Old Tool Restoration

JayZeus wrote: »

I might be repeating myself, I already know I probably am, but here goes with some general advice on buying old Stanley planes and what to consider:

English made Stanley planes are not inferior to US made ones, generally speaking. The internet are wrong in this regard, so ignore all the utter crap you'll read online and see in videos on youtube. The amount of third/fourth/fifth hand rubbish people go on with is misleading and serves nobody well. I write that as a keen enthusiast for the craft and for the tools we use to produce good work.

The 'Type 11/15/19' sort of stuff you read doesn't apply to Made in England Stanley planes. Stanley started in the UK in 1933 or so. All the 'type this and that' stuff is for US planes. In any case, who cares, right? I mean from a user perspective. The planes made in England included the sensible upgrades/changes incorporated in the early US planes as they evolved over 80 years or so before Stanley bought the works in England where they turned out these planes.

Pick a plane that doesn't have the reinforcing ribs cast into the sole and you're basically using something of a design and production standard as it was from the late 40's onwards. General rule of thumb stuff of course. But that's good enough for 'user' tools.

Don't buy a Stanley plane made in the last century that doesn't have 'Bailey' cast into the sole. Don't buy any bench plane made by Stanley that wasn't painted/japanned black in the first place. Grey 'Handyman' planes can sometimes be quite nice, I have a couple of 1960's ones which are nice despite the fact they're inferior on paper, but later maroon coloured ones are generally not worth the effort. In either case, a Bailey version is a nicer tool. I'd take a grey Handyman if it was free for a toolbox or van tool, but I would leave a maroon one where it was found, and only spend money to buy a Bailey.

The whole pre-war/post-war thing is also of little relevance except for collectors and to be very straight about it, I've had 1960's-1970's English made Stanleys that were much nicer tools to use than some pre-war US made ones. The castings were heavier/thicker for the sole for starters, wooden handles can almost always be very easily refined and refinished to better than new condition etc.

Again, Stanley specific, but if you can find a plane with a blade that doesn't have the text about grinding angles, that's the one to go for if you have a choice of two. The very latest blades (sold as spares) and the late model Stanley planes which had that text aren't up to the same standard as earlier blades. It's important to note that Record/Marples blades and chipbreakers include this text, and for that brand it's not a bad thing. But if it's Stanley brand, I'd look for an older blade instead.

Black plastic handles on Stanleys are not nice. Give it a miss and look for another plane instead. Brown 'resin' type handles are actually nice, IMHO. They take a crapload of abuse, don't raise blisters any quicker than wooden handles will and if you give them a light rub with 0000 steel wool, you can shellac and/or wax them and your hands won't be able to tell the difference between them and wooden handles.

If you find a plane with wooden handles and the rear tote has been cracked and glued, I'd recommend taking the tote off and ensure it was glued properly and that the threaded rod can be removed. I've found some real bodge jobs to repair rear totes, including epoxy bonded to the threaded rod preventing the handle from being tightened or removed from the sole. Careless repairs mean your options are limited and in many cases you'll end up with a spare parts donor rather than a restoration project.

If you find an otherwise complete plane with the handles are fecked, check out the Crown Tools replacement handle set, priced most keenly from either Ray Iles or Flinn-Garlick in the UK. Nicely made and can be fitted to a 3/4/5/6/7 (and half sizes) with a little light work to shorten the front lower of the rear tote on the short planes. They work well and can really 'make' a refurbishment project.

Speaking of refurbishment stuff.. Don't buy a shiny plane unless you're spending plenty of money on it and buying from a 100% positive feedback seller. If it looks like it ever came close to a wire wheel, buy something else. If it's listed as 'fully restored' and you see anything about it that isn't, buy something else. Too many butchers out there watching some YouTube videos and messing up planes by taking lazy shortcuts and using power tools to do what can be accomplished with just a little time and some careful effort. Better to buy a completely intact, untouched but rusty looking plane, jammed up with shavings and old sawdust under the frog and chipbreaker, with a clean break in the tote and missing some paint than buy something some goon has wrecked in the process of doing a piss-poor resto job on it.

In a nutshell (on this point), if it's Made in England, Stanley 'Bailey', has wooden handles, brass adjuster wheel and barrel nuts, doesn't have ribs in the sole casting and doesn't have 25/30 degree text on a Made in England Stanley blade, it's going to be a perfectly fine tool and can be somewhat easily made to work and look really well in equal measures.