Stanley refurb.

[MIGNAL]

Thought I would post a pic of my refurbished Stanley No 4. Came to me gratis but in a fairly sorry state. Seems to fall into the Type 16/17 category and has the 'I' shaped frog receiver. The original blade was the thinnest I have come across on any Bailey type plane and had a 1946 stamp with the usual Stanley inscription on the reverse.
Those with a keen eye may have noticed the Sorby laminated cast blade, full 4mm thick at the cutting end. No chitter chatter with that serious piece of steel. Obviously the cap iron needed the soldering treatment to enable a blade of that thickness to marry with the Stanley adjustment mechanism, that and some serious filing at the front of the planes mouth. Replacement totes are Bubinga. Casting has been sprayed with matt Black engine enamel, hardly historically correct but once it is fully cured it really is a very durable finish.
I've just about gone as far as I can with this particular plane, nothing much left to fettle. Works extremely well, even if I do say so myself.

 

[Philly]

Can't see the picture Mignal :?
You got me drooling, though!
Philly

 

[woodbloke]

Got me drooling too as well....very nice - Rob

 

[humanfish]

Wow
that look's really smart
did it take many man hrs?

 

[Evergreen]

MIGNAL

Well, I never thought I'd say this of a Stanley #4 but ... it's beautiful! All your efforts have been well rewarded.

Regards.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Looks beautiful. 8)

Did you make the totes or were they bought in?

 

[CarlC]

That`s what i used today at Carpentry.In my post " first day at Carpentry today" that`s the tool i was on about.
For some reason it wouldn`t cut the timber to smooth the wood..

 

[David C]

Fine job,

David

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

looks great!
I really like the matt black finish on the body of the plane, very classy

 

[MIGNAL]

The plane was fettled over a number of months, whenever I had a bit of free time I'd work at it. It's very difficult to say exactly how long it took but if you multiplied the man hours by a half decent hourly rate you would probably have your head in a LN catalogue pronto. However, starting off with a decent example in the first place would save many hours, just make sure the Totes are in good condition!
Bedding the frog can be a bit of a nightmare. Files and abrasive papers tend to round things over making a goog fit virtually impossible. I made myself an engineers scraper and did the final fitting using fine valve grinding paste. Hours of fun.

 

[David C]

Mignal,

As you discovered, filing is a very dangerous way to try to seat frogs, (unless the errors are very large indeed, and you are very skilled with a file).

Engineer's scraper and grit is much safer, it rarely takes us more than an hour or two, to go from the frequently found 5% contact to 90 or even 100% contact.

David

 

[David C]

oops

 

[Fecn]

Looks like you've done a lovely job... If I can get the plane I'm (very slowly) cleaning up to look like that I'll be very happy.

 

[Amateurrestorer]

Great plane ,nice job ,just a question your new / old blade is a sorby ,is'nt the hole for the cap iron screw at the top, you must have a way of getting round this or do they just go together like the Stanley ones. I have some old blades and would be keen to try to adapt one of my planes to this spec.Cheers.

 

[MIGNAL]

You are quite right in that the hole is at the opposite end to a modern Stanley blade but the hole does not present the problem. It's not even necessary on a modern blade because the slot is wide enough to clear the head of the cap iron screw. What you will probably discover is that the slot in a blade like the Sorby is not wide enough to clear the head. My approach was to widen the slot by filing it where the steel is soft and using a round mini grindstone where the steel is hardened. On my Sorby I only had to do a little with the grindstone - just enough to clear the screw head to facilitate removal of the blade. Much of this depends on how much wear the old blade has had. On a blade with a decent amount of wear you may not need the grindstone.