete reassembly and make adjustments.