Welded and Restored a Cracked KK19 Block Plane

[Allen Jordan]

I bought a keen kutter KK19 block plane at the local tool club for all of $2 last weekend. It had a cracked cheek and missing knob, but I wanted to try mig welding it back together so I gave it a shot today. I'm a pretty bad welder, but it was a fun experiment.


Original plane with crack:
https://i.imgur.com/9a0TnqT.jpg

Removing material to make room for the weld bead:
https://i.imgur.com/ffeFchS.jpg

After a lot of cleanup, and after restoring the other parts:
https://i.imgur.com/FD50HOk.jpg

Another view:
https://i.imgur.com/KJeezzx.jpg

It works decently, but the iron required a steep back bevel to get to good steel and the high carbon piece is almost used up. I might replace it someday if I can find something that will fit (anyone know of a commercial option that will work?):
https://i.imgur.com/XvYSz4a.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

the iron required a steep back bevel to get to good steel and the high carbon piece is almost used up. I might replace it someday if I can find something that will fit (anyone know of a commercial option that will work?):

Images of both sides of the blade would help others recognize if it looks like something they have.

Also measure the width of the blade. There are a few sizes. Stanley used 1-3/8" & 1-5/8" on most of their adjustable blade block planes.

jtk

[don wilwol]

Try to match it at hocktools.com. if you have trouble on the site you can call.

Nice job on the repair

[mike v flaim]

That plane will last another 100 years. Well done. Are you planning on replacing the bolt with a proper brass knob?

[Tate Harmann]

Wow that fix looks amazing! It blends in very nicely!

I bought an old Stanley No. 6 from Ebay and it showed up cracked. Unfortunately, the crack starts on the cheek but ends on the sole.

The seller refunded %100 of my money so I basically have the plane for free...I'm going to attempt to fix it. If it looks less than half as good as yours I'll be ecstatic.