This is going to take awhile

[steven c newman]

I have a handplane needing a re-fit. It will get a new Buck Brother blade, and a different paint job,but some things are going to take a bit of work. aka; Big Red:eek:223266The body, with those plastic kanoobies ( Ben's relation?)223267blade chip-breaker, and lever cap223268front view of the frog223269and the underside of the frog. That "extra" bolt is suppose to move the frog, maybe? The sole will take a bit of work, to get rid of some nail scratches. I am planning on getting rid of that red paint, as well. Not crazy about that lever cap either. This might take awile.....:rolleyes:

[steven c newman]

Not sure if I like that funny shaped bolt hole in the lever cap. Seems to let the cap slide around a bit when I go to clamp things in place. That adjustor bolt under the frog is kind of sloppy, is there a way to tighten it up? I am working on TWO planes right now. The other one is a Stanley Defiance #3 , post WWII. Got it all cleaned up this week:223292 Stamped under the frog where it bolts down : C72. Under the lever cap is a stamp: 115. Frog was in good shape223293I'll even keep the tapered iron. Just an update....

[Russell Sansom]

The so-called Buck Brothers irons will not be worthy of your new work. The ones I've seen on the shelves seem very poorly finished. That work, to flatten the back and correct for other aberrations, can easily gobble up enough time and energy to make buying quality a far better deal. Even if you can flatten the back, I think they are just Vanadium steel. If you plan to use the plane, I'd highly recommend you go of the real steel.

[David Weaver]

I would've agreed with that, Russell, until I bought a couple of them. They are actually surprisingly good irons (and for $3, almost criminally good), and in both cases so far, any flatness issues have been in favor of the user (creating a hollow on the back making them actually easier to sharpen than a flat iron).

I have had no edge holding or chipping issues with mine, and while i haven't compared them thoroughly to a $40 iron yet, they are at least 3/4ths as good and the two that I've used are better than the stock stanley and millers falls irons they replaced.

I know that there is nothing I've ever done with a plane that they wouldn't do just fine. I even went back to the borg and got 4 more of them and put them in my spare irons box in case BB decides to stop making them.

[Jim Koepke]

I would've agreed with that, Russell, until I bought a couple of them. They are actually surprisingly good irons (and for $3, almost criminally good), and in both cases so far, any flatness issues have been in favor of the user (creating a hollow on the back making them actually easier to sharpen than a flat iron).

I have had no edge holding or chipping issues with mine, and while i haven't compared them thoroughly to a $40 iron yet, they are at least 3/4ths as good and the two that I've used are better than the stock stanley and millers falls irons they replaced.

I know that there is nothing I've ever done with a plane that they wouldn't do just fine. I even went back to the borg and got 4 more of them and put them in my spare irons box in case BB decides to stop making them.

Since my plans have me going by the Big Orange today, maybe one will be taken for a test drive. A new Creeker is coming buy this Sunday to try out some planes and sharpening. This might be an opportunity to put it through some paces. One of my blades may already be one of these. It came in a deal a few years ago and it is a good blade. I am not sure where it came from or who made it.

jtk

[steven c newman]

The paint on that Red plane is about as thick as my skull! Trying to wire brush the paint away. Got the sides stripped, and the sole cleaned up. The frog needs a bit of file work to clean things up. Spent about an hour just on the cleaning. Still got a LOT of red paint to strip off. Going to be a gloss black when I get done. Totes are plastic, solid plastic and black all the way through. Wood ones MIGHT be in the future, we'll see. Seems to be a "No. 4" stamped in the front of the front tote. (Yeah right) Yep, this is going to take awhile.......

[steven c newman]

Tote and knob are Bakelite. I know this because the tote fell onto the wood kitchen floor, and snapped off a piece. Will try some "Super-glue" to glue it back together. Got the frog halfway cleaned up as well. IF the CA glue doesn't hold, it's off to the shop to make another one. Might as well turn a front knob IF that happens. On the Front edge they cast a "No." "1" this plane is a bit bigger than a No.1 , about the same size as a #3 Stanley. Original maker was Great Neck, maybe it was a #1 to them?223457Broken tote.

[Steve Bates]

You may try soaking the frog in acetone awhile to soften the paint. Acetone evaporates quickly, so a lidded container (no plactics) would be in order.

[Joseph Maxwell]

Still got a LOT of red paint to strip off.

You could use a chemical stripper and probably save yourself some time. I've used one of the aerosol paint strippers from the big box store with good results.

To recoat it, I've had good results with the Dupli-Color DE1635 discussed here:

https://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/japanning/japanning.htm

Auto parts stores may carry it--I found several at Napa.

[David Keller NC]

I'll second the stripper idea. The paint on the plane is probably baked on enamel. Methylene Chloride based stripper will make short work of it. Scrubbing it off without the aid of the stripper is going to be a huge amount of work.

The kidney-shaped hole in the lever cap and the frog-adjusting screw are both Stanley designs. The frog/bed you have is the non-bedrock Bailey configuration. The screw in the bed is indeed used to adjust the frog front-to-back, but it's designed to be somewhat "sloppy". The frog is held down with two screws that go down from the top into tapped holes in the bed. If you don't have those screws, they're going to need replacing to make the plane functional.

If the handle is truly bakelite, you will probably need to repair it with epoxy. CA glue is unlikely to be strong enough.

[steven c newman]

Handle is glued back together, for now. Still have plans for a new tote and knob. Picked up a Buck Brothers iron last night, and currently sharpening the edge. I have the red paint in a "soak cycle" right now, just to loosen the paint. I took a stone to the sole and sides of the body, not too bad so far. ALL bolts are still with this plane, just have them stashed away in a "Tuperware" tub for safekeeping. The "new' iron is a bir shorter the the original iron, by about ~2". Same width, though. I also stoned the Defiance#3 's sole and sides. Hmmm, a bit more wear &tear to it than the Red one. The #110 also got the stone routine, as well. Lots of W&T to it! Got it just about flat and square, and NO cracks seen. Just an udate...