Thread: Bailey 7 corrugated, daunting resto but I'm game

If you want to add to the handle, I like Blackwood as a timber for patching Bazilion Rosewood. The natural colour of Blackwood is similar to the faded BRW. BRW fades with time and nothing gets the faded aged look back if you deep sand it . Its a timber in Antique furniture you don't touch with sand paper if you know whats good for you . A plane is different . Do what you like . Just some friendly help from a restorer who has seen some BRW disasters over the years. Not that your handles have faded back too much either by the looks but they probably have a little . Blackwood is also a similar weight and density with a close open grain .
Of course if you know of a stash of BRW or someone can get you a bit use that . Or another handle to get a piece off.

IanW showed how he made his own Lateral Adjuster last week here:
A cautionary tale

Originally Posted by hiroller

...IanW showed how he made his own Lateral Adjuster last week .....

Yeah, but I didn't try to make it look 'original', HR, I just wanted something that would work well enough. I might try to do something more convincing if I was restoring this old beauty. It was easy enough to make the shaft & washer that engages the blade slot, it's the other end that was a bit trickier. The originals have a tear-drop shaped piece crimped into a slot to give something for your finger to bear against. The prospect of trying to cut a narrow slot in that tough saw-plate material didn't appeal at all, so I made a small knurled knob, with a spigot to fit a 4mm hole that was easy enough to drill with a carbide bit. Peened into a countersink & flushed off, it made a solid and neat job, but it's very obviously not "Stanley".

Looks like a bad split in the front knob that someone has already had a go at repairing, Bob? Hope it's salvageable, I love those old flat-topped "mushroom" or "hot air balloon" (as P. Leach calls them) knobs, I reckon they are much more user-friendly than the taller, thinner knobs that came in after 1918...

That's good info re using BW to repair Rosewood, Rob, I'll keep that in mind for the future. Rosewood was such a superb wood for handles, it's a pity we loved it to death, as we've done to so many woods.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by auscab

If you want to add to the handle, I like Blackwood as a timber for patching Bazilion Rosewood. The natural colour of Blackwood is similar to the faded BRW. BRW fades with time and nothing gets the faded aged look back if you deep sand it . Its a timber in Antique furniture you don't touch with sand paper if you know whats good for you . A plane is different . Do what you like . Just some friendly help from a restorer who has seen some BRW disasters over the years. Not that your handles have faded back too much either by the looks but they probably have a little . Blackwood is also a similar weight and density with a close open grain .
Of course if you know of a stash of BRW or someone can get you a bit use that . Or another handle to get a piece off.

Filed away the blackwood tip for future restorations. Thanks.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by auscab

If you want to add to the handle, I like Blackwood as a timber for patching Bazilion Rosewood. The natural colour of Blackwood is similar to the faded BRW. BRW fades with time and nothing gets the faded aged look back if you deep sand it . Its a timber in Antique furniture you don't touch with sand paper if you know whats good for you . A plane is different . Do what you like . Just some friendly help from a restorer who has seen some BRW disasters over the years. Not that your handles have faded back too much either by the looks but they probably have a little . Blackwood is also a similar weight and density with a close open grain .
Of course if you know of a stash of BRW or someone can get you a bit use that . Or another handle to get a piece off.

Blackwood it is then Auscab This bushy has Buckley's of coming across a bit of BRW

Thanks so much for the kind advice. I'm nervous about it, but excited too. I think your right in desiring to keep the original bits. I might make a stop gap adjuster while staying on the hunt for an original replacement as able.

Originally Posted by IanW

Yeah, but I didn't try to make it look 'original', HR, I just wanted something that would work well enough. I might try to do something more convincing if I was restoring this old beauty. It was easy enough to make the shaft & washer that engages the blade slot, it's the other end that was a bit trickier. The originals have a tear-drop shaped piece crimped into a slot to give something for your finger to bear against. The prospect of trying to cut a narrow slot in that tough saw-plate material didn't appeal at all, so I made a small knurled knob, with a spigot to fit a 4mm hole that was easy enough to drill with a carbide bit. Peened into a countersink & flushed off, it made a solid and neat job, but it's very obviously not "Stanley".

Looks like a bad split in the front knob that someone has already had a go at repairing, Bob? Hope it's salvageable, I love those old flat-topped "mushroom" or "hot air balloon" (as P. Leach calls them) knobs, I reckon they are much more user-friendly than the taller, thinner knobs that came in after 1918...

That's good info re using BW to repair Rosewood, Rob, I'll keep that in mind for the future. Rosewood was such a superb wood for handles, it's a pity we loved it to death, as we've done to so many woods.

Cheers,

Yes, I think I'll just 'make-do' with something that works for now on the adjuster (will have to do that by hand file etc), hopefully can scrounge around and eventually find something 'right'.

Yeah, the knob has a real crack in it. Does BRW glue up OK? I know some oily woods are a problem trying to glue

Originally Posted by Bendigo Bob

..... Does BRW glue up OK? I know some oily woods are a problem trying to glue

Bob, I've repaired a few Rosewood totes successfully using epoxy glue. The word is to make a clean surface at the break, oriented along the grain direction as much as possible. This old tote had an amputated horn and the bottom was broken off between the toe screw and the upright part: RepRosewood tote red.jpg

I cut away as little of the original wood as possible to get good surfaces for glueing, stuck on a generous amount of new wood & let the glue cure for a couple of days before blending the new bits in. It's the nicest tote I've ever seen, the blending of curves is superbly done & it fits my hand like it was made especially for me. I used it for several years with no problems but decided not to risk further damage, so I replaced it with one that is as close to identical in shape as I can make, & I keep the old one as my 'model' when making new totes....

The split knob is another matter. You have the best chance with a break that is very 'clean', i.e. there is no splintering & weakening of the wood either side of the obvious break. If there is much splintering, it's almost impossible to get a strong repair. To add to the problem, oily gunk seeps down into the cracks & no glue likes oily residue. My approach is to try to soak out any oil with a solvent like turps, applied liberally with an old toothbrush, followed by a good scrub with metho to get rid of any residue of turps & oil. After thorough drying, that should give you your best chance of getting a good bond, but no guarantees!

While it's nice to keep original parts when you can, I reckon woodwork is fair game to replace on a user - after all, there are lots of axes & hammers on their 3rd or 4th handle.... :U

Cheers,

Thanks Ian, that's great advice. Much appreciated.

Off to visit my mum in NSW soon so won't be getting into this for the next 2 weeks, but wow, so appreciating the generosity of the mate who gave it to me and you guys so willing to share your knowledge.