Plane cleaning & tuning -vs- restoring

[Bob Noles]

I have a wonderful old #7 type 11 that I purchased a couple of weeks ago and want to put it to use. I would like to clean it up getting the gunk off, but do not want to go too far and get into a restore in case I decide to sell it and get the Veritas jointer instead. This plane is in wonderful condition with no rust or pitting, has beautiful dark patina with 90% japaning and the tote and knob are excellent with only flaking finish and scratches from use.

My question is, what steps would constitute cleaning -vs- restoring? Would I refinish the tote and knob and polish the brass and give the body a good MS bath with a tooth brush, or just wash the whole thing down good, tune it and put it to use? Pretty much have plans to make a new bench top and want to have the right tool to achieve "flatness" :D

[John Dykes]

Not quite sure what you are asking... you can probably do as much or as little as you want to do. Be that just blowing off the dust or blasting off the finish and rejapaning.

Cleaning is probably just wiping down with mineral spirits and making sure all the threads are clean. Sharpen the blade and go to work.

It's worth it to me to clean and polish brass, body, bolts, clean up the wood, etc. Try to make it as good as new - or better. But I wouldn't necessarily call that a restoration either.

Perhaps responsibility...

I'm more than a user of this tool. I'm a custodian of a bit of history... Fella down the line will appreciate the effort.

2 cents I suppose...

- jbd in Denver

[Mike Brady]

This is a little tough without photos, but I would leave it alone if you are going to sell it. Most buyers do not like others to have worked on their planes for fear of a hack job. In truth, your plane probably has the same value whether it is nicely restored or left alone, but you might sell it faster if it is left as is. You can tune it without destroying the patina. If it was a rare plane, you would not want to even sharpen it, but this is a plane that is available readily. My personal feeling is that the pre-war planes should reflect their age in appearance; but my later Stanleys (with the nickel lever caps) look like they were never used because most of them never were. Curiously Type 11's don't seem to attract much of a price premium even though they are much older than other Stanley users that are much more common.

[Mike Cutler]

Bob

Clean it up, sharpen the blade and go. The rest is cosmetic.


For me though,I'd leave it as close to the condition it currently is in, or I'd go full out. Not much in between for me.
I have a 3C that's going to get the full treatment once I get some time, and the surface grinder is available.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Bob

There are three levels of tuning/restoration:

In the first, which has three sublevels, the plane is wiped down with a degreaser to remove the crud (dirt is not patina) and left alone at this point if it is to be sold. If it is to be a user, the blade is honed and the plane is used as is. If then the plane does not work very well, the sole is inspected and a decision is made that ends with it being lapped.

In the second level, the plane is cleaned up - beautified - with the knob and tote being stripped and refinished, and all metal given a light cleaning to remove knicks. The question now arises whether the sides should be lapped, whether to beautify or to run on a shooting board, and consideration is given to "loss of patina". You may run a aftermarket blade in the plane. Blades are reversible mods.

I will comment at this point on the patina issue. If the plane is of collector quality, then leave it completely alone. This means, the plane is rare. If the plane is not rare, and is unlikely to become rare owing to the millions around the world, then do with it anything you please. This is not a religious or legal - or even moral - issue. Some with prefer an old looking plane. And others will not. The fact is that "patina" is nithing more than the iron oxidizing, and it does this all the time unless we actively do something to prevent it occuring (such as waxing the metal). If you choose to sand down the sides of a Stanley plane until it is bright and shiny, left alone it will eventually return to its oxidized, pre-sanded state.

The third restoration level is full-on: striping of old japanning and replacing this with either new japanning or paint. Both methods have their supporters. True japanning is a more complex method. Then the metal can be polished and the blade/chipbreaker replaced. The wood can be reworked or replaced. The decision to go down this route may simply be a result of wanting to use a plane that was earlier in really terrible condition. Others may just like the effect. It's your plane, and your choice.

Regards from Perth

Derek (who has done all of the above)

[Mike Henderson]

For ordinary planes (not rare) I often see restored planes going for much more than those which have been just "cleaned up". There are too many ordinary planes for collectors so, in general, the buyer of an ordinary plane is someone who's going to use it. And on eBay, a nice clean plane often gets a higher bid.

So do what you want to. I try to make my old planes look like new - close to what they may have looked like when the original buyer purchased them. That's because I have the philosophy that my tools affect my work - I believe that if my tools look good and work well, I'll do better work.

Someone else may have the philosophy that an older tool with patina reminds them of the craftsmen who may have used it in the past, and inspire them to better work.

We're both right. And whatever you choose will be right for you.

Mike

[Bob Noles]

Thanks for the tips and advice guys. Sounds like I have a pretty safe bet which ever way I go. I may just give it a good clean up and polish the brass and re-finish the knobs. This way I won't have a bunch of time and labor in it if it does not work out and I go for the LV instead. If it does work out that I keep it, I can alwyas go back and restore a little further to my liking later on.

You have all been most helpful and I appreciate your time.

[David Keller NC]

Bob - This a competing opinion, but if you think you're going to sell it (particularly at an MWTCA event or one of the national auctions) don't polish the brass. Type 11s do have some collector's value if they're nice (i.e., near full original blade, all original parts, tote undamaged, some original finish on the wood, japaning not flaked), and most collectors abhor polished brass and re-finished wood.

Not saying that you shouldn't do this if it's your preference and you're going to keep the plane - it isn't a pre-Stanley Leonard Bailey. It's just that when it comes to collectors, cleaning off accumulated crud with a bit of paste wax and a cloth is about all I'd suggest doing to it. There are some instances where a lapped sole without a patina is expected and accepted because it falls into the category of the condition one would expect from a working plane, but the sides should remain untouched.

[Johnny Kleso]

What I do I call it refinishing because to restore is to bring it back as original..

As Patrick Leech told me "No Bench Plane is collectable execpt maybe Type 1 or 2" and I add Type 3 to that list..

They sell a dozen No.7s a week at eBay so dont worry about going to far unless its minty and in we are talking restoring, so its not to minty..

Make it the best user you can and when you sell it it will bring more money as a good user than a neglected collector...

[Greg Cole]

Or just make it easy, sell the #7 to me and buy the LV.:D
Just a thought....

Greg

[Sean Kinn]

Personally, I go for the full strip, clean, and re-paint. I think its's pretty cool to make them look as good (or better than new). Like others have said, very few of these are truly collectible. If you do it properly, and document a future sale with plenty of close up pics, you shouldn't have much trouble selling it later.