Bedrock plane help

[linke combs]

I am fairly new to the forum here, but not to woodworking in general. I am wanting to restore an well used 605 Bedrock I recently acquired and I am curious about how to go about part of the restoration. First off, the rear tote has the top broken off, but that is an easy replacement. The larger issue is the adjustment lever on the frog. It is loose to the point where I can lift it off the frog, but it does still help align the blade. So how do I tighten/reattach the lever arm? Can it be peened back on from the back of the frog? And exactly how does peening metal work? I have no real metal work experience. Or am I better off trying to find a replacement frog? And who sales vintage replacement parts like this for a Bedrock?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and assistance,

Linke

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I know others can probably explain how to fix it, but I'd be tempted to leave the darn thing off - more and more, I find I rarely use the lateral adjuster at all on my planes - if I manage to get the iron into the tool fairly straight when I put it in, I just end up using hammer taps to adjust the lateral. I find I get better control this way than with the lateral adjuster, but maybe all my planes just have sloppy mechanisms. Seems like the only time I think about the lateral adjuster is when I manage to bump it and knock things out of tune.

[Archie England]

I inherited a 604 1/2 that the screw was missing for the adjustor knob: there are no NEW suppliers to get parts from AND to make matters worse, the TYPES have somewhat different threads, directions, etc. Thankfully, a machinist friend made a replacement and I now have a nice, valuable user.

To peen that in place requires very light, direct taps to the pin. LIGHT! B/c the metal is fragile and evervso likely to break. Find a way to secure the frog and then use the ball peen to spread the soft metal of the pin-- but not to tight. Light taps, please. Hopefully, others with far more experience will respond, but I've done this on several planes with no breaks yet.

[Pat Zabrocki]

I've done this a couple time but not hundreds like some may have. I probably should have posted as you have to see what others have done but didn't. The method I came up with worked so I'll share it with you. I put my drill press vise on my work bench for greaters support (didn't want to do this on the drill press table). I then put the frog face down with the pin over the metal ways of the vise, using the jaws to hold it gently. I then peened it with a nail set or a punch. As others have said, LIGHTLY. I have had one break, fortunately it was the least valuable of any I needed to fix.
cheers
pat

[Jim Koepke]

linke,

Welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't list your location. If you are near the Portland, Oregon area I will be happy to help you in person.

The frog is cast iron and is subject to breaking if mistreated.

The first thing to determine is there enough metal on the pin to peen.

Here is my post on plane rehabilitation:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?114373

Here is the section on frogs:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?114373-Fettling-A-Plane-from-Junker-to-Jointer&p=1156007#post1156007

The main idea is to take all the stress off of the casting and for the force of the hammer to only be applied to the rivet.

It may not be clear in the picture, but the flat ended punch is resting on the anvil and is held lightly in the vise. There are many ways to make a similar support for the work.

Hope this helps and everyone likes pictures.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I thought the Stanley plane screw kits came with that screw Archie? At least, the one I ordered came with the adjuster knob .. . not to guarantee that it would fit of course.

I have the remnants of one of those kits at home (needed a couple of screws and ordered one from Highland) I could check and see if it came with one and report back with the thread info.

I also see Stanleytoolparts.com now sells frog kits - anyone seen these? I don't feel like they offered those last time I looked. They're ogee frogs, but I wonder how well made they are.

[Archie England]

Thanks, but my older machinist buddy knocked one out for me; so the plane is fettled and working well now. I called Stanley, but they did not think the threading on that replacement kit would fit my square body but older Bedrock.

Arch

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Thanks, but my older machinist buddy knocked one out for me; so the plane is fettled and working well now. I called Stanley, but they did not think the threading on that replacement kit would fit my square body but older Bedrock.

Arch


oops - yeah, I totally read and then promptly forgot the sentence in your original post where you mentioned that. Also that this was a Bedrock and not Bailey plane.

A good machinist for a friend is worth their weight in gold.