No 5 Restoration

[Dominic Greco]

Hi Everyone,

Here are some before/after photos of my father in law's old No5 Stanley. It had been sitting down in a damp basement for several years and was coated with surface rust. After seeing the condition it was in, I volunteered to clean it up.

I used a soft wire wheel to remove as much of the surface rust as I could. After that I spent a couple days working on flattening the sole and the sides. After that I worked on the plane iron and chip breaker.

Since you've seen it a million times before, I won't bore you with the rest of the restoration details. Suffice to say, I got the iron nice and sharp, the sole as flat as possible, and the sides reasonably flat (he's NEVER going to shoot miters with this!). After I re-assembled it, I was very pleased with the improved performance.

BEFORE
http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450020020/4.jpg
http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450020020/2.jpg

AFTER

http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450020020/3.jpg
http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450020020/7.jpg

I presented this #5 and a restored Stanley block plane (no pictures of that one!) back to my FIL last week. He was suitably impressed.

http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450020020/5.jpg
http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450020020/6.jpg

The next one I work on is going to be a real doozey! I got this #6 (of unknown manufacturer) a couple years ago and finally have gotten around to restoring it. With the amount of caked on crud this baby has, I think I may end up soaking it in a solution of simple green!

Thanks for viewing.

[Ryan Cathey]

Very nice work! That No. 6 looks like a diamond in the rough lol!

-Ryan C.

[Clint Jones]

I believe the plane you say is a No.6 is a No.7 sized plane. It looks like someone has replaced the levercap with a transitional plane. It shoul clean up nice and make a good user jointer.

[Ryan Cathey]

It's a number 7! Thats all the more better!!

-Ryan C.

[Dominic Greco]

I believe the plane you say is a No.6 is a No.7 sized plane. It looks like someone has replaced the levercap with a transitional plane. It shoul clean up nice and make a good user jointer.

Clint,
So this is a #7, eh? Good! As long as it's smaller (and lighter) than that monstrous Record #8 I have. Using that bad boy takes some muscle. Talk about a work out!

I knew that lever cap looked out of place! When I first took it apart it was so dirty that I didn't see the extent that the tip of the lever cap was chewed up. I was debating whether I should grind it smooth or replace it with an extra one I have hanging around. For some reason I was hesitant about the overall plane becoming "unauthentic"! :D Like I care about that!