Thread: Restoration of my Granddad's Stanley #4.

Do not fear guys, there's no way I'm putting a belt sander near it!

I've checked it with a straight edge and it appears to be slightly convex in both directions. Having gone through a couple of irons in it's life without ever having been show any love, I expected the sole to be well worn.

Originally Posted by Vann

- if you haven't thrown out the USA plane body, you can look up to see how old the replacement parts are here RexMill.com Hand Planes 101 The Resource It looks to me to be a type 16 or newer (1933 >).

The donor plane was a UK plane with a USA blade in it Here's a couple of images of it.

$_57[1].JPG$_57[1].JPG

The body and frog has near 100% japanning, but it had been broken and brazed so I got it cheap.

It appears (as far as I can tell) to be made around the same era as my granddads (which is why I purchased it, I just looked for one with similar characteristics), the tote on it looked like it was cut from the same tree as the knob on mine, very happy with the match

Nice work, the restoration is looking pretty sweet. Thanks for the post with the detail putting everything back together. I have a newer stanley #4 I've been cleaning to make it serviceable and it the tote (?) was also skewed quite badly, been having a hell of a time trying to get it aligned properly.

Ahh! That's better

IMG_20160418_155326.jpg

Yes, it was a 'moment of madness' doing that. The Sheppach is fine for rough and fast aggressive sanding, nothing more than removing material fast

Looks great kenour. finally got my old one finished today. takes a mighty fine shaving, so good to work with and I think I'll now throw that modern Chinese Irwin 'Record' in the bin. How the heck did they appropriate that name and butcher it so much???? Time to work on the 5 1/2 friend just gave me too, he he happy camper now I am!

don't throw the Record in the bin ..... with a bit of work, they can function quite well ..... bot as nice as a heritage plane, but passable.

cheers

Have you solved your "skipping" problem? I find that sometimes, when I have a plane that's not cutting, it can be because I have, over time, rounded the bevel. This is easily solved by hollow-grinding the bevel and sharpening.

Just thought that might help.

The plane looks great.

Cheers,
Luke

Finally got around to doing a bit more work on the sole. It's still slightly convex though!

It's better than it was, I'm using emery paper on a flat surface (checked and double checked with a straight edge).

The convex sole leaves the timber slightly concave (I suppose as expected).

When offered up to a straight edge, there's still light coming though at the toe and heel. The flat section seems to be from just behind the mouth to about an inch away from the edge of the heel.

I'm really starting to consider taking a scallop out from behind the mouth with my grinder!

I'm applying lighter pressure because if suspect if I press down hard, it will flex the sole (which will remove more material from the toe and heel, which would leave it even more convex when I release the pressure).

I'm not sure, don't want to take it past the point of no return. I'm just taking it one stroke at a time.

Good bit of news, my replacement veritas blade arrived and has been installed. Very nice

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

Have you solved your "skipping" problem? I find that sometimes, when I have a plane that's not cutting, it can be because I have, over time, rounded the bevel. This is easily solved by hollow-grinding the bevel and sharpening.

Just thought that might help.

The plane looks great.

Cheers,
Luke

Sorry I missed this post! Good to know. I'm not sure if it was flattening the soul, or sharpening the blade properly that seemed to have fixed the issue, but it's gone. It still tends to leave the work surface concave, not sure if it's because the sole still isn't perfectly flat, or technique.

"surface concave"

If by that you mean that you seem to have scooped out the middle a bit more than the ends of the cut (beginning and finish), I think that before you look at the plane, you should check your technique.

It sounds to me that you have too much pressure on the front knob at the start of the cut and too much on the tote at the end of the cut. This is a good flaw as it is the opposite to the usual problem which leads to a convex surface. So before doing any more fiddling with the base, I would concentrate on being a bit more even in your pressure at the beginning and end of the cut and you will tend to get rid of the concave tendency. You may well find that this is more 'natural' and easier to keep up over time.

Originally Posted by jmk89

"surface concave"

If by that you mean that you seem to have scooped out the middle a bit more than the ends of the cut (beginning and finish), I think that before you look at the plane, you should check your technique.

It sounds to me that you have too much pressure on the front knob at the start of the cut and too much on the tote at the end of the cut. This is a good flaw as it is the opposite to the usual problem which leads to a convex surface. So before doing any more fiddling with the base, I would concentrate on being a bit more even in your pressure at the beginning and end of the cut and you will tend to get rid of the concave tendency. You may well find that this is more 'natural' and easier to keep up over time.

Yeah that's right, the sole of the plane is slightly convex, so in my mind, it suggests that a concave surface would be the result (but my mind has tricked me before!).

I will try altering my technique as you suggested Cheers.

Have you tried "citric acid"?

Originally Posted by ironik

What product are you using to remove the rust (and how well did it work with the overnight soak)? I picked up a few neglected planes at a garage sale and only semi-successful removing the rust from the working surfaces by hand.

Originally Posted by Michael Hurley

Have you tried "citric acid"?

I have used molasses with fantastic success quite a bit. One part molasses to four parts water mixed together. submerge the parts for two weeks, then brush off the rust to dead clean metal guys. Was suss about it when i first heard the technique, but wouldn't bother with anything else any more.