Another plane old project

[Pabs]

Got my mits on a No5 1/2 the other day, I really like the no5 but could use the extra width surface planing jointed boards for some projects.

Anyway halfway through a restoration as there were a few issues. No repairs or cracks to the sole but the iron and chip breaker were chipped and not seated right. Lots of crusty crud under the frog etc

But all sound otherwise i think.

What I've gotten done so far is strip out everything then into a soak vinegar then WD40
Then it's an old sraper get rid of as much crud as I can
then onto steel wool.
a dab on the wire wheel for the screw threads and brass fittings, haven't touched the iron / chip breaker yet. Lever cap has lost all its nickel plating but a brushed finish looks in keeping anyway
here is the frog after it's been cleaned up, compared to a No6 that hasn't been touched for around 70years.

here's the sole after some lapping effort

Original iron i think 2-3/8" wide- look at the wear! Compared to a virtually unused no6 from around the same era



Charlesworth Ruler Trick - haven't addressed the chip yet. Just getting things all flat.

here we are with a new profile on the iron. Chips were erased by just attacking the stone at 90deg skewed.

then final sharpening on both sides

here they are mated nicely

And here we have him. in his natural habitat. I'll address the other bits at some point but it's a nice plane just now.

 

[yetloh]

Coming along nicely. I inherited only two tools from my father - a Parkinsons metal working vice and his pre-war Record No 5. Despite having some expensive tools the Record is still one of my favourite tools. I have fettled but not "restored" it but what has made it really sing is one of these Japanese Laminated Plane Blades Not cheap now (they were half that price when I bought mine - but worth every penny.

Jim

 

[Pabs]

I wish people would stop showing nice things which cost money

 

[Woodwork Journey Dean]

Yours looks excellent! I did a number 5 recently, the pitting is really really bad so after spending a couple of days on it I just got it back into use and it does a great job

I’ve not tried the vinegar idea to take the rust off but I’ve seen online people doing that and then bicarb? The latter to sort out the acidity post bath maybe?

The rosewood handles were a big surprise to me. Cleaning them up to a really nice brown grain and then the oxidation turning them almost black in minutes wasn’t something I expected.

Cleaning up saws and planes is brilliant and crazy rewarding. I’m on the looking for a 6 now as well LOL

 

[Pabs]

Aye but yours is way worse than mine ever was lol

For rust 5 or 10% acetic acid then I rinse it off with a bicarb solution. Easy to get rust off that way, just a touch of a wire wheel or scraper. Just make sure to neutralise and protect it ASAP once out of its bath.

The pitting on the iron and chip breaker isn't something that can be remedied but actually it looks nice and in keeping with a used tool.

Kinda like a worn pair of jeans.

Only ever on loan... Like books and stuff. I wonder where mine will end up!

 

[Pabs]

Coming along nicely. I inherited only two tools from my father - a Parkinsons metal working vice and his pre-war Record No 5. Despite having some expensive tools the Record is still one of my favourite tools. I have fettled but not "restored" it but what has made it really sing is one of these Japanese Laminated Plane Blades Not cheap now (they were half that price when I bought mine - but worth every penny.

Jim

68 HRC tho,... how do you find sharpening?
The lamination might allow some toughness / ductility but are edge chips an issue?
Ta Jim

 

[yetloh]

68 HRC tho,... how do you find sharpening?
The lamination might allow some toughness / ductility but are edge chips an issue?
Ta Jim

Hi Pabs,

I have never had a problem with sharpening using Japanese water stones; most of the area you are abrading is the soft steel to which the hard cutting steel is laminated. I can't recall ever having had a chip out of the edge. Of course, the edge will chip if you hit a nail, but to will most edges and there mut be, at least theoretically the chance of a very hard knot doinf it. I also use Japanese chisels where chipping of the edge is more likely because there is more opportunity and temptation to use leverage on the tool. That is not to say leverage is a complete no no, but it does require some moderation compared with most western chisels.

Jim

 

[Fred48]

@Pabs

I attended a plane ‘fettling’/ chisel sharpening course with David Charlesworth in 2001 and it was excellent.

An idea you may wish to experiment with, based on what I learnt in the course.

If you are intending to plane timbers like mahogany, which can have an interlocking grain, like many others, you can reduce ‘tear out’ in a number of ways.

• Buy a quality blade as has been mentioned to you earlier. In the plane ‘fettling’ part of the course, I replaced the original blade with a Hock made from A2 steel. It made a real difference to the quality of the finish.
• Get the front edge of the ‘chip breaker’/cap iron in the region of 0.3mm to the tip of the blade.
• Fit the blade/‘chip breaker’/cap iron/lever cap into the plane.
• Now adjust the blade so that it fractionally protrudes through the base.
• The gap between the tip of the blade, and the front of the mouth, in my No 5 Bailey plane with a Hock A2 blade is 0.33 mm
• You may have to reposition the ‘frog’, and it is a fiddly job but well worth the effort.
• Once it is set up in this manner, the plane will then only be able to take fine shavings suitable for cabinet making.
• A few years after the course, I wanted to use quilted and ripple maple. The Bailey plane and Hock A2 blade with those settings didn’t give me an excellent finish on those timbers.
• My hope was that a ‘bevel-up’ plane may work. I bought a Veritas ‘bevel-up plane’ and ‘fettled’ it as per the course, and it gives an excellent finish.
• Food for thought.
• Cheers
• Fred.