What plane do I have?

[Daniel Morgan]

Okay folks here goes; what kind of plane do I have?

I know it's a Stanley (passed reading in kollege).

I'm thinking it's a #4 or so.

It is in pretty bad shape so it will be a rehab project as time permits.

One other question: To remove the rust on the left side should I mill it down flat or use rust remover? The rust is pretty substantial on that one spot and if I remove it there will be pitting left.

Thanks in advance.

Dan

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[Frederick Skelly]

Daniel, can you give us a bit more data? Specifically, its length, width of the sole and width of the blade? That should help the guys.
Fred

[Pat Barry]

Will you be using the left side for any particular purpose, if so what purpose. Knowing this it will be much easier to provide the advice on next steps to take.

[Daniel Morgan]

The plane is 2 1/8" wide, 9 3/8" from tip to tail and 5 1/2" tall.

I've put in a couple of other photos.

I intend to use this plane in typical woodworking tasks, it's a user not a collector's keepsake.

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[bridger berdel]

ya, that looks 4ish. them're good planes for smoothing and light jacking. go after the rust with a razor blade then some steel wool and wd40. get the blade really sharp and set the chip breaker pretty close and start using that thing.

[David M Anderson]

Google RexMill.com,
pretty good site for someone who is just starting out in restoring, also a good guide for the old timers at it.

Be careful though, you restore or cleanup one, you will want to do another..:)

[Jim Koepke]

To remove the rust on the left side should I mill it down flat or use rust remover? The rust is pretty substantial on that one spot and if I remove it there will be pitting left.


I wouldn't remove metal if at all possible.

After all, ya' ain't gonna enter it in a beauty contest are ya'?

With something like this one I tend to brush off the rust and dust, sharpen the blade and see how it goes.

From what can be seen it looks like a type 16 (1933-1941) if that matters to you.

jtk

[maximillian arango]

I picked up a sargent 409 that was in the shape all I did was lap it till there was no more rust. It came out great and only took 5 minutes

[Daniel Morgan]

Well thanks to some of the insight provided by friends here and some cyber trawling I've found my plane.

It's a Stanley #S4 Steel Smoothing Plane. This link http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm has a good picture and explanation of the plane.

I'm going to wire brush the rust away, then smooth it up a bit and polish it. I think any of the pits left will just be "character marks."

Seems to me from the explanation provided by the website in the link it will be a fine everyday usage plane.

[Greg Wease]

The S4 has a totally different body shape than yours. More photos would help but I agree with Jim that it is a later Bailey #4.

[Jim Koepke]

The S4 has a totally different body shape than yours. More photos would help but I agree with Jim that it is a later Bailey #4.

Thanks Greg, I guess it won't be necessary to call and make an appointment with my eye doctor.

The S4 is more likely to be mistaken for a Bedrock.

jtk