Stanley Type 46 Restoration

[mahking51]

Hi All
Further to the moderately successful results of re nickel plating some old bits and pieces I had lying around I have decided to renovate a sad old Type 46 that I have to its former glory.
This puts aside any issues about the rights and wrongs of doing this, The plane is in such a sad state that I think it is OK.

First thing was to take it all apart:

In actual fact the pics make it look better than it is, most of the plating is gone and what remains is loose and flaky; the skate is quite rusty but not badly pitted. Whole thing is thick with hard grease deposits and old resin. The woodwork however is in good shape and will need careful treatment to keep it that way.

Obviously the totes have to come off and the front is no problem but the rear one is pinned from one side only:

Following the helpful info provided by the nice people on here I used the links to research a good way to do this removal and the best method seemed to be by drilling from the blind side and punching out the pin. This filled me with trepidation but by using a small square and ruler and taking my time I made the potentially fatal centre punch on the other side to the pin.

Now comitted, I used a 1/8 drill to try and find the pin and managed to hit it after going in about 1/8.
Making sure that there was plenty of support on the pin side I used a 1/8 drift to tap out the pin:

The pin came out OK with no breakout.
This just left the handle tightly on the stock and me not sure whether it was glued as well! However a few light taps with a copper hammer and off came the handle, thankfully in one piece!

I will probably just use paste wax and 0000 steel wool on the woodwork to remove the grime but do not want to lose the very faint Trauts Patent stamp.
All metal parts will now get a long soak in thinners to loosen grease etc then will have a better look.
I will keep you all posted as it goes along.
Regards
Martin

 

[Chris Knight]

Martin,
Good work there and thanks for researching that bit of lore concerning the pin. I wonder, knowing the pin's length now, how far into the wooden grip does it penetrate?

Should look great when you have plated it.

 

[mahking51]

I did read somewhere during my research that there was some greaseproof paper like material in the handle slot before the handle went on and sure enough the handle shows the remains of some paper like material at the top and bottom where it was concealed by the metal stock.
I can also now rear the stamp properly:
TRAUTS PATENT MARCH 4.76(or78)
Regards
Martin

 

[Scrit]

Hi Martin

According to Walters Guide the patent date would be 4th March, 1873 (3.4.73 in US terms). USatent # 136,469.

Scrit

 

[mahking51]

Scrit
Could easily be a 3, very hard to make out even under a good lens. Just the last unit is almost unreadable.
Many Thanks
martin

 

[Scrit]

If you'd like a bit more info about the #46, take a look at Patrick's Blood and Gore. If you are missing cutters I know that St. James's Bay Tool Co. do some replacement parts for the #46 as well as sets of cutters, albeit $110.00 for a full set (these tools ALWAYS lose their cutters for some reason - maybe because they weren't sold in a wooden box like the #45/55s).

Are you intending to replate it?

Scrit

 

[mahking51]

Scrit
Yes, the idea is to have it re nickeled with the proper surfaces also being repolished.
I am looking into getting some cutters made but may end up going the Syt James route as the cutters have an odd profile and are not straight forward to fabricate, requiring a lot of time (= money!).
I will then make a nice fitted box for the plane and cutters to keep them together.
Hope you approve as its a bit of a dodgy area! :roll:
Regards
Martin

 

[bugbear]

This filled me with trepidation but by using a small square and ruler and taking my time I made the potentially fatal centre punch on the other side to the pin.

To locate the pin hole, the engineering approach would be as follows:

1) clamp the tool to a more-or-less rectilinear object. An engineer would likely use a 1-2-3 block, or an angle plate. Woodworkers might use a turning blank

2) stand the composite plane/block on a flat surface; engineers would use a surface plate, we'll use a bench top (power tool users can use their jointer)

3) establish the height of the pin above the reference plane using a surface gauge. If you don't have a surface gauge, improvise with scrap wood and clamps and nails...

4) mark a line at the height of the pin on the other side of the handle using the surface gauge (on a piece of masking tape, if you don't wan to mark the wood).

5) turn the composite plane/block so it rests on a surface more or less perpendicular to the first one

6) repeat steps 4 and 5

The pin position is marked where the 2 height lines cross.

This procedure is monumentally accurate, even when performed with improvised versions of the engineer's tools.

I often use scribing gauges in conjunction with my bench top; they allow some otherwise difficult marking operations to be done easily. Even a basic gauge is most helpful, but fancy "universal" scribing gauges are cheap on the s/h market.

Names: "surface gauge" = "scribing gauge" = "scribing block"

BugBear (who has a couple)

 

[mahking51]

BB
Nice one, a better solution than mine. I relied on check, check and check again!
martin

 

[bugbear]

The most ludicrous (and yet sensible...) thing I ever used a scribing gauge for was marking a kindling chopping block, made from (of course) a log.

I had a large (16" diameter, 20" long) log from my firewood supplier. He had sawn it with a chainsaw. While the 2 ends were flat they were NOT parallel, so that when the log was placed on the ground, the upper surface was not level, which is not ideal for kindling chopping.

So I need to mark and saw one end parallel w.r.t the other.

Since the log was both uneven, and "skewed" a marking gauge or a ruler was going to avail me nothing.

Given the thread we're in, you know the answer. I simply stood the log on the floor, set my scribing gauge to around 18", and scribed a line 18" from the floor all the way around the log.

Of course, since the log was standing on the floor on its lower surface, the scribed line was also 18" from the log's lower surface, ready for sawing. Perfect and easy.

But possibly an abuse of a Moore & Wright 24" stemmed, universal surface gauge with fine adjust

BugBear (big fan of the scribing gauge principle)

 

[MikeW]

Great job, Martin!

Can't wait to see it replated--she'll be nice looking.

Take care, Mike

 

[Waka]

Martin

Glad you got the handle off ok, it'll look nice when its finished.