Plane Finish

[antman]

Hi all,

I have picked up an old No. 4 plane of unknown brand (but it was my father-in-laws grandfather's so it is old!) and am just cleaning it up. I have removed the very bad black paint and some light surface rust from the body of the plane and am now wondering what the best way to finish it is. Should it be painted or just a light coat of oil? The base (sorry for the lack of technical terms here) also has some scratches that are't deep but are there. Should I aim to polish these out as I think they would come out with some serious lapping.

Any advice welcomed!
Anthony

[derekcohen]

Anthony

By all means restore your heirloom #4 - it will make it all the more pleasurable to use.

The plane should be tuned (this is covered elsewhere on this Forum. Check out the Archives.

Lap the sole until it is completely flat. Do this up to 360 grit at least (I usually aim for 600 grit). Note - leave the frog and blade (retracted) in when you do this.

You can lap the sides as well - not necessary but it looks good.

There are two ways of refinishing the paint work:
(1) Scrape off all remaining paint and respray with an epoxy (cans are good). Do not try to just touch up the bare areas or spray over chips - it will show up later and look terrible. Build up several layers since the original finish is much thicker than the painted finish would be.

(2) Replace the original finish. Do it in the traditional manner, that is Jappan it. This is a very tough finish. Go to the following website for directions: http://home.attbi.com/~elmorain/JapanningRecipe.htm

Regards from Perth

Derek

[silentC]

Just on lapping the sides, when I tuned my No. 4 I found that one of the sides was slightly out of square. It might be worth checking that and if it's not square, you can true it up by lapping it with the sole held against the fence on your table saw (actually I used my drop saw fence). If it's not square it wont be any good to use with a shooting board or a fence.

[Darwin]

Antman,

Also check the blade thoroughly for pitting, damage, warping, and that there's enough left to be useful.

Although old blades are usually good quality, it may be better to replace it - depending on your budget and desires, Record ones (sold as replacement blades through many of the dedicated woodworking shops) are a good option (a #4 balde may be $40-50) or else really good ones by Academy Saws or similar (advertise in the woodwork mags).

Derek,

Out of interet, have you tried the Jappaning receipe/method on the link you provided? And if so, where did you get the ashphaltum? I have a couple of old planes I wouldn't mind trying it on.

Regards,

Darren

[Eastie]

Darwin,
Asphaltum is available from most good artist suppliers (if they don't have it they should be able to order it off their suppliers stock list). Costs around $7 for a small tin (about half a cup). It's also useful in it's use as an "ageing" agent for timber.
I've used a similar recipe and after one trial stuff up I managed to get it right and ended up with a very good finish on an old stanley #4 1/2

Regards,
Eastie :)

[Sharpie]

I have found the best way to flatten and fix the sole of the plane and sides is the mount 360 grit paper with double sided tape on top of a flat piece of glass. Check and make sure that your plate of glass is flat before starting

:)

[fxst]

if its not hammer or plane it flat
sorry couldnt resist :D

[derekcohen]

Sharpie

Sorry mate. 360 grit may not be coarse enough to begin if you need to remove much metal, and I'd avoid double-sided tape (will cause a ridge under the sandpaper).

You may just get away with 360 grit, but if you have a lot to do, begin with 80 grit and work your way up to 600 grit. Make sure you remove the scratches from the preceding grit before you move on.

To stick wet-and-dry to glass you can just wet it (not the most secure, but quick) or glue it on with contact glue. Remember, the paper must be flat - first check that the glass is flat.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Eastie]

After a bit of investigation on a couple of planes I inherited I found the soles were not flat. This had me a bit perplexed as these particular planes are guaranteed flat by the manufacturer (I checked the names on the planes more than once to make sure they were spelt correctly). After discussing this with my father I found that the cause was regular removal of rust with a fairly small bench stone - causing some dishing out that, whilst not major, soon showed up when I honed the sole. I'm led to believe this was a fairly common practice?

[antman]

Thank you everyone that replied.

Unfortunantly one of the 'scratches' turned out to be a crack in the base that was quite obvious once the paint and rubbish were removed on the top. It is very fine to start with but if you lean on the base it flexes very slightly. I have also asked around a few woodworking teacher friends and the consensus is that the plane is very cheap and lacks the quality of even a modern day stanley. It must have taken a fair knock to crack it. Bugger.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

Not so cheers
Anthony:(