Repairing Grandad's #113 - Episode

**Shedhand** · 18th March 2006, 11:25 PM

In another post I told how, when showing my brother how my inherited Stanley #113 worked, it cracked across the sole in front of the mouth along the rivets when I turned the adjusting knob about 2 1/2 turns past flat.
I've been encouraged to try and repair it which I reckon will be a real learning process for me. It was also suggested that a run a thread describing the repair process and progress.
So here goes (it'll take a while I reckon so be patient please).

This is the plane. It was my Grandads and his father's (who was a Mine Engineer and cabinetmaker in his spare time) before him. My father remembers watching his father make rocking horses using this plane in the late 1930's and early 40's.
(I can't figure out how to put pics in the text of the post so you'll have to put up with clicking on the thumbprints to see a larger pic unless someone can tell me how).
It has a Patent date stamped/etched into the cog on the side.
It says:
PAT
9 8 - 03
It has the space between the 9 and the 8 as shown.

**Shedhand** · 18th March 2006, 11:40 PM

This shows the crack. Its hard to pick out but it runs along the front facing edges of the rivets that hold the sole on the dovetail.

**Shedhand** · 18th March 2006, 11:53 PM

The plane has had a good life and is well used. At some stage the tote has been bronze welded to the frog. The two screw holes are still present and clear of obstructions but have no thread. Either they were stripped out or the tote was originally riveted to the frog. In any event the mating holes in the tote are missing hence the need to weld.
I'll try and fix this as well. It will involve cutting through the weld and remaking the screw holes in the tote.
Any comments on the feasibility of attempting this would be appreciated.

To be continued.

**Andy Mac** · 19th March 2006, 12:32 AM

Hi Shedhand,
Really sorry to hear of your mishap with the #113. A good repair job is a must for on the sole. I have one of these and its a wonderful tool to have working properly.
I'm thinking of the rivet line, and should really go and have a closer look, but the holes are many, fairly fine and close together. Drilling so close to an edge will call for accurate work, or did they drill first and level the edge later?? Whatever, the sole is spring steel and will need heat treatment. I will have a closer look at the closing of the rivet...
I'm wondering what caused the crack. Fatigue and work hardening maybe the most likely...the rivets are close together, like a preset snap line. Perhaps the electrolysis, but possibly combined with local corrosion and a weak area waiting for that first action. How long ago do you reckon it was adjusted last? I can't imagine it would have got hot enough to change the temper....that braze repair isn't nearby is it?
As for the tote, if its working, why bother? Does it move in the slightest, does it interfere with adjustment? I can't see it being done without some impact (I know if I tried it would!) and in reality that scar is part of its history, with your grandfather etc...one of them may have tested his nerve doing it!

Cheers

**Shedhand** · 19th March 2006, 12:44 AM

Andy, g'day mate.
My grandad was a very inventive person (and a poet to boot) an Aquarian like me. If something needed fixing he would find a way. He was an engineer after all.
Good point about the tote though. Maybe I will leave as isf or the history factor. Its a pretty good braze. It wasn't the first time I adjusted the cutting curve. I actually planed a nice curve on a piece of Huon Pine just after I first got it and cleaned it up and sharpened the blade. When it cracked, it just happened out of the blue. I suspect because my old man let it rust on the dirt floor of his garden shed the sole around the rivet holes became distressed. Putting it in the soup (electrolysis) might have caused some micro gaps in the riveting holes allowing rust to start. It might pay me to put the planes in moderate heat after i've taken them out of the soup in future to make sure all the nooks and crannies are dry.

**Shedhand** · 19th March 2006, 12:45 AM

I wonder if Derek Cohen has any experience with this problem?:confused:

Thread: Repairing Grandad's #113 - Episode

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Repairing Grandad's #113 - Episode 1

The crack

Other damage

a bit of analysis...

Cooeeee - calling Derek Cohen

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