Old plane advise -- another one

[Tom Godley]

Other than using a LN rabbit plane for some MT joints a while ago - I do very little hand work. My recent dovetail class was my first step in moving towards doing more. I got together all of the old planes hanging around the house - other than the above LN rabbit that I purchased last year - all the others came from my father or grandparents. Not sure what ones are worth the trouble to play around with? -- I was looking for some guidance.

My dad purchased a bunch of Craftsman planes back in the late 50s or early 60s - they all look basically new (some still in boxes). Using the Stanley numbers they look to be a #4, #5 and two block planes about the same size as the LN rabbit. He also had a Stanley 60.5 and a Record #311 rabbit plane plus two (different) very small Stanley's that have no numbers??

My one grandfather was fastidious with his tools - all are used but in great shape (no rust). From him I have two Stanley Bailey's - #4.5 and #8 plus a Millers Falls #14 (I think another #5) plus three planes I know little about -- a Stanley #248, a Millers Falls #85 and a wood plane a little larger than a #5 all it says is S&S England.

My other grandfather was not so careful -- all of these are rusty - two Stanley Bailey's -- #4 and a #5 (patent date APRL-19-10) plus a #110 and a #120.

I know that you can get new blades to improve the operation of some of the old planes -- and all would need to be "tuned up" but I would like to get a idea of what to do with them. Some have been used as book ends in my office for years!

I would like to get together a nice group and get to work --Thanks for any help.

[Bill Houghton]

As to the bench planes - 4-8 - I'd focus on the Stanleys first. Quality of the Craftsman planes starting somewhere in the postwar period was pretty variable; I had a Craftsman No. 5 that I gave away, the sole was so out of flat. Some people really like Millers Falls planes, so you could include the M-F #14 (so designated for its length, I understand).

The Stanley 60.5 is one of the basic block planes - low angle, which is said to make it good on end grain, although I've found it also works on long grain tolerably well. Worth cleaning up.

The Record 311, if you have all the parts, is a combination of three furniture-making rabbet planes: a) a shoulder plane (used for, among other things, cleaning up the shoulders on tenons, whence its name), b) a bullnose plane (same as the shoulder, but for places where you'll run into something, and c) a chisel plane (for times when even the bullnose runs into things). Of these three functions, the shoulder is the most often used, but all have their place.

The Millers Falls #85 is said to be the "carpenter's" version of the rabbet plane. It should come with a fence and a depth stop, and can be very useful for larger-scale rabbets. I've used my Stanley version to cut rabbets from scratch more than once.

I'd focus on those first. Cleaning up: everyone has a different approach. I use warm water and SOS pads to clean off the rust and dirt after disassembling, then immediately dry the parts, poking the paper towel into any holes, like threaded holes, and spray WD-40 liberally, then let the parts kind of dry out on newspapers. As I reassemble, I wax everything except the parts with screw threads, on which I use a little oil (exception: the screw in the center of the "frog," on which the cutting iron rests, and on which the lever cap pivots, which should just be clean and dry).

Other people use mineral spirits and steel wool - same principle.

Before you put money into buying replacement irons or time into doing a major tune up, learn to sharpen the cutting irons you've got, and do some learning on how to use the planes. Good books: "Planecraft," available from Woodcraft for about $12, and "The Handplane Book," by Garrett Hack, maybe available from your local library or from various booksellers (best price I just saw on half.com was $11). Also, cruise down to your local library and check out all the books on hand tool use; lots of useful information out there, and books organize it a bit better.

In my experience, sharp cutting edges are about 80% of making a tool work. There are LOTS of different ways to do that - cruise the archives here, and your head will spin. They all seem to work.

Later, when you've got some experience, you can clean up the other tools and see how they might fit into your toolkit, although, if you can post pics of the little Stanley planes, you might get some advice about their potential usefulness. Hard to know without seeing them.

[Brian Kent]

What a beautiful gift to be able to use the family tools. I think I would use more care than usual in preserving the character that showed your grandfather's usage. Get the rust off but preserve the dents?

Us tool junkies would love to see pictures too.

I have no idea about those Craftsman planes. I look forward to other people's input.

Brian Kent

[Jim Koepke]

One picture draws the neander's drool.

You will likely need to get some elbow grease. A 5# tin should do.

Steel wool in fine grades with a mild solvent like mineral spirits is good for cleaning surface rust. Wear some rubber gloves and eye protection. For deeper rust, a mild citric acid bath has worked for me. Others use vinegar. Then there is electrolysis. Rinse and dry thoroughly after bathing a plane. Do not try to dry them in an oven. This will cause a new light layer of rust. Rexmill.com has a lot of information on planes.

It all depends on how much work you want to do. My method is usually to give the plane a test run after knocking any of the red rust off. I leave the gray and blue patina, (another name for rust). Depending on how the plane works, I may just sharpen the blade and try again. Most of the time I like to dismantle the plane and clean out any of the old wood dust and check for anything that needs attention.

One of my planes has been in my shop for almost a year. It was in good cosmetic shape when it was bought. It gets a fair amount of use. Yesterday while planing, it was leaving tracks in the middle of the blade. Must have hit some metallic debris in one of the pieces of used wood being salvaged. Over the months this plane has been used mental notes have been made about all the little quirks it has. So, after honing the blade, I decided to take care of the "little things" and check some of the things that haven't been checked. This will never be a shooting board plane, the sides are out of square. As a 4-1/2, it is not the most likely candidate for shooting anyway. The sole is not perfectly flat, but it is flat where it needs to be flat, at the toe, heel and the mouth. I did take the frog apart to clean up and flatten the face. Also checked and cleaned up the frog seating to ensure there wasn't any rocking. Checked the mouth, frog and blade all for squareness and then made the mental adjustments in my head. They were not perfect. I like my lateral adjusters to stay in the middle range. everything was put back together making the mental adjustments to the frog seating. I used a soft piece of pine to test my work. One side had already been cleaned with a plane leaving plenty to work on. Adjusting for an even cut was pretty easy. The lateral adjuster is close enough to centered for my enjoyment. Then putting it to the wood brought out some nice curly shavings. Was able to take the bows out of the board with little effort. Just checking against the surface of the bench and marking the areas to be knocked down. The plane is making full width shavings. Used the plane a little more and then went on to other things. But now, the state of that particular plane is known. Maybe someday if there is nothing else to do, a piece of abrasive will be laid down and a little lapping on the bottom can happen. But I ain't gonna hold my breath.

jim