Ward cast steel plane

sharkfox

Hi all
I found an old plane with "ward cast steel" printed on the blade. It's near 2 foot long and seems pretty old. Does anyone know anything about it?

magicbastarder

probably best if you took a photo and posted it.

sharkfox

magicbastarder wrote: »

probably best if you took a photo and posted it.

I can't post pictures until I have 50 posts, but the closest thing I can find online is a craftsmans jack plane. It looks to be fairly old too. The only steel parts are the blade and screws. The rest is all wood

peter bermingham

Ward would be the company that made the blade is it an all wood plane or metal plane if its a all wood plane look on the heal of the plane which is the end grain behind the handle their should be a makers mark

peter bermingham

Would it kinda look like this type of plane pl3451.lb.jpg The reason i ask is ward blades are used in these type of planes see can you find your plane here http://www.oldtools.co.uk/index.html

sharkfox

It's all wood. The heel has a faded crest and 62m/m raised on it. Also 2 8/8

sharkfox

The place where the blade fits has hk scraped into it

peter bermingham

Well the hk would more than likely be the carpenters name have seen that a good bit on old wooden planes wet the makers mark might highlight it a bit more. As for value i would say between €50 to €150 their not really that expensive unless its something special. The ward blades were used in a lot of the good planes but then again back in the day only the best was used. If you want to restore it clean with some 0000 or 00000 wire wool with methylated spirits and then with white spirits to naturalize the meth then use some clear briwax rub on let dry and polish off. DON'T USE SAND PAPER OR ANY LACQUER. To clean up the blade wool again and some wd40 just a light clean don't want to remove the age. And the numbers are the size of the plane
Peter

sharkfox

Thanks peter
I just gave the blades an oiling because there was some rust but I haven't touched the rest of it. It looks like it may have been sanded a while back but never finished or fixed up. I've only two more posts before I hit 50 so I'll stick up a picture then

magicbastarder

if you want to restore it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2lvF8-nc_Q

sharkfox

It's much the same as the one he works on, just bigger.

woodturner

I love getting old tools like that, giving them a new lease of life and using them again. If you're keeping it as a user give the blade a proper sharpening by flattening the back and sharpen and polish the bevel.