| Blog series by Don W | updated 05-30-2015 09:11 PM | 14 parts | 86235 reads | 154 comments total |
Part 1: Planes Restored - Because i can.
Throughout my many years of marriage, my wife has constantly dragging me on her antiquing outings. At some point I decided I needed to find a way to make the time useful. One day while looking over my 3 hand planes and knowing they needed serious tune ups, I started doing a little research. I was hooked at that point. I needed more planes, and I started buying and restoring. Stumbling onto this site I see that I am far from alone. So, since so many have helped me along the way, I figured ...
Part 2: Making a knob without a lathe
Today I needed to replace a missing knob on a cheaper #4 I wanted to tune and get working. I wanted to make one, but I don’t have a lathe. I figured there had to be a way to do it with my drill press. I tried drilling a hole in a block and locking it down with nuts on a threaded rod, but the nuts kept coming loose, even though I doubled them to lock them. I knew I needed something a little more substantial until I can pick up a lathe. I found an old drill that didn’t work anym...
Part 3: Making a new tote.
Today I decided to make a new tote for a plane. This is the first tote I’ve made, so I learned a few things, and I know there will be more. Here is the steps I took. First i downloaded the templates from Lee Valley.I then glued to to the blank and cut it to size. Make the grain parallel to the bottom of the template. 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, the...
Part 4: Fixing a tote.
I’ve had some question on how I fix the totes. Its a relatively easy task. I typically remove the tote, clean the break and simply glue it back together. The hard part is holding it together while the glue dries. I’ve tried several ways. here is what I do. But the way that seems to work for me best: I typically use whatever glue is handy, either titebond II or III. I asked this group on LJ’s in another thread, and the samer answer came back severa...
Part 5: #7 - more of the story - fixing the cap iron.
So for more of the Stanley #7 story. As I was riding through the foothills of Vermont and collecting a nice #3 and #7, I had bid on another #7 on Ebay. My bid, I thought, was low enough that I just wanted it to show up in my bidding list. When I got home, toting a #7 in my saddlebags, didn’t I have an email telling me I had won the bid. With the price i paid, I was happy enough. I went from no #7s to two #7’s in a single day. As I started to clean this one up, the one issue wit...
Part 6: Typing your plane, oh the dilemma
I’m writing this to help everyone avoid some of the confusion I have encountered trying to buy parts for a particular plane. For me it started with an early #3 i bought with a broken frog. First I went to this Plane dating flow chart 1-20. It works ok, but a lot of information is on the part of the frog I didn’t have. Also you never know if all the parts (particularly the iron) is original. I had purchased this replacement frog for my #3 of of ebay. But this is was what m...
Part 7: Sharpening. Its all in your head.
Edited 1-12-2014 Edited to add some notes for plane restoration and for further free hand instructions and clarifications. I use an 8” aluminum oxide wheel for my bench grinder. And yes I’ve put the cover back on. I can still burn a blade if I’m not reasonably careful, but It works fairly well. I like the 8” wheel because the hollow in the bevel is smaller, making for a stronger edge. I also made this bench guide similar to one in one of Krenov’s boo...
Part 8: Electrolysis
First and formost I want to thank Al for his Electrolysis: on the cheap for vintage tool people and all the other LJ members who responded. This is a shortened version of the forum thread. Go get a rubber tote, a battery charger, some Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and a long piece of metal (like a length of rebar, or steel rod or bar) Add water and about a table spoon of Washing soda (baking soda doesn’t work nearly as well) to each gallon of water. I like to error on the “...
Part 9: Plane Restoration, roll it together with a Millers Falls #10
So, I bought this bunch of planes in this pile which is shown with all the other weekend finds. Included at the bottom of the pile was this Millers Falls #10. NOTE: This blog is not a suggestion to strip every plane and repaint. I actually would suggest otherwise if the japanning is in reasonable condition. Some are not savable and I don’t like tools that look terrible. If you can save it, I’d recommend that. If not, strip it. I figured since this plane needed almost any...
Part 10: Sharpening past the DMT.
I decided to see if I could improve on my dmt sharpness. The good news, I did. The bad news, I did. It’s not a tremendous amount, and not enough to make me go back to waterstones (yet), but I will leave my hard arkansas on the bench from now on. This is my normal sharpening routine. 1. Hollow grind2. Hit the edge (do it more and more by hand) on th 3 micron DMT3. Strop the back4. Hit the 3 micron DMT again. So here is with just the 3 micron dmt. Back flatten to the DMT well EDI...
Part 11: Tuning it up Bench plane style
I brought this magnificent (note the dripping sarcasm) piece of machinery home with me during one of my flea market outings. This is a late model Stanley #4. Its painted Blue, made in the US, has a painted cap, a shorter iron than vintage, and no toe on the tote. The knob and tote is painted black, it has an aluminum frog and a pretty cheezy lateral adjuster. Now….why anyone but someone with a sickness for hand planes like me would buy this plane is a little beyond my understanding, ...
Part 12: How to repair a Bench plane knob with a base blow out.
A pretty common break on a bench plane is the bottom of the knob being blown out. There typically isn’t enough surface area to glue a piece back on, so here is an alternative. I show the repair done with a contrasting wood, but it can be matched if you’d prefer. . Here is how I repair them. .
Part 13: To Restore a hand plane or to not restore a hand plane.
I’ve always been a maker/restorer of tools and other things. My mother was sure I’d burn down the cow barn heat treating my new knives, or later bluing the rifles I was restoring. Then a few years ago, the hand plane collecting bug bit and bit hard. My wife was constantly dragging (and I mean kicking and screaming all the way) to antique shops. After a while though, I could hear the old tools crying for help. I had a few hand planes and hand saws and knew how to use them (or thought I did) bu...
Part 14: Restoring a Sargent Transitional
For those interested in another Transitional restore series. http://www.timetestedtools.net/2016/01/26/restoring-the-sargent-transitional-part-1-2/
