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steven c newman
06-22-2018, 10:45 AM
That needed a little clean up. Picked this Millers Falls No. 900 last week..
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Decided to try and clean it up last night..just something to do.....
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Took it apart, bolts for the handles gave me a little problem....had to use a pair of visegrips, to remove the shafts....cleaned all the bolts and the adjuster wheel on the wire wheel
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And sanded the face of the frog. It was flat, the paint on it wasn't, either on the face, or the seats. plating was flaking off the lateral lever, was removed. Lever was frozen in place, a bit of 3in1 oil, and just moving it back and forth, freed it up.
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Sides: palm sander to clean the rust off..
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Beltsander to polish the sides. Not the least bit worried about being 90 degrees to the sole....this is never going to be a "shooter" anyway, just a smoother:rolleyes:
I did check the sole for flat ( two finger method, to see IF it rocks on a flat surface) then the beltsander to fix,
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It had a slight hollow right behind the mouth. I also used a large mill file to further polish the sole...
Wire cup brush in the drill press, to clean the inside of the base..
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And remove the gray paint frog the frog's seats. I also polished the underside of the lever cap, had rust and crud holding it off the chipbreaker...
Hmm, will need a "Part 2"....BRB....Stay tuned

Jim Koepke
06-22-2018, 11:00 AM
Interesting, a #4 size plane for $4. My #3 sized plane (a Dunlap from Millers Falls) cost $3.

Sounds like a price trend. :D

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jtk

steven c newman
06-22-2018, 11:03 AM
Roh-kay, Raggy. Time to reassemble this plane..
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Anything with threads was cleaned up, and a drop of oil applied. I sat the frog flush with the small ramp at the back of the mouth. No gaps there. Had a bit of a problem with the knob out front....finally just installed the shaft, then the knob then the bolt's cap...which left the iron and chipbreaker to do...test run with the iron on some Pine scrap....
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Narrow ribbons? Lots of chips in the edge.....not pits, chips. We have ways..
Reground a new edge, at 25 degrees on the grinder, making sure the edge was square to the sides, and straight....needed a good starting point.
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For me, ( YMMV) it involves a guide, I go from a coarse oil stone, to that 600 grit Medium India. Then some wet or dry 1000 grit, and 2000 grit paper, sitting in a puddle of oil on the stone. Then a few minutes of pulling the iron back on a leather strop. Back of the iron was also flattened, on the side of the grinder's wheel. Which left the chipbreaker.....checked for any gaps, found none...polished the start of the hump as it was a bit rough. Installed the cb onto the iron, and set it back 1mm from the edge.
Back into the plane, again, for another test "flight"
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Once I got all the ridges left by the old edge, wasn't too bad. Then "polished" up a scrap of Ash..
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Glass smooth. Just a $4 plane..
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Maybe an hour or so of work....
Miller Falls "V" Line No. 900....mid to late 50s, before they added the 8 to the numbers....(8900....), about the size of a Stanley No. 4.
Might be worth keeping around...

steven c newman
06-22-2018, 11:11 AM
Hmm, price seems to have been going up, lately.....I paid $1.35 for the #5 sized Millers Falls No. 14...
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But then, this was a bit older, Type 3, from WW2....

lowell holmes
06-22-2018, 12:04 PM
I have a no. 4 Bailey with Hock Iron and Breaker and a 604 Bedrock.
I went to a woodworking show in Houston many years ago and saw a demonstrator with a Bedrock
and immediately went on line and bought 604, 605, and a 607. I put Hock irons and breakers in them.

Al Launier
06-22-2018, 1:03 PM
"They was robbed!" Great steal... er catch! Did you get visiting rights too?

steven c newman
06-22-2018, 1:07 PM
LOL.....no. I tend to leave town, as fast as I can......:D

Tom Bender
06-27-2018, 6:41 AM
That's some fine patina on your bench