Restore My Plane Or Leave Alone?

[Derek Arita]

I just got a beautiful little plane. It's a 602 Bedrock Flatside, I believe Type 6. It's got some lite rust here and there, however I'm sure it's been cleaned of rust before, as there is cleaned out pitting on the blade. Some of the screws and nuts have lite rust. Japaning is about 60% left.
I've been restoring all of my old planes...strip and repaint, derust all parts, sand and shine up all nuts and screws and in some cases, knobs and totes stripped and refinished. This plane will not be a user, so I'm wondering if, as a collector plane, should I restore it or leave it as is? My first thought was that this plane had been worked on before, so why not take it the rest of the way and really make it shine. On the other hand, it looks pretty cool the way it is. What's the consensus?

[Judson Green]

Don't know

313209 and more than one.

But I'd do the minimal to make it pretty. Certainly not strip and repaint.

[lowell holmes]

Clean the rust off. I used camellia oil before, but my un-restored bedrocks all have Johnson's wax on them and they are not rusty.

I have not restored any, but I do have LV irons and chip breakers in them. I do use them.

[Mike Henderson]

I restore my old planes. By that, I clean them up as much as I can - not including painting. I'll usually put a modern blade in the plane.

If you just want to keep it as a collectible, keep the old blade and for sure don't do any painting.

Mike

[Moses Yoder]

I think you said "repaint" instead of "apply new japanning." Most collectors would say that painting a 602 is a capital offense.

[Derek Arita]

I think you said "repaint" instead of "apply new japanning." Most collectors would say that painting a 602 is a capital offense.

Yes. That's why I'm asking...reading and learning...

[Shawn Pixley]

Me, I would clean and use. If you weren't going to use, clean only (no paint). But I don't know anything about collecting planes.

[Moses Yoder]

I would keep it and use it. I assume you got it cheap. I would disassemble it and then spray it with simple green and scrub with a green scrub pad, wipe off, wax, and reassemble. Sharpen the iron and see how it works. A small plane like this, maybe with a Hock iron that is really sharp, is ideal for planing end grain in the common woods like cherry and maple.

[Derek Arita]

I would keep it and use it. I assume you got it cheap. I would disassemble it and then spray it with simple green and scrub with a green scrub pad, wipe off, wax, and reassemble. Sharpen the iron and see how it works. A small plane like this, maybe with a Hock iron that is really sharp, is ideal for planing end grain in the common woods like cherry and maple.

Thanks for the replies. If this were a pure user, I wouldn't hesitate to completely strip, clean and refinish, then use, however since I consider this a collector/keeper, I'm torn between keeping it's look of age and use or restoring it to close to new condition or better.

[Rick Whitehead]

Since you don't intend to use it, I would suggest that you keep it as is. If you want to sell it later, its value to a collector will be higher than if you tried to restore it.
If you want a no. 2 size plane to use, I'd suggest selling the 602 and buying a Lie-Nielsen no. 2 and maybe a couple of other planes with the proceeds.
Rick