Thread: Norris fettled

Hi Ian,
your Norris appears identical to one I have. When I set it up and used it on some tough wood, I too found that the blade wouldn't hold a edge and seemed to be too soft. I thought it was a deficiency specific to my Norris but this now appears to be standard with the post-WWII Norris plane blades.
BTW, keep your old plane blade as if you ever end up having to sell the Norris then collectors pay more for a complete original plane.
Regards

Thanks Paul - yes, I have kept the original for just the reason you suggest! If you want to go the same route, I suggest you contact the bloke at Acadamy saws, who is very helpful, and will make the blade to the exact thickness you require (it seems there is a bit of variation between batches in the dying days of the company). It doesn't come cheap, unfortunately, but it will make the tool infinitely more useable. Mine is now a very good plane, but I'm not sure the bang for buck works out all that well. As I said to a friend, you could buy several good old Stanleys for the same amount, and set each one up to do special tasks. The difference in finish from well-tuned planes of any type is pretty minimal in most situations.

Heresy, I know.........

Cheers,

Hello Ian,
I recently acquired a post war Norris A5. In doing research I ran across this thread about your plane. Mine is in a very similar condition as yours prior to your work. I was wondering how you cleaned off the old black finish? The wood on your plane certainly cleaned up well and I was hoping you could shed some light on the technique you used?
Also, does anyone know what the old dark finish was on the Norris A5? Lacquer, shellac or something else?
Any help would be appreciated?
Thanks,
rustyjim

Hi Jim, you dug me up from the past!

The stuff on my plane was shellac-based. A lot of the original finish was missing, & what was left had become gooey, which is why I decided to remove it altogether. I used fine steel wool & metho & it came off easily, without marking the wood. The original finish was a very dark colour to disguise the Beech cheeks & make them look like the Mahogany tote. Apparently, this is the norm on post-war models, so be prepared for the two-tone look, unless you want to try staining it. I thought it was better to minimise the 'damage', so I just gave mine a couple of light coats of shellac, then rubbed down with fine steel wool & wax. After a buff-up, it looked like a clean & shiny, but well-used tool, which I thought appropriate.
I was lucky that the metal on my plane was in very good condition, just a small rust spot on the sole, which I cleaned with a bit of very light lapping, but didn't try to remove it completely, as some of the small pits are several thou deep. It has absolutely no effect on function, where it is, so I thought it better to leave well-enough alone - we all have a few blemishes after a long life.....

Cheers,

Hi Ian,
Thanks for your helpful response. Its always useful to hear what others have done on their projects. Thanks for sharing your experience.
rustyjim