Hand Plane Restoration

[Mark18PLL]

Hi, I purchased a Stanley no 4 plane a while back to restore and for personal use. I have searched the forum and also watched Paul Sellers you tube but still have a few questions.

The Tote and knob, I was looking to just clean this up and use Liberon SS250 Sanding Sealer. As for the body, I know many would not bother but I would like to give this a coat of something but don't really want to try re Japanning, it was suggested to use Duplicolor DE-1635 semi gloss enamel engine paint but use the Duplicolor primer first but I can't get the in the uk.

Any other tips would be most welcome but I suspect removing rust etc is just going to require some graft, unless someone has any suggestions.

On another note, I am also looking for a jointer plane (no 7) for flattening pieces and would like to get an old Stanley and restore aswell, would you recommend a particular model? they seem to be a little more difficult to check if they were the later models.

Thanks

Mark

 

[Spectric]

Have you tried Frost , Frost Auto Restoration Techniques | High Quality Tools & Equipment they do all sorts of stuff for car restoration so they may have stuff for your woodworking plane .

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Search for electrolysis for the rust removal.

 

[Ollie78]

I restored an irwin no 5 and used a spray enamel, it was a very good colour match to the irwin blue and has proven very durable. I got it from B and q and it was a mini spray can. Did 3 coats.

Ollie

 

[pe2dave]

I used blue garage door paint? Looks fair.
This after totally stripping and treating the rust.

 

[Orraloon]

I used black spray enamel over a metal primer. Got both a hardware store.

15 years and the paint is still fine.
Regards
John

 

[D_W]

I no longer have any planes that I sprayed, so I can't give you any input other than high solids paints here used for engines look OK. they are enamels. There are clears that are two parts, and it's possible that one comes in black, but you want to be spraying them near *nothing* where the overspray matters because it's no like an aerosolized one part paint - the droplets will land on something 20 feet away, are still wet and then they will cure like epoxy and not even come off of glass easily.

If you paint, don't sweat the details too much - remove the japanning with a stripper, get as much active rust off as you can, make sure the surface is oil free and prime and paint or just paint. Paint will never be durable like japanning to things like accidentally touching the side of the plane with the corner of a blade - that's the drawback.

The two part can paint I mentioned (US2K) also has isocyanates in it - it's bad news health wise and should never be sprayed inside no matter what. If it's sold there, I'd be a little surprised. But it's sold at retail here online, and I'm a little surprised about that, too. It's the only durable consumer paint that I've ever found, though.

 

[Mark18PLL]

Would hammerite metal paint do?

 

[D_W]

Would hammerite metal paint do?

SDS seems similar to regular paints sold here in the US with a mix of solvents (the mix probably to control drying time and how much he paint lays out) and chemicals to neutralize rust.

I'd imagine that the durability will be similar to most other paints - maybe they do something to make the paint cure a little softer to resist showing spectacular scratches.

That said, it's paint, so you can redo it later if you need to - it doesn't need to be perfect.

Dead bare casting with very thin coat of super blonde or clear shellac is also not that bad of a look. I don't think anything will match japanning, though, two part durable (and toxic) paints aside.

 

[pe2dave]

Would hammerite metal paint do?

Yes. Works fine, if the bare metal is prepared.

 

[Owd Jockey]

I've done a few No. 4's a 5 and a 7. My favourite is the No6 Stanley Bailey circa 1899. I tried to keep as much as the original patina as possible, but I had to enter the 'murky' world of Japanning to get the look of the bed. There are a number of 'recipes' on the net for the Japanning mixture and how you bake the plane. I shot blasted the bed of the plane to get a good surface. At the core of the mixture is Asphaltum, which is easy to get. I used the kitchen oven for the baking, this was a three stage process of increased times and temperatures. I was pleased with the final Japanning result, but to be quite honest, you could get a similar result using some of the methods described in others posts.

The Tote was split which I easily repaired and the Knob was good. I only applied a gentle wax to the wood as I wanted to preserve the name of a previous owner/user faintly embossed on the Tote. The Sole and sides , did not require a great deal of work to remove the odd bit of rust and to remove any high spots on the Sole. I preserved all of my planes exposed metal with Renaissance Wax.

More importantly I use this No6 whenever I can, after all, its a hand tool and needs using. It also makes me feel privileged to handle the tool and think about those long gone who used this beautiful plane.

 

[pe2dave]

More importantly I use this No6 whenever I can, after all, its a hand tool and needs using. It also makes me feel privileged to handle the tool and think about those long gone who used this beautiful plane.

That made me smile. Just how I feel when I pick up an 'owd tool and use it. Yes, privilege is the right word.

 

[Mark18PLL]

Thanks everyone for the help and tips, it gives me some ideas of how to tackle this and I'm quite looking forward to the challenge. I also just purchased a Stanley no 7 which will also get a fettle.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Ttrees]

l

Thanks everyone for the help and tips, it gives me some ideas of how to tackle this and I'm quite looking forward to the challenge. I also just purchased a Stanley no 7 which will also get a fettle.

Cheers
Mark

Don't copy those methods in Seller's videos for lapping that long plane whatever you do!
You will make that plane thin on the ends (toe and heel) if you need to do anything more than 5 rubs on a large abrasive.
See the thread from a few days ago about lapping planes.

On a large lapping surface w/ abrasive, note that you cannot remove any warpage/wear in the centre of a plane, without also unwantingly removing material from both toe and heel.
Colour in the toe heel with marker and see for yourself.

If you believe the scratch pattern from the get go, and see shining on toe and heel,
that doesn't mean that it actually is out of flat, as abrasion on a lap favours the perimeter.
Better to check on a very clean plate or whathave you, which hopefully is available while you work!

Make it flat first, then lap to whatever tolerance you wish.
This will save you abrasive, energy, time and by far the most important,
and the reason of my post, and that is material.

All the best
Tom

 

[sploo]

Evaporust is excellent for removing rust (and very safe). Black Hammerite spray is fine for the body too - though give it a few days to harden.

Sanding sealer or (better) some proper shellac is fine for the handles. You can mix a bit of Fiebing's brown leather dye into shellac if you want to darken the wood (no need if it's an old plane with rosewood handles though).

If you sand the body to flatten it do get some oil or wax on it sharpish, as they tend to flash rust quite quickly.

 

[Mark18PLL]

Evaporust is excellent for removing rust (and very safe). Black Hammerite spray is fine for the body too - though give it a few days to harden.

Sanding sealer or (better) some proper shellac is fine for the handles. You can mix a bit of Fiebing's brown leather dye into shellac if you want to darken the wood (no need if it's an old plane with rosewood handles though).

If you sand the body to flatten it do get some oil or wax on it sharpish, as they tend to flash rust quite quickly.

Cheers, I actually ordered some citric acid and its currently sat in a bath, lets see how it comes out but it was much much cheaper than evaporust.