First time plane restoration

[Tom Porter]

I just picked up a lot of 3 planes: a no 3 I believe is a Defiance plane, a Millers Falls no 9 (I think a type 2, though that's a guess) and a Stanley no 5 type 5 (I'm pretty sure about the type here due to more than one helpful website). They all are in need of some degree of restoration. The Millers Falls is by far the worst condition, thought mainly as a result of rust. The Defiance is in pretty good shape, though with a fair degree of pitting on the sole (I also realize this is not a particularly good plane even in great condition. The Stanley has some rust and the tote is split (but very cleanly so that will repair easily). I've very little experience with planes in general and this will be my first attempt to restore one. Luckily, I can start with the Defiance and the Millers Falls to learn a little before I get to the Stanley, which is the one I am most interested in for likely obvious reasons.

I've watched a plethora of restoration videos online so far and learned a lot. Some use solvents to remove rust, some wire brushes or wire wheels on a bench grinder or a combination of those techniques. I think asking for opinions about what technique is best or easiest may be too broad considering the vast knowledge base on this forum so I thought I would narrow my focus to this: I'm less concerned with doing a mediocre job than I am with really screwing it up. Is there anything I should avoid to really making a hash of this as a novice?

I'm not looking for perfection in the restoration by any stretch. I want to make them into something I can use and learn with in my shop (with the understanding that the Defiance might have innate limitations).

[Scott Winners]

You will get a host of responses for sure in a mater of hours. Jim K (Koepke?) has an excellent thread on plane restoration that should be in the sticky threads section at the top of the Neanderthal forum area.

The main thing I think is to not try to file the sole. Just sand the sole until you have a mostly shiny surface and don't worry about whatever pits show up. Just get most of the rust off the bottom and run the plane on some construction lumber scraps. You vcan always go back and do more work later.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Pictures would be nice. When I got my first plane, Harry Strasil suggested a simple cleaning, sharpen the blade and take it for a test drive. I believe Rob Luter's signature (Sharp solves all manner of problems) is a pretty good axiom. Old irons usually are easy to sharpen, and frequently have plenty of life in them. If you can get a good fit with the cap iron, a flat back on the iron, a good bedding on the frong, and a sharp edge, you are well on your way to a well tuned plane. If you haven't seen Garret Hack's Finewood Working video on tuning an old hand plane, I think it is worth a watch.

[Jim Koepke]

The old post of mine Scott mentioned is here > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?114373

To see the images you will have to become a contributor ($6 for a year). You might get some information from reading the text.

If nothing else the Defiance plane might make a good scrub plane. A cheap one came my way years ago. It did a decent job of shaving wood.

If you need to remove rust there are many choices. Wire wheel, abrasive paper and chemical. Most large grocery stores carry a strong vinegar in the cleaning supply aisle. That is a mild chemical for removing rust by soaking in a bath for a few hours. Another mild acid is citric acid, available in powder form from wine making supply stores. One person here claimed to use a dry powder lemon aide mix for the citric acid source.

The sure indicator for a type 5 Stanley/Bailey plane is the lateral adjuster is bent upward where it engages with the blade. After that, 1988, the lateral adjuster had a disk to engage the blade.

This may also be helpful > https://www.finewoodworking.com/memb.../011172036.pdf

You may have to start here if that page doesn't load > https://www.finewoodworking.com/proj...dplane-tune-up

jtk

[steven c newman]

Stanley Defiance planes...in a #3 size...
Rust Hunting, Stanley Defiance plane.JPG
What I started with...then tear down...
The NEW belt.JPGAnd give the flat sole a ride on this...everything else was cleaned with a brass wire wheel..
Work-in-progress, Parts.JPG
Getting there..chipbreaker was next,,,and then it was mated to the iron, once the iron's back was flat.
Work-in-progress, sole.JPG

The "bad"part of one of these models...there is NO modern replacement irons/chipbreakers....
Work-in-progress, insides.JPG
There is also no frog to mess with....insides were cleaned up with a brass wire brush, and then an oily cheap paint brush. Front knob is a replacement...
Work completed, front.JPG
As I do have another #3 sized Defiance.
Work completed, rehab done.jpg
Completed clean up...

[Tom Porter]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll post pictures soon (I've not been a contributor but will now. I'm not very active here and didn't realize the ins and outs or that it was only $6).

As to the No 5, Jim's info has me confused a bit. The plane does have the wheel on the lateral adjuster, so I watched a video on identifying types 5-8. It has the screw hole on the back of the frog and an S stamp on the back of the frog as well, and the plate for the frog on the sole does have the grooves. According to the video, these are indicative of a type 7. However, the lateral adjuster only has 2 patent dates that I can see, whereas the type 7 should have 3. I suppose the lateral adjuster could have been replaced (?) but it doesn't look like it (not that I have any idea if I would be able to tell, to be fair.) Also, the video indicated that there are some discrepancies between the two sources I used to identify it as a type 5 initially and that the definitive source (according to the video anyway) had done the typing based on the no 4 planes and there might be differences with other sizes.

The type/age of the plane is pretty much a point of curiosity. My goal is to restore it to a plane I can use; the age and type only matter in so far as I don't want to mess with anything hyper rare, which this certainly doesn't appear to be.

[Jim Koepke]

Tom, the old RexMill site with a type study is gone but available as an archive > https://web.archive.org/web/20191222...ing/typing.htm

The levers will look different if it is a type 5 that was used at the factory to make the type with a disk that would be an oddity.

The type 5 lateral lever looked like this:

Type 5 lateral lever.jpg

Please forgive the poor quality of image it was taken from the type study. Notice how the patent dates run parallel above and below the Stanley name.

A type 6 or 7 lateral lever would look like this:

Plane Beauty.jpg

I have also seen it with the impression running in the opposite direction.

Yours could be a weak impression or it could be an oddity as mention earlier.

The S foundry mark is usually associated with a type 7.

jtk

[Marc Fenneuff]

I can help you type the Millers Falls but I don't know about the others. I prefer to only:

clean
mitigate rust
hone the iron & dress the chipbreaker

Then see if it can be adjusted to take a nice shaving. If further attention is needed I may flatten the sole. I avoid chemical strippers or harsh solvents.
Rob Porter on YouTube has a pretty detailed video showing how to safely clean a vintage plane.

[steven c newman]

There were two Millers Falls Type 2s....one from before WW2, and about 1946 or so, a second Type 2 came along....Type 3 was during the war years.

Type 4 was the LAST of the good Premium planes....do NOT bother with any Type 5s ( IF you see phillip's headed bolts, turn and walk away..fast)

The Defiance planes that I know about....the "weird" version that I have...and the 1950s era that look almost like a Handyman plane ( along with a Victor model)

[Jack Dover]

This really depends on what kind of restoration you have in mind. Some people like restoring it to a "better than new" condition, some people (like me) restore to a "working condition".

All the methods you have mentioned works, just keep in mind that chemical rust removal and wire brushing leave a distinct surface that looks chemically treated or brushed. It doesn't affect functionality in any way, but if that bothers you then mechanical abrading is the way to go. A little scraper to remove as much loose rust as possible, then hand sanding in a direction to blend scratch pattern with factory mill\abrasion marks. With certain practice and a good judgement when selecting of a plane it looks like it has never rusted.

Since this is your first restoration I'd join the advice above to restore it to a working state first. You can always take it a few steps further once it's working. This assumes de-rusting a blade and sharpening it, lapping a sole a bit (a whole subject on itself) and cleaning the bed. Even when the rest of the plane is badly rusted - it still going to work well, after that it's just making sure it doesn't mar the wood. Once you get it working it's up to you what to do next: re-painting, re-finishing totes, polishing or even restoring chrome plating.

[Scott Clausen]

This can be kind of like asking for the best sharpening system (don't go there). Anyway There are two schools of thought starting out.
Shiny or patina? A user can be either one.
I would disassemble and clean first with soap and water to see if any Japanning is salvageable.
If not I would pick a blog or video on steps to de-rust and rehab to a level you like. Sansoo22 on Lumber Jocks has a good one that I used but there are good ones here too. If you are going to flatten and shine the sole you may want to go dumpster diving a a Granite countertop shop, a long piece of back splash with varying grits of adhesive sand paper do well. Good luck

[Chuck Hill]

Tom, the old RexMill site with a type study is gone but available as an archive > https://web.archive.org/web/20191222...ing/typing.htm

Off topic, but do you have any idea of what happened to Johnny?

[Jim Koepke]

Off topic, but do you have any idea of what happened to Johnny?

Not a clue. He used to be a member here. It looks like his last post was in 2017.

jtk