Old Tool Restoration

For the craic.



Union Mfg. Co. #22 smoothing plane and a #28 fore plane.

Ready in a week or two.

my3cents wrote: »

Any makers name on the transitional planes?

RE the hammer heads

BP stands for Ball Peen

W stands for Warrington pattern which is a type of Cross Peen hammer

Just thought I'd mention that

Union Manufacturing Company was the maker for the transitionals. Very feint impression from the stamp on toe of the soles. The blades have the same mark and the soles have not been trued so likely all original, little used condition.

I have a full set of Stanley Warrington hammers now, with a couple of duplicates. The Ball Pein’s don’t interest me much, but the small one came with the W4 head so I cleaned it up while I was at it.

I’ve had quite a few planes from schools, usually with some paint on the toe and heel. Unfortunately I can’t suggest any successful method of removing only the paint and not the japanning at the same time. I’ve tried various thinners, paint strippers and different types of abrasives processes like nylon/scotchbrite pads or very fine brass brushes. So far, every attempt results in at least the removal of some of the japanning, if not effectively all of it down to bare iron in the areas I’ve tried.

The problem seems to be that anything that will remove the paint will also soften the japanning. It’s a tough finish, at least when fresh, but easily compromised with everything from hot water and fairy liquid (seriously) to more obvious ones like Mr. Muscle oven cleaner.

Best of luck anyway!

A new arrival. An early 1930’s Stanley Bedrock #604.

Sole lapped and fitted it with a Clifton two piece chipbreaker and a nice Stanley blade.

The lever cap is a bit later than the plane as I can’t stand looking at the original. I fitted this slightly later one, for now.

Only an ignorant chimp uses the lever cap end as a screwdriver to loosen the chipbreaker screw. This ones original ‘keyhole’ type nickel plated lever cap is chipped as a consequence and a replacement is mad money. Just get a 12 or 10mm screwdriver, meat heads!

After some work by hand with steel wool, autoglym and ballistol..

They’re the ones without the black pivots

cletus wrote: »

Interesting. I've a number of dividers and calipers that could use the same treatment. What was your process, and would 3-in-1 oil substitute adequately for the ballistol

Use CRC rust remover (NOT converter) to de-rust. Do not try using vinegar as it will blacked the steel and leave you with an ugly mess to try to remove. More harm than good.

Then 0000 grade steel wool with Autosol polish and a terry cloth. Just lots of handwork really at that stage.

3-in-1 is fine. I like using Ballistol as it's a very light oil and easy to remove excess. But any lightweight or sewing machine oil would be fine.

Anyone else still fixing stuff?

Picked up a Record 4 1/2 with a chipped rear cheek and in need of some new paint:



Matched the sides and gave it a fresh coat:

Rapier low angle spokeshave, picked up on eBay and needing a total restoration. Stripped it, acid etch primed (it's aluminium bodied) and for a change I painted this with underbody car paint, which actually worked really well!

bamayang wrote: »

Do you keep all the planes you restore? You must have some whack of them at this stage. That stanley is a beauty

I sell a lot of them, most of the ones I do now. My own set of 'keepers' took years to assemble and while these others are generally very nice tools, they're not better than the stuff I'll keep for the rest of my days.

I enjoy problem solving, fixing things that others would just put in a corner, or scrap and all for want of a little thought, time and effort. It's a good way to fund some other tool purchases along the way. I bought a pair of Stanley #4's for €8 last Saturday morning and had them cleaned up and sold for €45 each by the time I had my dinner. A wash in the sink, a CRC soak and wipe down, blades onto to the Tormek and a fine jap stone and put them back together. About an hour all in and €5 in materials, all while I listened to the Fine Woodworking podcast. I even reglued a previous break in the tote - The repair is almost invisible when done right.

Here's the one with the reglued tote:



The tote got a steel wool and wax wipe down before the buyer picked it up - I left it for a while just to be sure the glue was holding right.

That #7 cost me €50 and a tenner in materials. It'll sell for €150-160 in a week or so when the finish is fully hardened. I'd rather hold on to stuff until it really is as good as it's going to get for a new owner.

Ta for the interest and questions!

I have almost a waiting list of sorts. I've ended up with a regular pool of fellas who have bought off me before who between them end up buying whatever I might have for sale. The beauty of it is that they don't haggle. They already know what they're going to be getting and why I ask for top whack. It also means I'm happy to put the time and effort into stuff even when I know I won't be keeping it.

That said, I'm always happy to help someone find a nice tool if I can, so don't be shy to put up a wanted list and I'll keep my eyes open for suitable stuff in my late night browsing sprees!