Adam Cruea
02-10-2013, 8:34 PM
I have a #5 and #8 that I am trying to restore, and I have a few questions for the more experienced in this area. . .
On the #8, there is something on the totes, and I have no clue what it could be. When I run my Dremel buffing wheel over the totes, this blackish-brownish stuff starts melting and then comes off in little clumps. It also likes to pull fibers off the buffing wheel so that it looks like my totes tried hiding in a cotton boll. Have any of you run across this, and how did you handle it?
Second question is for the #5. . .I used my Dremel with a carbon steel wire wheel to knock off the little bit of rust, and low and behold the "japanning" started to flick off and looked like it was melting. I stopped, used a wire brush, and it mars the finish very easily. Hmmmm. . .so I go to my #8, hit it with the stiff wire brush, and no such marring. So, I'm assuming I probably want to take the rest of whatever it is off and redo the japanning. . .how should I go about this to keep the plane from getting damaged?
Other than those two things, restoring a plane is actually kind of fun. Dump the loose hardware in mineral spirits for 24 or so hours, hit everything with a wire wheel, and away you go. For bad soles, slather on some phosphoric acid (wear a mask that filters odor. . .that junk smells like rotten eggs) and rinse it off, presto. Pretty planes.
On the #8, there is something on the totes, and I have no clue what it could be. When I run my Dremel buffing wheel over the totes, this blackish-brownish stuff starts melting and then comes off in little clumps. It also likes to pull fibers off the buffing wheel so that it looks like my totes tried hiding in a cotton boll. Have any of you run across this, and how did you handle it?
Second question is for the #5. . .I used my Dremel with a carbon steel wire wheel to knock off the little bit of rust, and low and behold the "japanning" started to flick off and looked like it was melting. I stopped, used a wire brush, and it mars the finish very easily. Hmmmm. . .so I go to my #8, hit it with the stiff wire brush, and no such marring. So, I'm assuming I probably want to take the rest of whatever it is off and redo the japanning. . .how should I go about this to keep the plane from getting damaged?
Other than those two things, restoring a plane is actually kind of fun. Dump the loose hardware in mineral spirits for 24 or so hours, hit everything with a wire wheel, and away you go. For bad soles, slather on some phosphoric acid (wear a mask that filters odor. . .that junk smells like rotten eggs) and rinse it off, presto. Pretty planes.