Old Plane

[Dave Richards]

My SIL gave me a rusty old handplane for Christmas. I haven't had a lot of time to look it over but I know this much, It says Bailey No 3 in front of the mouth, the tote and knob appear intact and likely original, the adjustments seem frozen, and the iron, chipbreaker and cap are missing. It has a corrugated bottom and looks like it was once a nice small handplane.

My question is this: asumming I can get things apart and the rust removed and there is still some actual iron left, is it easy to find a chipbreaker and cap for this plane? I'd guess finding the iron for the plane would be easy enough but I wonder about the rest.

[Tyler Howell]

I know a place up here in the cities that has a lot of parts. PM me when you get a chance. I've been buying yard sale and junk planes for usable parts. Shouldn't be to hard to find.

[Steve Clardy]

Let me look around in my stock to see if I can let some parts go. I have several #3's

[Dave Richards]

Thank you to both of you, Tyler and Steve. Before you go to any trouble, I should find out if there'll be anything left of what I've got after cleaning up the rust. It may be that all I'm left with is the wooden handles. :p

[Steve Clardy]

Use some penetrating oil on the brass adjustor knob and threads. They usually loosen up.

[Maurice Metzger]

Dave, did you ever get your lever cap for the Number 3 plane? There's one available up on the unnamed auction site. The seller says he has other No. 3 parts, but I didn't do a search. This particular item has a "buy it now" price, so it could be gone soon.

Look in Collectibles - Tools, Hardware & Locks - Tools - Carpentry, Woodworking - Planes.

No connection to the seller or the site.

[Dave Richards]

Thanks Maurice. I haven't even had time to look at the plane since I posted before. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance.

Thanks for the heads up.

dave

[Roger H.]

I bought a rust ball block plane, disassembled it and soaked it in a glass jar covered with 4X strength, regular ole tea. It stayed submerged for a week. When I pulled it out, all the rust was gone, and the tool had a decent, to my taste, patina. No powered wire wheels or brushes were necessary. Since the treatment, it has not rusted again.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Roger, why does tea remove rust?

[Dave Richards]

Maybe the tannic acid in the tea does it?

The guy I work with uses molasses because of the little bit of acetic acid in it. He says its nice when you need to start the process but can't stick around to oversee it. It is pretty slow.