Salvageable No 6?

[glenn bradley]

Is Grandpa's old No 6 worth restoring? Except for the damaged rear handle everything looks pretty complete. I'm mostly an electron burner, but find more and more joy in hand work. It has 'No 06' cast into the sole plate at the nose. I'm assuming it's a Stanley but what do I know?

[Clint Jones]

Your plane was made by the Ohio Tool Co. and is a No.6 size. Ohio planes are well built planes. I think the Ohio planes are as well, if not better built than the later Stanley Bailey line of planes. The blades on the Ohio Tool Co. planes are thicker than Stanley planes and the earlier ones are tapered even thicker towards the cutting edge. The blade looks like it has a lot of length left so I would clean it up and use it. The plane looks like it could use a complete makeover. Lapping the sole and sides and rejappaning. With a little work it will be a very nice plane. I would go to rarebear's site https://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/planes101.htm
to see how to restore it as a user.

Here is a No.5 I did myself that was in worse shape than yours I gave it the whole nine yards jappaning and all.
5646856469

[Ian Gillis]

I'm not sure if it's a Stanley either, but it's worth cleaning up and preserving. The number on the front and the depth adjusting wheel don't look like Stanley to me - but I wouldn't swear to it. Even if it was made by a Stanley competitor it could still be a good plane. The iron is almost full length and the body's not cracked, so it's worth a shot.

I would begin by taking the lever cap, iron and chipbreaker apart and applying some light oil to the all the metal bits. Let it sit for several hours to a couple of days. Try rubbing the grime and rust from the top of the blade (front and back) to look for a logo or name. You might also find a name on the top of the lateral adjuster - assuming you have one. Can't tell from photos.


There's tons of stuff about rehabbing on here and elsewhere on the web. Do a search of the forums. You can do a little or you can do a lot - that's up to you :)

Cheers

[Mike Henderson]

If it belonged to your grandfather, it's definitely worth refurbishing - no matter who made it. If it was good enough for your grandfather to produce things with, you should be able to use it to supplement your electron burning. And if you decide not to use it, put it on the shelf and tell people, "That's my grandfather's plane."

It looks pretty rusty so I'd recommend some major rust removal - in other words, don't try to keep the patina, polish and renew everything.

Mike

[James Mittlefehldt]

No doubt about it, Clint is right, it is Ohio Tool, they built metal planes between 1899 or so and 1920 when they went out of business. The only marking that identifies it is Ohio Tool is that the number is preceeded by 0 and if you look closely at the blade you should see a globe with a script in it. Also as Clint said they have very thick laminated blades.

You can spot them at a distnce by the low mushroomed shaped front knob they use which Stnaly stopped using around the turn of the century. I have and use three of them and like them very much. The only complaint is that there is a lot of slop in the adjustment for the blade depth.

Also it seems for some reason they often have the tip of their totes knocked off like yours is, and they often split near the base to. It is definitly worth restoring.

[glenn bradley]

I posted this here as it is a reply to all. Thanks for all the info, looks like I've got a project. Being part of grandpa's handed down tools I would have kept it to pass on. Now I know it's worth restoring so, I can fix it up, use it till I'm done and THEN pass it down.

Thanks again for the info!

[glenn bradley]

Clint,
First off, beautiful job on the restore. thanks for the link as well. Regarding the blade thickness; I was wondering why I read about folks changing out for a thicker blade as this one is quite stout. You're statement about the Ohio's being a bit thicker clears that up (in my mind anyway). Thanks again to all who pitched in.

[Tyler Howell]

Hey Glenn,
It's a real doable thing and the sentimental value is priceless.
I think I included some tips in my thread.
Good luck and enjoy.:cool:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17878 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17878)

[Mark Stutz]

Glenn,
I agrre that your #6 looks like a very usable plane. I would start by cleaning off all the dust and dirt, and see what you have. In general, I'm not at all opposed to making old planes look like new, and plan to do some restorations. If this had belonged to my grandfather, I would prefer to keep it as much the way it was as possible, cleaned by not restored to new, but ONLY because it was his. Just my .02.

Mark