Bootfair Basketcases?

[jimi43]

Well since this whole lot were only a fiver I thought...what the hell!?

From left to right...a Record 151 sans blade, a No2 make unknown (please tell me!), a Stanley 4 1/2 and a Stanley 5 1/2 and an Eclipse saw tooth sharpener jig with file.

I fancy keeping the halvers...

as what looks like tons of rust are in fact, quite nice condition workhorses...no pitting...pretty square sides and nice flat soles...these are what make great restoration projects so look out for these examples...


I shall be fettling all three planes and using the spokeshave for another Veritas upgrade....posting pictures here as I go....just to show what a fiver can turn into with a bit of elbow grease.

I know there are some here who would rather buy new or pre-sorted old tools but this thread if for those, who like me, want to preserve old tools that others have neglected...ending up with something useable, not "collectable".

If you are one of these geeks like me...follow this thread...

More later.

Jim

 

[stoatyboy]

Hi nice haul look forward to seeing what you do with them - I'm going to a boot fair in about an hour looking for just that sort of stuff!

 

[wizer]

Nice haul once again Jim. You certainly get rewarded for those early starts. Me? Just got up and it;s pi$$ing down! :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

... and it;s pi$$ing down! :lol:

and it's still cold here today Got me tea cosey hat on and fleece in the 'shop this morning - Rob

 

[rileytoolworks]

Nice one Jimi. Those 'halvers are definitely keepers. I'm think of getting rid of all my non halvers cause I simply don't use them (except the sixes and seven).

Looking forward to seeing your usual quality work on these...

Adam.

 

[Doug B]

That`s an excellent haul Jim, i`ve been after a 5 1/2 to fettle for a while.

I inherited a 4 1/2 a while back, in a similar state to your`s & after a lot of fettling & making a new handle & tote i`ve been over the moon with it.

Well worth the effort, best of luck.


Doug.

 

[jimi43]

I stayed in bed this morning....was going to Ebbsfleet but decided that Bank Holiday bootfairs are usually full of amateurs and lycra ladies with pitbull appendages (intelligent dog with brainless pineapple as a pet).....so I decided against it.

I shall lap and polish the soles today I think....

Doug...THAT is my target...a huge target level to set myself but a wonderful inspiration mate! What a lovely job you have done there...a real beauty and I simply love the handles!

What is the iron you have in there? I was thinking of firing up the kiln and whittling an iron or two and making a few caps. Did you do a proper Japanning job or is that enamel? I am considering Japanning (but that may change) or I like the HT Paint on a recent example here....it was very "Veritas" looking.

Later....

Jim

 

[Doug B]

Thanks JIm.

The handle & tote were made from Holly, the iron is a Hock (fettled this be fore i tried my hand at making blades) & the paint is just smooth hamerite, 2 coats & it really shines nicely.

I did a thread on it i`ll try & find it.


Cheers.

Doug.

 

[jhwbigley]

I've been ripped of! :shock:

I payed 9 euros for this!

Some nice planes there Jim 8)

JH

 

[WoodAddict]

nice haul,

I went to a boot sale yesterday, found a couple of cheap clamps..... 2 for a quid! that's all I found though, had a rummage through some boxes of rust but found nothing!

I planned on going today but it was too wet and cold this morning!

 

[Racers]

Hi, Jim

Nice hall!!!

You have my favorite size planes a 4 1/2 and a 5 1/2, both cracking plane the 5 1/2 I use for most things and the 4 1/2 for smoothing.

We want pictures!!! with shavings!!!

The other one just chuck it in the bin.


Pete

 

[jimi43]

Hi, Jim

Nice hall!!!

You have my favorite size planes a 4 1/2 and a 5 1/2, both cracking plane the 5 1/2 I use for most things and the 4 1/2 for smoothing.

We want pictures!!! with shavings!!!

The other one just chuck it in the bin.


Pete

HA! Yup...I always wanted a No 4 1/2 and now that I have the rubbish out of the sole...well the Japanning is remarkably nearly all there!

The little scraper will come in handy...you watch! It has a thick Veritas blade in it by the look of it! I will replace the plastic handles and cap screw...and we shall see.... :wink: 8)

The Eclipse saw sharpening jig interests me!

I have taken the handle off of the 4 1/2 and got all the old rubbish back to bare beech but it was cracked right across the grain would you believe. Clean break...been repaired (badly) before...now repaired properly and I have stained the wood to disappear the crack line and now hitting it with some of the Chestnut Hard Wax Oil....what lovely stuff that is!

More progression pictures tomorrow.

Jim

 

[Racers]

Hi, Jim

Is that a Record blade and chip breaker in the 5 1/2? looks like a early laminated blade.


Pete

 

[bugbear]

Hi, Jim

Is that a Record blade and chip breaker in the 5 1/2? looks like a early laminated blade.


Pete

Probably Stanley - early English Stanley blades had the square upper corners, same as the Records.

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

a No2 make unknown (please tell me!),

"Whitmore No. 2 Metal Block Plane"

Alf converted one of these into a semi-scrub ("scrub from scrap" on her blog)

BugBear

 

[Paul Chapman]

Alf converted one of these into a semi-scrub ("scrub from scrap" on her blog)

See here http://cornishworkshop.blogspot.com/200 ... scrap.html

I bought the plane from Alf - it works really well as a small scrub.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[bugbear]

The Eclipse saw sharpening jig interests me!

I have tried using one, and found it worse than useless.

It's both intrusive, in that it fouls up your natural filing stroke, and yet doesn't provide enough accuracy to justify its presence.

Oh, and it needs special files.

BugBear

 

[Benchwayze]

I've been ripped of! :shock:

I payed 9 euros for this!

Some nice planes there Jim 8)

JH

I'd be quite happy with that JH. Of all the planes I bought new, I never actually got a Jack-plane.. I.e. 5-1/2)

I expect I will find one eventually.!

John

 

[jimi43]

Hi, Jim

Is that a Record blade and chip breaker in the 5 1/2? looks like a early laminated blade.


Pete

Probably Stanley - early English Stanley blades had the square upper corners, same as the Records.

BugBear

Sadly...BB is right Pete...it is a rather thin STANLEY...and the chipbreaker is thin too!

That being said....well later!

That is EXACTLY what I had in mind for the No.2 guys...BB thanks for the identification and ALF's initial paragraphs are what I thought when I picked it up...if it hadn't been free I would have refused it....BUT as I say...more on that later too...(nice to know that I was thinking along the lines of the great ALF!)

SO....ANYWAYS...

I have been playing with Richard's Chestnut Hard Wax Oil....just because I wanted to try it on SOMETHING....so what I did was take all the rubbish off both the handles which was way gone anyway...down to bare beech...and then after a few coats of my own meths based stain formula..."reddish rosewood"....I hit it with some CHWO (you don't think I am typing that out every time do ya!?)

So...before and after....no need to say which is which...

Now...I am comparing this with Tru-Oil which is not scientific...not same base stuff but the USE is the comparison here...durability and feelability (how tactile is it).

Durability-wise we shall see...but if it "does what it says on the tin..." then this should not be an issue.

How tactile is it? Well initial thoughts are not as much BUT it is MUCH cheaper by factors of ten so is it acceptable...indeed it is! And I am going to play with the fine steel wool once it hardens up and maybe some beeswax.

So I stuck the tote on the plane...I have started to fettle it but as it is nearly there I couldn't wait to try out the newly sharpened iron.

As I said at the beginning, the sole and sides are relatively flat and square but starting with cutting grit, I found that there were some shallows here and there...they will come out later. I generally get it almost there...then get bored and sharpen the iron and want to see how it planes. There is no point whatever in fettling a plane whose sole is beyond the grave!

The iron was sharpened with 3M Micromesh on a flat plate up to about 3600 mesh....enough to get it nearly there...sort of "frightening rather than scary" sharp.

As my other tests...a selection of rubbish wood bits of various species from some "next door" cherry...through oak, beech....some pine and even a bit of wet willow!

This plane WHIZZES!!! I won't bore you with every sample...just some highlights...some beech....

Pretty rubbish piece turned into a beautiful flat, square piece of stock which will need no further finishing....

NICE!

My favourite is the home grown and seasoned cherry....it just whooshed through the most oddly shaped resaw offcut....

Just a little backing off of the iron and we have transparent...

Again...crisp, flat, square sides.

See....

So...this plane is a keeper...it is going to get fully fettled...I won't bore you with the cleaning of the brass etc...we ALL know how to do that stuff...

But I will be posting pictures of the final result along with some more shavings later...

Then on to the No 5 1/2 when I find a replacement front tote screw...blasted thing was missing!

Later guys and gals...

Jimi

P.S. The Eclipse saw sharpener is going in the bin!

 

[GraemeD]

Nice job, Jimi.....I can feel the enthusiasm coming right out of the page!

I have an old No 5 1/2 and a No 6 as WIP, and the finish on the handles is shot. Your results looks fantastic....any chance of a hint as to what you do stain-wise? My minimal playing with stains yielded very disappointing results on mine, so I kind of held off doing anything!

Cheers
Graeme