A box came in the mail today

[steven c newman]

Arrived about...noonish or so. L-N? Lee Valley? Ah...not quite.
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Had a thicker UNION MFG Co. iron...the rest? Not union...

Lateral lever was a "Whale-tail" and bent all out of shape
Front knob was split
Lever cap was a rusty mess....and
Someone had done a bit of welding on the tail end of the sole.:eek: worse, there was a regular bolt running up through the handle, ending with a square nut:eek::eek:....this might take awhile:rolleyes:
Well, two hours in the Dungeon Rehab center later....time to test drive this ...thing.
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Might do?:confused: iron is now mated to the straightened chipbreaker. Lever cap looks a bit better. A better looking knob from the spares box.
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Handles now have a coat of BLO on them. Japanning was almost gone. Rustoleum Satin Black rattle-can paint job. Side view?
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Sides are cleaned up. Bolt for the rear handle? Well, spent a bit of time rounding the underside of the square nut. Bit of oil on all the threads. Did flatten the sole, as best as I could..
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Big old scratch:eek: rest is flat, though. Edges had a slight round-over to them. P. Sellers like it that way. Mouth is fairly tight.

$8 or so, counting S&H. 2 hours in the rehab Center. Maybe i can get back to work on some oak thingys?
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I think these are called Dovetails...right? Making a case to hold a big handful of bits....
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Maybe i can use the new plane to level these out....

[Nick Stokes]

looks fun. good job.

[steven c newman]

Had some "issues" to overcome with this one. Apparently, at one time, the back end had a break. Owner then welded things back together. Not sure about the two deep scratches. Boss under the handle was missing, maybe from that break. Hole was wallered out, then they countersunk it on the sole's side. A flathead bolt goes up through from the bottom. Not a really great fit, either. ( J-B Weld, later) Other end of the bolt ends with a square nut! I reshaped the profile on the ubderside of the nut, to better fit into the depression where the old bolt's head would have been. Still enough meat to grab with a wrench. Will be looking at a better "system" as time goes by.

Front knob was split, may tried to reglue later, IF I need a knob. Rear handle appears to be Rosewood.

Chipbreaker: Was bowed in several directions at once. Edge where it met the iron? looked like a big smile. Touched the back of the iron just in the middle. Seemed like the entire chipbreaker was bent that way, bolt may have been to short. Flattened and tuned the chipbreaker a bit, found it was also bent up in the middle lengthwise. Flattened it down in that direction as well. Zero gaps in all directions, except under the humped part.

Bolts were cleaned up. The one for the lever cap was made as a blued bolt. Threads were cleaned out, but no rust on the blued part. Front knob has a brass nut on the shaft, a NORMAL brass nut. Shined the brass up.

Iron says Union MFG Co. New Britain CONN. USA. Iron is thicker than most older irons, but there is no taper to it. Hole for the chipbreaker bolt is at the top. Seems someone put an older iron on a newer plane. Usually it is there other way around. iron was even straight. Had a big camber to it, though. Might have come from a jack plane?

If I get the rear handle's bolt fixed up better, this won't be that back of a #4 plane. Camber might even help to smooth rougher wood.

Now, about them dovetails.....

[steven c newman]

For those out there that would want their planes rehabbed? This plane was a bit of a challenge, but still doable.

As for that offer of rehabbing planes....this is the results. Some planes take longer, some do not. Depends on the plane.

I don't claim to have a sole within ...0.00001" of flatness, I do make them flat enough to do their job.

Wood parts? IF I have a replacement on hand, I can replace them. But, I will try to repair what is there first... The knob on this plane was in very bad shape. I had a replacement, and used that instead. may go back and see what it can be fixed up to later.

Metal working: I have no way to weld or braze parts back together, it is beyond what the shop can do.. tap holes? yep, IF I have the right size. The plane above? Hole was wallered out too much, not enough meat left to use a tap. Would have been too big anyway.