Stanley Bedrock Plane no 606 where to get new blade and how to restore?

[John Schumer]

I recently picked up a few vintage Stanley Planes I am in need of a new blade for the 606
and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to cleaning these up and
putting them back into use?
Thanks
John

[Sam Takeuchi]

Do you want vintage blade or modern replacement ok? If you want period correct vintage blade, find out which type (production period) your No. 606 is and then contact one of many vintage plane dealers. You can try contacting Brass City Records or just post in a WTB post in classifieds here for a 2-3/8" blade. If modern replacement blades are fine, you can get Lee Valley's Veritas brand replacement blade, Lie Nielsen replacement blade, Hock, Tsunesaburo blue steel (my most favorite blade) replacement blade and so on.

As far as how you want to clean up your plane, it's hard to say what you can do since we don't know how much cleaning your plane is needed. If it looks like a ball of rust, you can try soaking it in vinegar, citric acid and another popular one is Evaporust (I haven't tried it since it's not available here). Basically you soak the plane (all parts separated) in one of these solutions, check periodically, give little brushing or rubbing to get rust off.

Another method done by many is electrolysis. I hear it's effective, you can do a search and find wealth of information on how to go about it. In fact, if you do a search on forum, you can find how to clean up most type of rust, dirt and gunk off a plane. So I recommend running a search first actually.

[steven c newman]

There are several "lots" on e-bay right now. I am willing to bet that one of the next posters to this thread will try to get you to buy a Hock ( or similar) iron. DON"T. You will wind up filing the mouth just to get a THICK iron that really you don't need. On a #6c I have just an old iron:SDC12858.jpgSeems to work just fine. Remember, a 606 is a FORE plane, not a smoother. You can plane down smoothly LARGE panels with a #6 sized plane, or just joint two edges for a glue-up. A #6 sized is also called a small jointer plane.

[Sam Takeuchi]

You will wind up filing the mouth just to get a THICK iron that really you don't need.

Not necessarily. Stanley was very inconsistent about mouth opening, some are wide enough to fit thicker replacement blade fine without any modification, some are already tight even with stock blade. It's incorrect and misleading to say you'll have to file the mouth to fit a replacement blade. This is regardless of which type. You can have the same model and same type of plane and can have different mouth size and fit.

Also vintage blades are very inconsistent in quality. Some are ok, nothing spectacular, but perfectly usable. Some are uselessly soft. Some people believes Stanley magically produced superior blades during SW era, but no, you can find plenty of dud SW blades as well as usable ones, as good as any other V logo or Pat'd blades. If your blade is bit on the soft side, you should get a replacement blade. The problem with buying vintage blade is that you are never sure what you are buying is one of the usable ones or duds.

[steven c newman]

I have found a couple of those "soft' irons, turns out someone else in a rush to sharpen them back up ( after hitting a nail, maybe??) Burnt the steel, taking all the temper out of the blade. I do indeed have a SW iron, but it is might pitted up. Will have to grind back to new steel. The iron I used on that #6c in the picture above? Something called a Eskilstuna GARANTI from Sweden. I have a Buck Brothers 2" iron in an old Parts planeSDC12856.jpgseems to do just fine...for $3

[Sam Takeuchi]

That should be a VERY good blade. If it has a shark logo, that's a Berg. I'm not familiar with all the Eskilstuna blade makers, but there were few back in the days. Either way, blades from there are some of the bestmsteels around. If no one bugger it up before it got to you, it should be a wonderful blade to work with.

Softness of blade doesn't necessarily come from drawing temper out of the blade by accident. You can get new old stock blade and still can have duds. This is my opinion that blade is something Stanley didn't put too much effort on, as ironic as it seems (since that's the most important thing in a plane after all).

[steven c newman]

Got the Shark logo-ed iron in a trade for a Stanley with just the Pat.date stamp. He needed an older 2-1/4" wide iron, I needed another 2-3/8" wide iron. The KK7 now has a SW iron, the rebuilt #6c has a "shark" iron. I have been on a re-building craze lately. SDC12853.jpgas I have been cooped up in the house. might as well do something with all them parts...

[lowell holmes]

I have Hock irons in 604, 605, & 607 Bedrocks. I did file the mouth on the 604, but the other two are just fine as I recieved them.

The 604 was used yesterday and is still a very very good smoother.

Filing the 604 mouth was not a traumatic experience and did not take long. The mouth didin't need much filing.

[Jim Koepke]

I have Hock irons in 604, 605, & 607 Bedrocks. I did file the mouth on the 604, but the other two are just fine as I recieved them.

The 604 was used yesterday and is still a very very good smoother.

Filing the 604 mouth was not a traumatic experience and did not take long. The mouth didin't need much filing.

Just to add my2¢ Two Cents.jpg:

One of my #6s has a tight mouth even with a Stanley blade. The other #6 has a Hock blade and a tight mouth that tends to choke with shavings thicker than ~.010".

The iron around the mouth is soft and cuts fast so be careful if you don't want a "big mouth" plane.

jtk

[John Schumer]

Thanks for the help thus far everyone!
Turns out the #606 Bedrock is going to be for parts, as after closer inspection the plane
was broken in half around the mouth at some point in time and welded together!
I also picked up:Stanley Bailey # 8 / Stanley # 6 which says Wards Master on it? and a Millers Falls # 90 in box!
I will take some photos this evening and upload.
Thanks,
John