advice on cleaning / polishing lever cap on old planes..

[markturner]

as you may have noticed, I like to buy and restore ( and sometimes use...!) old planes. Now, some of them have quite bad condition lever caps, most are plated I think, and while some I have are pretty nice and come up well, others seem to have a rough surface where either the plating has worn away or corroded. These are very tricky to polish, and I wondered if anyone has any advice as to best method for restoration ? I can get the rest of the planes looking pretty nice, but these defeat me when in this condition.

cheers, Mark

 

[Racers]

Hi Mark

Two options 1, have it re-chromed 2, sand all the chrome off and polish.

The trouble is that both methods can make it look like its not part of the plane.

You could do a search on Ebay for the relevant cap, I found a Record 5 1/2 Stay Set cap for a reasonable price recently.

Pete

 

[AndyT]

It does depend a bit on whether you are talking about a valuable old plane which you want to look old but cared for; or a rusty lump that you want to look brand new again. Either way it needs a two part answer:

Part 1 - Stanley style nickel plated or chromed caps

If most of the chrome or nickel is still there, a good rub with chrome polish such as Autosol.
If it's still mostly plating but has some rust pits, gentle use of Micromesh lubricated with WD40.

If the plating has been replaced by rust, treat as other rusty metal - see https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/old-tool-cleaning-part-2-rust-removal-with-abrasives-t64233.html

Here's an example on a very old plane of a cap with no plating left but with the sort of fine surface you can get by careful use of abrasives, working through the grits. I think the lever cap looks in keeping with the rest of the plane.

Part 2 - Infill plane style brass or bronze lever caps

Don't use Brasso! To my eyes (and I am sure I am not alone in this) highly polished brass looks entirely wrong on an old tool.

So the rule is to go slowly and carefully.

You might just need to get the dirt off. Start with a soft cloth such as an old towel or t-shirt. If that's not enough, use some solvent (lighter fuel is good) with a rag or toothbrush.

If the brass is really tarnished, a gentle rub with either microcrystalline wax or Maas Polish can bring it back to life without making it look too new. More details and pictures here: https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/old-tool-cleaning-part-1-use-of-wax-t64195.html

 

[Vann]

Record used nickel plating from start of production in 1931 to WW2.
Due to nickel shortages, lever caps produced during the war were bare cast iron - possibly polished and lacquered (I think today's Clifton lever-caps are bare cast iron, but highly polished on some surfaces).
From ~the end of WW2 to 1956 Record used "an alternative Metal Plating" due to ongoing restrictions on the use of nickel.
From 1956 on their lever-caps were chrome plated.

I would guess that Stanley UK followed a similar line, although I've not heard of bare cast iron WW2 UK Stanley lever-caps (maybe they got stock in at the start of production in 1937 to see them through the war :duno: )

Cheers, Vann.

 

[custard]

Here's an example on a very old plane of a cap with no plating left but with the sort of fine surface you can get by careful use of abrasives, working through the grits. I think the lever cap looks in keeping with the rest of the plane.

That looks sublime, far nicer than chrome!

 

[Scouse]

Here's an example on a very old plane of a cap with no plating left but with the sort of fine surface you can get by careful use of abrasives, working through the grits. I think the lever cap looks in keeping with the rest of the plane.

I would guess that Stanley UK followed a similar line, although I've not heard of bare cast iron WW2 UK Stanley lever-caps (maybe they got stock in at the start of production in 1937 to see them through the war :duno: )

Out of curiosity did Stanley, US examples at least, plate their lever caps at all pre-War? None of mine, dating from a type 10 (1907-09) to an early type 16 (1933 ish) show any signs of having been plated, although the no8 is polished:




As to the original question, I have found that if the rot has set in underneath the plating on old Records, the only way is to take it all off and go from there; the last couple I have worked on have seen the plating peel off almost in one piece, even where it seemed untouched by underlying rust.

El.

 

[markturner]

Hi fellas, thanks for the tips. Most of the caps on planes I have restored have been smooth and polish up nicely, even if they retain the dark patina of age, but a coupel have this rough to the touch feel and when you try and polish with abrasive paper or wet and dry, you get this kind of blackish surface, see below:





I am not sure whether these just need extra hard polishing, they are not chrome plated, what do you think? The plane on the left is one of mine with the usual lever cap, nice and smooth and just needed a quick going over to bring out the shine. The others, , well you can see how they look .

 

[AndyT]

If you want the two on the right to look as tidy as the one on the left I suggest you first remove the rust in citric acid and then work up through the grades of Micromesh or ordinary wet and dry, lubricated with WD40. Then finish off with Autosol on a bit of coarse rag.

The Bedrock one might be ok with just the Autosol.

 

[markturner]

Thanks, any idea what the black rough surface deposit is and is caused by? Does the one with the orange logo look like it was plated at some time?

 

[AndyT]

Thanks, any idea what the black rough surface deposit is and is caused by? Does the one with the orange logo look like it was plated at some time?

I think the answers are rust, caused by damp and yes, Nickel plated but I'm not a metallurgist and am open to correction.

 

[Richard T]

Those two caps certainly look like they are Nickel plated. That's what it looks like to nickel plate a rough casting without finishing it first. And I assume that the black stuff is ground Nickel, Iron, rust and odd bits of abrasive.

It's a very complicated shape to finish so I guess either a Nickel or Chrome plate is a much cheaper way to have a finish of sorts. As we all know, neither does much of a good job at rust prevention so to get rid and finish the cap yourself would be just doing what the factory could never afford to do.

My #5 jack has the mottled chrome effect that I have so far done nothing about but when I am using it, I'm standing behind it and can't see it.

I would have no qualms about stripping the lot off though and maintain a light oiling.