A big thank you!

[steven c newman]

To a Mr. Eric Brown! As he sent me this little plane...
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A Sargent No. 206 "Apron Plane"
504938
On the iron is a VBM trademark....Eric does a lot of Nickel Plating of old tools, BTW
504939
He did leave the Brass Depth Adjuster...Brass.

Just his way of Paying it Forward.....something that I have also done over the years...both here, and a few other sites..

Again, a BIG THANK YOU! to Mr. Eric Brown!

[Eric Brown]

Your very welcome. I would love to hear how it works for you.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Seems like Eric is a class act!

Well done, sir.

[Eric Brown]

Seems like Eric is a class act!

Well done, sir.

You really should be thanking Steven for his contributions. Me, I'm just a guy with too many tools.

[Stew Denton]

Steven and Eric,

Following Eric's suggestion: thank you Steven for all of the great projects you do, as I have learned much from following them, and reading them is something I enjoy.

Also, Eric, thank you for sending the plane to Steven, I look forward to seeing projects where he uses the plane. You did a beautiful job on the plane. Please do a post on how the nickel plating is done, as that plane looks brand new. Having restored a few old tools myself, I know how much work you must have gone to, and with beautiful results.

Thanks and regards to you both,

Stew

[steven c newman]

Oh, it did get some work, today...
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It even tried to hide...
505042

[Eric Brown]

Steven and Eric,

Following Eric's suggestion: thank you Steven for all of the great projects you do, as I have learned much from following them, and reading them is something I enjoy.

Also, Eric, thank you for sending the plane to Steven, I look forward to seeing projects where he uses the plane. You did a beautiful job on the plane. Please do a post on how the nickel plating is done, as that plane looks brand new. Having restored a few old tools myself, I know how much work you must have gone to, and with beautiful results.

Thanks and regards to you both,

Stew

Stew, the plating is simple enough to explain, no pictures needed. I do these jobs in four basic steps. All the solutions are in 6.5 gallon buckets. My source: https://caswellplating.com/

1. Take apart and clean all rust off and paint if desired. (Paint can be left alone and the plating will happen around it if that is appropriate.)
2. Smooth and tune up. May require putting back together several times. The plating does not fill scratches or markings. It instead builds up around it more. (Path of least resistance, it goes to the surface before the valley.) I personally don't like sharp edges except where it should be sharp. I remove any casting edges and make sure everything is functioning smoothly.
3. Take everything back apart and polish. The smoother the metal is the smoother the plating.
4. Plating requires three steps. Degreasing at 200 F for ten minutes and then rinsing with distilled water. Pickel (light acid) for ten minutes, rinse with distilled water. Plate at 110 F for one hour turning part 180 at the half hour mark. Requires .07 amps per square inch.
5. Polish and reassemble.

When I put the parts into the degreaser, they are hung with some bare 12 gage wire. From then on, all handling is by grabbing the wire. This wire is bent to hold the part and hang on a rod. When positioning parts care must be taken to not have any areas that can trap the hydrogen bubbles that form while plating. It won't plate an air bubble. No touching is permitted as finger oils will interfere with plating. Once the plating is started it should not be stopped. If interrupted, even for a second, the following plating will delaminate. If an interruption occurs, it must go through a reactivation procedure which is wiping it down with a special chemical.

Note that I don't try to make the tool look perfect. I like a slightly used look. Because of pitting and other surface defects I try to simply smooth them out a little. I can also copper plate to fill in holes. After the copper is plated you can fill with solder or sand it down, repeating until surface is smooth. (A lot of time and energy!)

One last thing. I do not consider what I'm doing as restoration. However, nickel plating was widely used, and it would have been possible for them to have spent the time to make the tools this pretty. Problem was they had to keep the cost down.
What I do I prefer to call "custom". Not trying to fool anybody.
One last thing, if someone really doesn't like the nickel there are nickel removal solutions available. Or they could just paint over the nickel.

[steven c newman]

And, tomorrow morning I will be bringing a project for you to try and do...see ya then...

[steven c newman]

Eric's Little block plane got a bit of use, tonight..
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bread board edge had a few high spots that needed leveled down to the top of the lid...