Clifton and Lie Nielsen shoulder planes

[Eric The Viking]

Please could any owner who picks up on this let me know what the finish is in the "finger-grip" areas of these planes, especially the Clifton ones?

I think the LN ones have paint or black anti-rust coating of some sort, but I have no idea what it is. The Clifton ones, which are Preston/Record-based, seem to have the finish I'm after, but I'm not really sure which I actually prefer.

I'm trying to restore a Record #73 at the moment, and uncertain what to do with the diamond-pattern areas. I have cleaned them, and can wire brush them free of rust, but I want something protective (it's a user, not really a display item). The last thing I want is my sweaty fingers ruining all the hard work, so it needs something, but I really don't like the idea of trying to blue a delicate iron casting of very variable thickness...

Thanks,

E.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Eric, I've had a couple of Clifton shoulder planes for a long time, since the late 1990s. They aren't used 'regularly', in the sense that bench planes and chisels tend to be, but they have seen some use, especially the 3110, which is a plane I'm very fond of - it's one of the few multi-type tools I'd actually regard as an effective tool. I tend to cosset my tools a bit, and the Cliftons still live in the boxes they were supplied in, wrapped in the waxed paper in one case, and nestled in the folded-up waxed paper in another. The body of that one has developed some rust spots here and there, but nothing that won't wipe off with an oily rag leaving a sort of black mark.

As far as I can tell, the sunken 'finger grip' areas have no finish at all - they are 'as cast'. I do recall going round the edges of those areas with a bit of fine wet-and-dry to soften the sharp edge left when the sides were machined, but I've not done anything else to them. Despite that, they still have the silvery-grey appearance of fairly fresh castings - no rust. It could be that finger-grease has applied a sort of protective finish to the finger-grip areas, but the underside of the lever cap has the same 'as-cast' finish, and is also sill rust free.

Thus, I'm pretty sure the answer to the question 'what finish'? is 'none' - at least on earlier Cliftons. I can't speak for more recent examples.

I think that if someone wanted a protective finish for a refurbished vintage shoulder plane, a thin varnish or lacquer, or even a thin coat of raw linseed oil allowed to dry thoroughly would suffice. Some shoulder planes were plated (my Preston bullnose is so treated), but I'm not sure that's a pragmatic home workshop answer!

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks CC. That's what I suspected.

Although I have those areas clean now (and protected by machine wax temporarily), I haven't completely de-rusted them. The "working faces" are easier, in that wet+dry on a glass plate will do it. The ends and top of the plane should succumb to polishing compound and mopping, but the grip areas are awkward, as are the interior bits that still have the rough, sand-cast surface. Presently I can't reach those with my Proxxon (substituting for a die grinder), and am mulling over how to deal with them - possibly chemically.

The handle/lever cap has come up rather nicely though. Pics in due course ;-)

E.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

One approach that did come to mind is to use one of those fibreglass pencils that are used for cleaning up joint faces in PCB soldering work - something like this - https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/abrasive-fib ... ncil-kr61r - though I'm sure there are cheaper ones out there. Another possibility might be the old-fashioned pencil eraser, especially the hard sort with bits of grit in them. They might need a bit of shaping with a knife to get into the corners, but should be yielding enough and abrasive enough to do the job without being too aggressive. It's also the sort of thing many a household has lying around pretty much redundant, these days!

 

[AndyT]

CC just said what I was going to say. Those glass pencils are good for nooks and crannies like that.
After that, some drying oil or wax if it's going into a garage, or nothing if it's staying in a box or indoors.

 

[ED65]

The last thing I want is my sweaty fingers ruining all the hard work, so it needs something, but I really don't like the idea of trying to blue a delicate iron casting of very variable thickness...

How about treating with Kurust? If the blue-black colour is something you wouldn't mind the look of it's a very rust-resistant coating, capable of withstanding weathering outdoors for some years before rust recurs.

 

[Racers]

I thought they where nickel/chrome plated.

Pop to a local chromers and they should be able to do either for you.

Pete

 

[ColeyS1]

How about gun blue followed by a lick of lacquer ? I'll have a look at my 073 when I get to work.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Eric The Viking]

@Pete: according to one of the Record plane-dating sites, some, but not all, were nickel plated Apparently they stopped during the war (the infamous "war finish"), started again afterwards, and stopped again before the end of production (surprisingly as late as 1991). For various reasons, I think this one is wartime output, and that in itself has other associated quality issues (which have surprised me), but the site I looked at says there should be a "War Finish" stamp on the body casting -- this plane has nothing obvious.

@Coley and Ed: I'm definitely going to do something like anti-rust paint for the interior. I have some good Flag rust converter paint (iron III to iron II - brown to black), but it is a bit gloopy. So I'll experiment with applying it (to something else!) and then cutting it back, or possibly even trying to thin it before use (may ask Flag if that is possible). Some combination, perhaps applying it and then removing it by wire brush and/or one of those glass fibre pens might be good. It looks like that may be the matt finish on the diamond pattern of LN modern shoulder planes, but obviously that's a guess.

I've looked at blueing properly: it isn't practical for the castings, because of the risk of distorting them, and the necessity of getting an excellent polish first, in order to obtain evenness. There are mixed reviews for the 'cold' gun blue chemicals available, but the consensus (on YouTube!) seems to be that the protection against re-rusting isn't as good as 'proper' blueing, but that blueing itself is a controlled oxidation process - iron III (rust) on the outside and iron II (the 'blueing') underneath.

Aside: given the amount of rust the blueing process has as a by-product, I'm left wondering if hot re-blueing of older gun parts is at all sensible, since it must remove a lot of metal, and risk the integrity of the barrels' rifling, etc., if chemical gets inside. If I had a gun with one of those lovely spiral or "Damascus" patterened finishes I'd be very nervous of causing damage. I know next-to-nothing about firearms, but I understand that shotgun barrels can be, or become, very thin, so I certainly wouldn't want to make a habit of re-blueing them - apparently, occasionally, very thin-walled ones do burst!

AndyT is coming over later today. I shall let him have a good look at the #73 and then I'll listen carefully!

Thanks everyone.

E.