Thread: A Sad Case of Neglect and Abuse

Hello Mr Scribble,

Great work on recovering what was a "lost cause", I wonder how much you would have to take off the sole to get rid of the pitting? You could take it to someone with a surface grinder and take a few light passes to see how deep it is.

On second thoughts, maybe just leave it as it is, as a testament to how bad a plane body can be and still take a perfect shaving.

Good to see the inspirational recovery of a fine tool.

Regards
Ray

I'll see your sad case of neglect and abuse and possibly match it.

Picture 1 - Plane bottom - rusty
Picture 2 - Top view - rusty

Picture 3 - partially restored

After laping it a couple hundred times it looked okay Will test out some shavings in the near future and let you know if it's anywhere near as succesful as your tiny wee thin shavings were.

Simon - that first picture looks like a casualty ward for neglected & abused planes - have you opened a plane hospital?

The top looks really good after your remedial work - how is that scabrous right side looking?

Cheers

It all came up pretty well, it's definatly pitted from the rust but I think it should be very useable. Scribbly's plane looks worse on the bottom than this one.

Couple more photos of it on my little web page

Can I just say how painful it is to lap a plane that big... I'm sure you could already guess though.

Yep - looks not too bad at all in the picture. You may well end up with a looker as well as a user!

Handy tool, a #6 - I had one for a long time, and used it a lot until I got my #7. After that, the #6 sat ignored & forlorn in the tool cupboard because I'd reach for the 7 for my jointing jobs, or my 5 1/2 when a wide but less bulky plane was needed. So I traded it for a few other items, including a beautiful near-mint Disston 9 point panel saw. The new owner loves the 6, & I wouldn't part with the saw for anything, so, two happy people....

You're right about the addictive nature of tool restoration, BTW - just try to remember that the ultimate goal is to have a useful tool with a clear purpose. (Says he who has been accumulating chisels he dosn't really need, lately! )

Cheers,

LOL, the pull between usefulness and attraction.

At one stage I had 50+ turning tools OK, in self-defence, it's good to try a tool to see if you're going to make friends with it.

Another pull is to make your own. Hah! make friends then with metallurgy and there's another can of worms.

Anyway, both plane resto's are impressive. Well done chaps.

[QUOTE=mic-d;1241328]looks like a lunar landscape

....maybe it went down with the titanic?

It just goes to show that the sole flatness is plus/minus a few mm and doesn't really matter a rat's.... Sharpness and an expert user are far more important.