A #6 Bailey for a $5 Lincoln

[Matthew Curtis]

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Picked this up yesterday for just $5. The guy at the flea market booth also threw in a Noname low angle block plane. I figured it was worth the risk. I didn't have a number 6 yet. Worst case it will look good on the wall.

The iron and chip breaker look a little pitted. I can always replace these with new. The throte looks okay. I guess I will know more after I clean it up. There is a lot of debris still on it from the last user.

Does anyone have tips on cleaning it up?
Normally I would use vinegar with a wire brush on the drill press. This has worked well in the past.

[Jim Koepke]

Does anyone have tips on cleaning it up?
Normally I would use vinegar with a wire brush on the drill press. This has worked well in the past.

That would be my starting point on the rust. Maybe try first with out the vinegar.

jtk

[Scott Clausen]

My first look says a good soapy cleaning followed by an evaporust bath to see what you have going on there, but I am no expert.

[Matthew Curtis]

So I did start with a good bristle brush and soap. Followed by a vinegar bath and a wheel on the drill press. This is what we got

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[Joe A Faulkner]

WD 40 and 3m Scotch Brite pads are in my kit for this type of work. I’ve used the vinegar and Evaporust as well. Evaporust does a good job, but is more expensive than the other two options. Hopefully there isn’t too much pitting in the sole. I think you can restore it it to reasonable working order. Good luck.

[Stew Denton]

Mathew, the work you have done makes the plane look drastically better.

In my opinion, you got the plane for a steal price, but like many of the rest of us you are transforming it into a great woodworking tool by sweat equity.

What you do from this point depends on what you want to end up with. If you are only interested in a good user you are most of the way there. If you want it to look more like a new plane, then you can do what I do, or what others that have the same goal that I do, suggest. I often want one to look newish, but also know that with the skills I have, i can't get real close to that.

I have also used the approach Joe wrote about above, and it also works.

What I do, when at the point you are at, or even before that is bead blast the cast, but not machined, interior of the body to get it down to clean bare metal. To protect the rest of the plane I coat everything I don't want to bead blast with duck tape. Thus, I coat the bed where the frog beds to the body and the sides and bottom of the plane, with carefully applied duck tape. This protects the machined and smoothed parts of the plane from getting the frosted appearance that results from bead blasting over spray. After blasting I clean off the duck tape and then work on the smooth or machined areas with Scotch Brite followed by 320 carbide sandpaper, followed by metal polish on the sides and bottom. The rough cast area of the body is then primed and finally given a couple of coats of gloss black oil base enamel paint. I currently have been using Ace brand, but I don't think the brand makes a lot of difference, and any other good brand should be fine.

I do the same with the frog and lever cap, again taping off the milled areas and the horizontal adjuster arm. This is then bead blasted, and the machined and smooth areas given the Scotch Brite and 320 treatment, and the rough cast areas again painted.

I wire brush the machine screws with a fine wire steel wire brush, and also do the threaded rods that hold on the knob and tote. I clean up the brass fixtures that hold on the knob and tote, followed by 320 and brushing with a very light touch with a fine wire BRASS brush. The brass brush seems to polish/burnish the brass.

I refinish the knob and tote after sanding them with fine sandpaper to get off the old finish and oxidized wood on the surface. The object of the sandpaper here (320) is to get the old finish/oxidized wood off to have a clean surface. It is NOT to remove any significant amount of wood. I do not try to sand out any small dents, etc., as those are battle scars, and I do not want to change the shape of the wood. I do sometimes sand out SMALL cracked off spots on the top of the tote so that it will be smooth to the hand when in use. If like normal, I then use clear gloss spray lacquer on the freshly prepared knob and tote. If I have LOTS of time, I will use polyurethane finish instead of the lacquer because the polyU is a very tough and extremely durable finish in my experience, but it does take more time to dry, recoat, etc.

Finally I work the iron and chip breaker over with Scotch Brite and fine sand paper and metal polish. The entire plane smooth surfaces that show are then metal polished and waxed. The iron is then sharpening and waxed. I then put the plane back together and adjust everything and give it a test run to check the sharpening, and give it a final adjustment for use. Finally I back off the iron just a bit and put it back in the drawer.

A friend of my wife was over the other day to visit Donna, and when I showed her the latest plane I was working on she said it looked new, and was surprised when I told her that it was at least 100 years old. (It did not look new to me, by a long stretch, but it looked pretty good.)

At any rate, the total approach I take is very time consuming, and does not help the function of the plane one whit. Others want to keep the plane appearance with the patina, etc., in tact. It all comes down to personal preference.

You can stop at any point along the process that pleases your sense of what you are looking for in the plane, appearance wise.

Other folks use other techniques, like different finishes on the knob and tote, etc. It again comes down to personal preference.

Since I have retired I have lost access to a bead blaster, but I have done most of my planes, etc., that needed the work most.

Regards,

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

Matt, do you have an image of the sole? Some pitting won't matter for a good user.

The frog looks like an early type 9. Early type 9s often have a 7-24-88 patent date on the lateral lever. The pin on the lever looks unmolested. If the lever isn't wobbly it might be good to leave it alone if it doesn't have to come off.

Here is a link to an old post about rehabbing & fettling an old #7 > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?114373

jtk

[Scott Winners]

For five bucks you did great and you are well on your way.

One thing I would do at this point is look real careful at the edges of the casting. At the ends that will be top and bottom, on the sides inside and outside edges. I break all those corners if it hasn't been done already. Takes about 10 minutes with any old file and a metal vise. Maybe follow up with 220 grit sand paper. Just enough that you don't cut your fingertips on the corners of the edges.

If you do that know it doesn't really affect to your clean up time. If you get it painted and then start bleeding you will have some work to do. Don't sweat it too much. The fourth plane I restored came out real nice, but I still haven't gone back to bring the first three up to state of the art.

I have my number 6 set up as a panel plane, basically a jointer for stock under 5 feet long, honed straight across with tiny little roundovers ( less than 1/8,maybe about 1/16) on the corners. I find it a bit heavy to use as a foreplane. If you do need to replace your iron measure the width of what you do have, don't go by the guide numbers on the Lee Valley site. I am not saying the LV site is bad, just the iron widths on the 4 1/2, 5 1/2, 6 and I think seven vary with type number.

You got a real nice plane there that is worth the time you are putting in it. For five bucks I would have snagged it for sure judging by the pics you have posted.

[Scott Winners]

FWIW I am coming around to agree with Jim Koepke in prefering the low knob Baileys. Don't let that thing go until you have enough experience with both front knob types to have your own experience based opinion.

[John Jardin]

Great narrative Stew...patience , patience, patience

[Matthew Curtis]

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[lowell holmes]

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E211US739G0&p=wire+wheel+in+bench+grinder

is how I would do it.