Might be a decent project..

[steven c newman]

to do? Just got back in from a LONG Road Trip. Did a bit of rust hunt, more on that later. Went to a "Magnolia Jamboree" to meet up with a bunch of old friends and some new ones. On one of the Swap Tables, there was a wooden box. It's owner wanted me to restore it. She had shipped it down to the Vicksburg,MS site of the fest. I asked her IF she wanted anything for it...nah, just pictures when I get it done.

Sooo, here is the "start" of the little project
335551
A Stanley #45. Has both the long and short rods, the slitter, and the cam. Maybe 20 cutters. The lid came out of the mailing box in about 5 pieces. One end of the lid was just some scrap wood added in. Will need to repair the damage from the USPS.....and maybe rehab the plane. Four day trip down there and back......need to rest up a bit, long car ride, 832 miles as the crow flies.....we didn't follow no dang crow....

Give me a few days to get settled back into the shop..
335552
They even made a sign for my shop down there! It is merely sitting on the lid.
Oh, I also did a little rust hunting, right? Like a rusty old saw vise?
335553
Price tag said $25, I offered $10.....they took the offer. Wentworth No.1?????
Need to unpack the rest of the "Booty", and then maybe another post?

[Stew Denton]

Cool Steven, Mighty Cool!

Saying that "might" be a decent project is in the same tone as saying the sun "might" come up in the East tomorrow!

Keep us in the loop!

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

A Stanley #45. Has both the long and short rods, the slitter, and the cam.

It's a trifecta! It also has the other of the three most commonly missing items, the fence adjustment locking screw.

jtk

[steven c newman]

I get recovered from the trip, and we'll see about get this one back into service. Long rods will need a good de-rusting, may need a new brass wire wheel for the drill press. Once the 45 is done, and the box repaired, then I can start on the rest of the "treasures". I may not need to go to yard sales for a little while......

[Chris Hachet]

Can't wait to see this finished.

[steven c newman]

Let's see...20 cutters
335598
Other parts..
335599
Mainframe?
335600
Labels on the end of the wooden box says it was made by the Stanley Tool Co. LTD of Canada. Roxton Pond, Que.

335601
Wood needs washed off? Rust needs a brass wheel run around, threads need cleaned and oiled. One cutter was rusted in place, had to drive it out the side, AWAY from the pin.
335602
BOTH spurs are in place. Might be missing the depth stop for the slitter.
Cutters went into holders on one end of the box, not seperate holders. No screwdrivers were onboard, nor the booklet. No biggie.
Will need to watch a bit of video to see just how this beastie is used.

Do you need in-progress pictures, or just wait to see the fully restored plane?

[Chris Hachet]

Let's see...20 cutters
335598
Other parts..
335599
Mainframe?
335600
Labels on the end of the wooden box says it was made by the Stanley Tool Co. LTD of Canada. Roxton Pond, Que.

335601
Wood needs washed off? Rust needs a brass wheel run around, threads need cleaned and oiled. One cutter was rusted in place, had to drive it out the side, AWAY from the pin.
335602
BOTH spurs are in place. Might be missing the depth stop for the slitter.
Cutters went into holders on one end of the box, not seperate holders. No screwdrivers were onboard, nor the booklet. No biggie.
Will need to watch a bit of video to see just how this beastie is used.

Do you need in-progress pictures, or just wait to see the fully restored plane?

Either would be correct!

[Bill White]

Steven, more info on the festival in Vicksburg please. I'm in Tupelo, and might wanna make the trip next time it is going on.
Bill

[steven c newman]

A group of people from LumberJocks site have an annual get together at one of the member's houses. Next spring, it will be over in Virginia. At Charles Neil's little place.

[steven c newman]

Ok..decided to try to plan a bit on the 45....just way too many parts to keep track of, and where they all go. Sooo, went ahead and worked over a few of the other treasures from the trip...
335625
Used to be a very rusty hammer head, the little block used to be a part of the handle...ever see two very LONG carpet staples as a wedge?
335626
There they be. Need to get a new handle for this....next?
335627
#3710 is the only markings on it. 8-10" brace. Next?
335628
Wentworth No.1 Patent APR 8 78 saw vise now has a plank, and can be clamped up to the bench. ( those two planes behind it? No.7c and a 0-7)
335629
Frame is a round bar, needed the rust removed, and a new blade, didn't find any markings.

Also cleaned up a #1248 ( #203 clone) and added the front knob. Brought home a Millers Falls 2" lever cap, and cleaned it up...
335630
I now have a hand forged marking knife in the shop, and a new Dremel hanging over the bench. Wanted to get as much out of the way, before I start in on the 45. May have to have a notepad (the paper kind) sitting on the bench.
Hinges and the latch on the box are a bit rusty, plated steel, maybe?? maybe change to a brass sort of thing?

[Jim Koepke]

Have a look here:

http://tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/index.htm

The instruction booklet has a view with the parts called out.

There is also a lot of other information on the page.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Thank you! I have never even held a 45 until this one showed up. It looks like I'm missing three cutters, and the slitting depth stop. Not a biggie, I think I can find those as time goes by....

[steven c newman]

Long morning.....destroyed a Dremel brass wheel, but things are looking better....
335664
Slider is cleaned off, found a "SW" hiding under the grime. Bolts are cleaned, and a shot of WD40 added to them before they went back in. Cleans the inside threads...
335665
This little fellow had rust blooms, and the bolt was a dark brown.....was. Kept getting hit by little brass wires...
335666
A "before" shot. Tore this down, anything "pinned" stayed that way. ALL the bolts were removed, and wire wheeled clean, then the WD40.
335667
I guess this is the "After Shot"? Slitter cleaned up, short rods, ditto. The skates were the worse to get cleaned off. Put the two "main" sections back together...
335668
Mountain Dew Break!! Yep, had the notepad out, just in case. I would lay out the parts in an order across the pad, to let me know where they came from. One section at a time, keeping the parts together as I went.

Next installment? Well, there is that fence thingy to clean up, and then? 20 cutters ( missing 3) to clean and sharpen back to like new-in-box. Later? Lid repair on that wood box.

Doing this a bit slow, and trying to do it right. No real rush to get it slapped together, not getting paid for this. This will be a user for my shop, taken a LONG time to get one, no rush to get it done. After all those years, what's another week or two? Wood working? Well, there is that box to repair......

[Jim Koepke]

Looking good. Now comes the 'learning curve.' They can be a paint to get working. Take a light shaving and life will be better.

Do you have slip stones for the beading blades? Those are a pain it the keister when they are dull.

Running a candle across the skates and the fence does help.

Looking forward to seeing how it works for you.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Sorry, no slip stones in the shop...may have to get some, someday...

Fence section is about as clean as I can get it...
335701
Might have to go back over the long rods..
335702
Still a few rough spots on them,
335703
Got 12 straight cutters sharpened up, after a good cleaning. All but one has a notch, there is a very skinny one that is too thin for a notch..
335704
These are all the fancy ones that the box had. Might be missing three. Area between my shoulders was getting SORE from working on this stuff today. Maybe tomorrow, I can work on these.
335705
May not be a Stanley screwdriver, but I think this Millers Falls one might do, in a pinch?
That is about enough for one day.

[Jim Koepke]

The cutter without a notch is the likely the 1/8" cutter. It is a bit shorter than the others so the pin on the adjuster can push on the top of it for adjusting.

I think you may only be missing the two match blades. The 7 beading cutters is normal.

The slitter is counted as one of the cutters in the set of 23.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Test drive earlier today......seemed to want to follow the grain, used one of the bead cutters. Will try the straight cutters later.

Seemed to be almost 35 degrees for a bevel???? Video said 30 degrees? Canadian ones used a steeper bevel??

[steven c newman]

Ok, I think I MIGHT be getting close to rehabbing this complicated piece of machinery..
335744
Fence is cleaned up. Left all the wood parts alone. That piece of White Oak will get used in a bit..
Straight cutters are cleaned and sharpened, and stowed away..
335745
And the curved stuff was cleaned, and flat areas flattened. Looking for a slip stone at the moment, but..
335746
Cutter No. 24 is now IN the plane. Took a LONG time of setting things up to make a cut with THAT cutter. Sliding stock needed to be just so......fence needed to be in the correct spot, depth of cut needed to be set...several times...

Finally...
335747
It was making shavings!!! Found out one NEEDS to keep pressure against the knob to keep the fence against the stock, otherwise, the plane will drift towards to edge. You push against the knob and fence, and DOWN at the same time. Use just the right hand to shove the plane along.....finally got a decent enough looking bead.
335748
Soo, I still need to hone the curved areas, as they are a bit rusty. Next, I can now repair the box's lid. Not much I can do about the labels, though. Then, maybe I can work on the rest of the "treasures" I brought home.....

[Jim Koepke]

Before having slip stones I did have some luck with sandpaper on dowels.

jtk

[steven c newman]

From what I have been reading, Stanley merely wanted them sharpened by flattening the backs. They seemed to think a slip stone would alter the profiles. That #24 cutter was just sharpened by flattening the back, and a few swipes on the outside bevels. The curved part was left alone. About all I think I'll do is try to de-rust the curve parts.

The slitter cutter does not have a very sharp edge, rather a bit dull.

[steven c newman]

Ok....nother question....when plowing a groove with one of these things, say for a drawer bottom.....just set the iron to a hair below the skates? Going with the grain, would the nickers/spurs be needed for a groove?

[Jim Koepke]

Ok....nother question....when plowing a groove with one of these things, say for a drawer bottom.....just set the iron to a hair below the skates? Going with the grain, would the nickers/spurs be needed for a groove?

I set the blade by eye to take a light cut then adjust as needed after a few test cuts.

Usually the nickers only need to be used when going across grain. They can help if the grain is a bit gnarly. I often scribe the sides with a knife.

jtk

[Mike Cherry]

In addition to Jims comments, I seem to remember someone mention that you can score the walls of a groove with marking gauges. I suppose a tenon marking gauge works too

[steven c newman]

Ok, about ready to start of the broken lid...

Is there anything that can be done about the labels? The one on the lid is about gone, the one on the side is about 80% there.

Hinges and the latch are a bit rusty.....bright steel? Or, brass plated.

[steven c newman]

Also trying to figure out the wood Stanley used for the boxes from Roxton Pond plant. Need to cut finger joints to match existing.....then match the "BS Yellow" paint colour.

Someone had just stuck a hunk of cherry on the end, didn't even try to do the joints right. Now I get to fix all of that.

BTW: Apparently, the "Stanley way" to sharpen the bead cutters was to just hone the back of the cutter. Seemed to work with the #24 cutter I tried out.

[Jim Koepke]

BTW: Apparently, the "Stanley way" to sharpen the bead cutters was to just hone the back of the cutter. Seemed to work with the #24 cutter I tried out.

This works somewhat, but it doesn't do well with nicks or even the rough original grind I have seen on some blades. For the smoothest beads and ease of working you will likely want to get a few slipstones or work with abrasive sheets on hardwood dowels.

jtk

[steven c newman]

tried out the striaght cutters today..
336022
Made a lot of curly thingys...got to looking at the box this came in.....cracks all over the box's lid, sides, and bottom......USPS did a number on it, got out some toys...er...TOOLS
336023
Did I mention I also won a hand forged marking knife? Ran a saw for a long time....
336024
I had already cut four slabs and end jointed them. Made a bunch of these cuts.
336025
Did a bit of chisel work
336026
and even a test fit...
336027
before the body ran out of steam for the evening......one corner done, three to go. Plan is to split off the "lid" later. Needs grooves for the top and bottom panels, too. Might have a use for that fancy plane...

[steven c newman]

Went and picked up new brass hardware for the new box, along with some thin plywood from the Crafts aisle.....3mm should be thin even. Will add a few extra holes in the new brass hinges...to match the six used by Stanley on each hinge. Even found a latch similar to the one Stanley used. There is also quite a few brass screws now, with slots instead of the nasty looking phillips head.

Now, whether to make a seperate cutter holders, or..do like this box and have a pair of thin boards let into the front and back, spaced enough to hold the two rows of cutters? Hmmm, might be a bit much to try with the 45?
336084
You can barely see the two thin panels on the left side? Might just make a couple bit holder boxes, instead. Otherwise, it will be two crossgrain dados very close to each other.....liable to breakage.

will try to seperate the box from the lid with a pair of grooves...one inside, and one outside, overlapped a bit. Shouldn't be too hard to seperate them after that? Then glue all the parts in place. At the rate I'm going....might be done by May?

[steven c newman]

All four corners are now completed....not quite ready for a glue up, just yet
336109
Also used the Stanley/Wards #78 to cut a shallow rebate around the edges of a plywood bottom panel..
336110
Not sure whether I'll cut a groove, or a rebate to house the panel. Speaking of grooves, I set up the groover machine..
336111
Set up to make a couple grooves to split off the lid part from the box part. and give a lip as a dust seal. Making a bit of progress...

[steven c newman]

Well, put the stanley to work all afternoon long....
336122
Details after I have supper, I am bushed right now.....Lid is in glue-up right now....Will work on the box part when the bench is cleared off, again..

[steven c newman]

Did a glue up of thin boards for a top panel, used an old plane to koint the edges..
336131
Set this aside, had grooves to make
336132
Along with a rebate to house the top panel, I had these side grooves. They only go halfway through. Needed to flip the boards over, and mill a matching, offset groove.
336133
Some I had to finish off with a knife. Then a bit of shoulder plane work
336134
Testing the fit as I went.
336135
Will do, for now. Got all four sides done (whew!!) and then grabbed a big handful of clamps..
336136
Lid is now in the clamps, all glued up. Square was there for reference. Did had one fault with the 45 today. On those wide spaced cuts, where you need to flip the fence over?
336137
The cam does work, but, that bolt to adjust the fence's wood side? It started to drag along ON the wood. This is from doing the top rebate. I could just barely reach it. Tried it with the fence flipped...didn't work too well. That bolt has way too large of a head to it, sticks down as low as the fence does.

Will work on adding the bottom panel to the box, maybe some other items inside, and then a glue up of the box. Maybe then I can fit the two parts together,and maybe look to print out a green and white label.

[Jim Koepke]

On those wide spaced cuts, where you need to flip the fence over?

The cam does work, but, that bolt to adjust the fence's wood side? It started to drag along ON the wood. This is from doing the top rebate. I could just barely reach it. Tried it with the fence flipped...didn't work too well. That bolt has way too large of a head to it, sticks down as low as the fence does.

The other trick for that is to put the fence on the other side of the plane body and use it like a lefty.

jtk

[Pat Barry]

This is shaping up to be some of your best work steven. Nice job. Now a comment - that tool looks to be a beast to work with on boards as short as the ones you need for this project - it probably would have worked better, in hindsight, to do all the work you needed to on a long board with this thing and then break down the box for your joinery. - ie: that last picture you posted just strikes me as unwieldy. Nice to see you are overcoming the issues with this monster.

[steven c newman]

Well, tried to use the 45 on some dados....
336190
Skates can close up enough, only one of the spurs would even come loose enough to use. Scored the lines with a marking knife, and a square. Backsaw and a narrow chisel to remove the waste
336191
Repeat for the other side. Got the rebate for the bottom to sit in, by using the Wards 78. Finally got things into the clamps, for the day.
336192

Later, removed the clamps
336193
and fitted the plywood bottom in place...
336194
added a few dividers to the inside..
336195
336196
Then spent almost an hour, fitting the lid to the box, and finally was able to add these.
336197
And a latch out front.

Out of space for pictures, soooo....

[steven c newman]

The latch got installed
336198
Then, just to see IF everything fits...
336199
All but that big, fancy cutter, may have to make a notch for the depth stop on it.
336200
A little cramped, but everything is in there. Then I compared the two boxes..
336201
Box is far from perfect.....but it at least matches the old one. My very first finger joint project, ever.
336202
Maybe a little more practizing will improve things? Still has a few things left to do, and then decide on a finish....just Poplar...

[steven c newman]

First coat is on...finding a few interesting spots in the Poplar..
336242
Not a blotch....strange grain going across the front. Will try to lighten it up a bit before the final coat..
336243
Top view...streaky wood....
336244
And the back view. As for a side view..
336245
Original is in the background...about the same colour? That quart can is just that, a can. Inside it is a blend of varnish, stains, and BLO.....a Witch's Brew

Will get rubbed out tomorrow, and maybe a top coat.

Haven't kept track of all the costs to build this little box....figured the finger joint lessons were worth all the costs. These were the first ever finger joints I have done. Might need a bit more practizing??

[steven c newman]

It now has a coat of Gloss varnish.....awaiting that to dry. Might post a project photo or two?

[steven c newman]

Finish is on..
336274336275336276
Nice little, simple project?

[steven c newman]

Labels have been printed out.....will work on them a bit. To get the sash cutter into the storage bin, had to remove the depth stop. Original had a couple holes in the 1x1 glued to the floot that firs the bolt for that depth stop. Might just go that route.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

When I have used brass brushes, I have tended to get a yellow sheen on the piece I am trying to clean up. I don't see that on your pieces, and wonder how you are either avoiding or removing it.

[steven c newman]

Haven't seen any yellow.....I only press hard enough to remove the rusty and crusty stuff....have other ways to polish the metal. For some reason, what used to be brass wire...has a steel core inside. Plated, maybe? Doesn't seem to leave any brass residue behind.

[steven c newman]

Thanks the Mike, I was able to add a few labels to the new box..
336395336396
Maybe someday, I can find a decent copy of the Roxton Pond label under that 45 one.
Seems to be a 1922 -32 version. Skate is stamped as a clipped box, SW, Made in Can. trademark. Type 20.

[steven c newman]

One fly in the ointment....the bolt for the main stock's spur will NOT budge......currently soaking the offending part in PB Blaster for the day. Try a bit later to "budge" it a bit. Moving Stock''s spur's bolt came out, without too much hassle. Reveal a whale of a lot of rust under the spur. Might give it a soak as well.

Thinking of finding a "Bore Brush". Like used on a rifle. As soon as I figure out what "Cal." the holes for the rods are. Then I can oil up the brush, and scrub out the rust. Maybe use a bit of RBC, or "Break free"?

[steven c newman]

Well, heat, soaking in PB Blaster, tapping with a hammer on a screwdriver.......slot is looking worse. Decided to just stop, for now. Have others that can go across the grain.

Test fitted the widest of the straight cutters....had a problem. Although the channel it sits in is as clean as can be, iron wasn't sitting all the way in. ???? Pulled the iron back out, and looked it over....looking along the side, blade had a slight curve to it. Mainly along it's length. Set things up on the bench, and used a large ball peen hammer to tap it into flat, oil stones to clean it up. NOW it fits where it is supposed to go. I suppose I had better go back and sight down the length of the rest of the cutters..

When I have enough built up in the paypal thingy, I'll order the new spur and bolts. Might see about the rest of the missing parts, too.