Hand plane restoration

[Josh vincze]

Hoping to restore the following to working condition

Stanley no. 18 block plane "excelsior"

Winchester no. 3005

Bs2 Stanley Handyman

Stanley C557B

Fulton 15" wooden

Wards masters #6

Wood plane 26" I believe to be truly old. The iron is Baldwin Steel co. Cast Butchers

Are any of these worth more preserving then restoring. I would like to have quality hand planes without spending a fortune on a veritas or lie Nielsen. If I find that all parts can be honed then I plan on spending a good amount of time tuning, possibly all the way to a new paint job.

Any recommendation on where to source new irons and chip breakers?

If a wood plane has a check in it should I fill it with epoxy? Lots of minor cracks inside back/frog of wood plane, fill and smooth to fully support iron?

White vinegar bath or elbow grease for rust?

The handle on the Winchester has a crack; make a new one, purchase one or just leave it?

20200618_200308.jpg

[Nicholas Lawrence]

At one point Winchester stuff was hot as a collectors item. I think that has faded, but somebody else might know better. The rest of the metal planes are not anything rare or super collectible.

I would suggest trying them with the irons they came with. Unless you have pitting on the back, you should be able to get them working, and light pitting is really not the end of the world for a jack or fore plane. You really want a clean back for a smoother though.

The wooden plane looks good from what I can see. Clean it up and try it. My wooden jointer has lots of little cracks. They are stable and do not bother anything. If you have something bothering you, post a picture of it and somebody will be happy to offer advice.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Regarding your question on dating in the other thread: I am not an expert on that by any means, but would suggest looking for markings on the plane. Mine have makers marks, user marks (multiple generations worth) and it is interesting, and may help you date it if that is what you want to do.

[Jim Matthews]

FIRST - if a mechanism works without binding - wire brush cleaning and lubrication are enough.

***** DON'T HAMMER ON CAST IRON *****


I use three size planes regularly: a scrub plane, medium size jack and a try plane (for longer edges).

The third plane from the left in your photo is where I suggest you start. It is a useful size, and can be set up with a spare blade from the similar size rustier cousin to it's right in the picture.

Grind one of the blades with a slight camber for smoothing and one blade with an oval "fingernail" profile for scrubbing stock off, quickly.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Res...ge-hand-plane/

*****

While I prefer wood body planes, myself - they have particular geometries that must *all* function together for good results - save the plane for restoration, later.

The larger transitional plane with a metal assembly set into the wood base would be my suggestion for a try plane. The mechanism takes seasonal adjustments out of the picture, and wooden bases are easy to square and flatten on sandpaper.

https://www.timetestedtools.net/2016...onal-part-1-2/

[Jim Koepke]

Along with many other subjects there is a lot of information on plane restoration and rehabilitation in the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs >

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?103805

jtk

[Andrew Pitonyak]

As already stated, see if you really do need to replace a blade before you do. But, if you do...

Lee Valley sells blades and cap irons for block planes and standard planes. here are some links:

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop...ch-plane-blade
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop...ade-by-veritas
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop...ade-by-veritas

I recommend the PM-V11, I think it is the better steel, but, pick your favorite.

Hock tools sells planed blades (and similar) and they are available at lots of places, including from Lee Valley, here is a link to his site.
http://www.hocktools.com/products/bp.html

If you have a local woodcraft, you can go in person
https://www.woodcraft.com/categories...t-plane-blades


Rust Removal, well, I have a couple of things that I use for that. If you want to drop it in and just come back later, buy Evapo-Rust, it works great. Do not just dump it after you use it, it can remove a specific amount of rust before it is finished. You soak your parts, so buy enough to do that. They do have a gel that probably does not require soaking, but I have not tried it.

Before I was soaking things, I bought some "Krud Kutter" "The must for rust rust remover & inhibitor". I put some down, let it sit, then hit it with some steel wool as appropriate.

Best of luck.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Be aware that if you buy the lee valley replacements, you may have to modify the mouth of your plane to get it to work. Particularly if you intend to use the chipbreaker.

[Josh vincze]

Be aware that if you buy the lee valley replacements, you may have to modify the mouth of your plane to get it to work. Particularly if you intend to use the chipbreaker.

Thank you for this. I'm hoping a place like hock tools can help with this potential problem.

[Blake M Williams]

I love evaporust. Accidentally forgot about an iron in vinegar once and it ate it lol. I have some small plastic totes and keep each plane separate, one to each plastic box. All metal is taken apart, wire brushed to get loose rust off and submerged for a couple days. Longer if really bad. Knob and tote are on top of lid to keep from getting lost.

I like to buy rusty cheap planes when I find them. Best case I get a nice plane, worse case i get parts cheap.

[Jim Koepke]

Be aware that if you buy the lee valley replacements, you may have to modify the mouth of your plane to get it to work. Particularly if you intend to use the chipbreaker.

Thank you for this. I'm hoping a place like hock tools can help with this potential problem.

Many of the after market blades are thicker than the original blades. In many cases this can cause the mouth to be tight. This can vary by when the plane body was cast. My older planes tend to have tighter mouths than planes made around the beginning of the 1900s.

It may take a bit of light filing of the mouth to correct any problem encountered with a modern blade.

jtk

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Many of the after market blades are thicker than the original blades. In many cases this can cause the mouth to be tight. This can vary by when the plane body was cast. My older planes tend to have tighter mouths than planes made around the beginning of the 1900s.

It may take a bit of light filing of the mouth to correct any problem encountered with a modern blade.

jtk

When I get around to it I need to test this against my #8 plane. It probably means I will find someone else with an old #8 plane and try their blade in my plane to see how it works. If it works fine, I will either replace the Lie Nielsen blade that was placed in the plane before I bought it or file the mouth a little bit.

[Rick Whitehead]

In regard to their collectability, I don't see anything there that would be worth more to a collector than a user.
The Stanley no. 18 block plane isn't an "Excelsior " model. The "Excelsior" planes were the earliest ones,and they had a different-shaped body.
The Baldwin wooden jointer plane certainly looks usable,unless there are major cracks in it. In order to tell you more about it, I'd have to see the markings on the body and on the iron.
Like some others have said, you really don't need new irons and cap irons for all the planes, unless they turn out to be too pitted.
Rick W

[Josh vincze]

I know this is a difficult question but based on the picture would you say I'm wasting my time on any of them. The ultimate goal is to have a usable plane.

[steven c newman]

Happen to know where a #8 is sitting, right now....
Shop Tour 2020, BIG planes.JPG
That be a Stanley No. 5-1/2 sitting behind it.....

[steven c newman]

Depends on how much time and effort you want to expend.....they are all able to be made to work....