Edward Preston 1397P Router Recast restoration

[adidat]

so i bought this last sunday and it was screwed to a piece of beech, thus usually meaning the router had been dropped and shattered and screwed down to make it usable again.

i was a brave soldier and unscrewed it. to my pleasant surprise it stayed in one piece, spent about 30 minutes with a bit of wire wool and oil cleaning of the crud to find this.

and if you look really closely, the ep mark can be seen

what it should look like

so a few minutes on the internet lead me to this on the fantastic hyper kitten website, i believe this is the image from the catalogue.

and then some further research led me to WK fine tools and Frank Scronce's very in-depth small router plane study, to find images of the real deal showing how it can be used 2 ways.

.

so this has inspired me to restore my one. so i need to make the handles source the bolts and source and cutter (the hard part i fear :evil: :evil: ).

heres a WIP on making the handles. for something this special i felt boxwood was my only choice and i had a lovely piece and i was itching to use it my mind was set.

mounted in the lathe

WOW! boxwood is amazing to turn it just peels off and the finish left is superb!

then i pared off my handle sections

the 2 handles waiting to be drilled and tapped

tapping them (the chuck is being hand spun)

im now drilling some brass rod to make the ferule/separator

to get both pieces the same lengths i have locked of the lathes saddle and just using the cross slide to cut the required length as the pieces where so short (11mm) i inserted a thin piece of metal for a depth stop. remember to remove this piece before engaging the clutch as it could fly out and hit the opposite wall .

cutting the thread on the spindle

all the components before the glue up, im using the original araldite

all glued and clamped up

im going to leave that until tomorow and start experimenting with my granddads rather alien looking home-made ball turning tool.

sorry for the cruddy pics i was doing it in the metal shop with poor light but i think you can get the gist.

enjoy

adidat

 

[Evergreen]

Adidat

That is fantastic! I would have thought that old plane body was fit only for scap.

Looking foward to the completed project.

Evergreen

 

[Vann]

What Evergreen said =D>

Cheers, Vann.

 

[AndyT]

Nice one! It must feel good to get a usable Preston tool these days - eBay prices look as if there must be a lot of people out there trying to collect a full set of everything in the catalogue.

If you've not got a cutter sorted yet, the usual advice is to adapt an Allen Key (which can be excellent steel) but as you are in Somerset you could always drop into Bristol Design and see what Charles Stirling has got in his boxes of useful bits - in my experience he's a very good source of this sort of thing. (His little alleyway full of old stock plane irons is a sight to behold.)

 

[jimi43]

I just knew there was a treasure there mate!

Preston! Wow...brilliant...

Day by day the early bootfair foraging is putting pay to the scandalous rumours that bootfairs are a complete waste of time and populated by breast pumps and DVDs!

I must say I don't like the ball handles that Preston designed. I much prefer the "low knob" shape used on old Stanleys....but each to their own.

It is admirable to try to copy the original but you are going for box ( =D> ) which means it isn't going to be original anyway...your call...

Both are easily achieved by hand and eye...you know what you are doing for sure and if you don't fancy firing up the ball jig...just eye it.

Whatever you choose to do...please please please post some more pictures!

Wonderful stuff!

Jim

 

[No skills]

The allen key blade replacement is interesting, I've past over a few router planes of late due to them not having any blades with them

 

[adidat]

as to the blade i found the veritas small router plane blade is perfect. i was unsure of the shank diameter so i quick call to axy and an hour later an email back with every piece of info on the router cutter. its the perfect size excellent!

although i have been wanting to go to bristol design for AGESSSS!!!! and there a set of LV boules waiting for me in brizzol. but its about 50 miles i think and thats no fun on a 125cc, driving test on the 21st of November fingers crossed

adidat

 

[GazPal]

Lovely work and I'm looking forward to seeing the end results.

 

[adidat]

Thanks for all the comments guys im really enjoying doing the turning on the lathe, but i think the bal turning toll is abit of a non starter, my grandad cant remember how it works. He is 89 bless him!. So i think im going to try it on the milling machine. More pics to come

I must say I don't like the ball handles that Preston designed. I much prefer the "low knob" shape used on old Stanleys....but each to their own.

It is admirable to try to copy the original but you are going for box ( =D> ) which means it isn't going to be original anyway...your call...

Jim

As the router is made of bronze im not to worried about continuity, as im planning never to sell it and pass it on if i procreate i dont think it matters, but i like the look of the round knob sat on the brass ring.

Adidat

 

[LuptonM]

Looking at the plane it was probably screwed to a piece of wood to increase its surface area

 

[Vann]

Looking at the plane it was probably screwed to a piece of wood to increase its surface area

Wot? Ya mean like this then Gov...

:lol: Cheers, Vann.