Thread: Help please with hand plane restoration

Originally Posted by Pac man

Can I get some assistance please with this plane resto. I follow the process described in Major Panics slides. As you can see it has brown staining on it. Would you normally remove this before refinishing and if so how?

assuming that the brown stain is rust i'd use electrolysis. do a google search for electrolysis rust removal. works very well, gets rid of all of the rust and doesn't affect the metal at all.

assuming you've already stripped the japanning off, the brown staining could be some flash rust. Using a good primer under the new coat of varnish will solve every doubt.

or maybe a rub of ballistol or similar will leave a more vintage surface... very cool looking in my opinion.

This stain or rust is post electrolysis including the removal of all Japanning. I didnt really want to do this but the previous owner had slapped paint over everything including brass and nickel plated surfaces and over the original japaning.

The mark on the front does not dissapear with a further go in the bath. the marks around the pitting do so its probabaly" flash rust"

If your worried I'd give it a lash with paint stripper & see how it goes.
I tend to; remove lose japaning, use electrolysis (day 1), wash clean, heat the body to remove any moisture, handle with gloves & spray as soon as possible (day 2).
This seems to keep any 'flash' rust at bay.

Ciao,
that rust seems to me caused by a poor washing and heating after electrolysis process. You could try to use a metal wire brush for remove it and WD-40 for inhibiting its reformation before re-japanning the plane.

I'd be concerned about wd inhibiting the japanning adhering. but then, me, I'd probably use paint. pull it out of the electrolysis tank, scrub it down, rinse it in HOT water, towel it off, use the blow gun to get water out of the cracks, heat it up to barely uncomfortable to touch for a few minutes, cool and immediately paint it. I guess I'm lazy that way....

Originally Posted by ac445ab

Ciao,
that rust seems to me caused by a poor washing and heating after electrolysis process. You could try to use a metal wire brush for remove it and WD-40 for inhibiting its reformation before re-japanning the plane.

Some good info on plane restoration here:
RexMill.com Hand Planes 101 The Resource

Good luck and keep at it.

Cheers,
Virg.