Wooden Plane Restoration

[como]

My father in law who is a retired pattern maker has kindly given me his collection of wooden planes. Unfortunately since he retired over 20 years ago his tools have sadly been neglected, he had stored these planes in his green house.

I intend to try and restore these back to working condition and would appreciate a bit of guidance.

For the blades I have purchased a bottle of "Restore Rust Remover" from workshop heaven. I believe this works in the same way as the corro-dip which jimi43 uses. I'm hoping this part will be pretty straight forward, basically soak the blades for a couple of hours, rinse and scrub with a brass brush. Is there any more to this process?

With regard to the plane bodies, they are all very dry and dusty and some of them have started checking on the end grain. What would be the best way to deal with these?

Also, I think a couple of the bodies will also need some repair, I will take some more photo's of the broken bits and post them as I get round to each plane.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Mark

BTW. They all seem to be Sheffield made planes, mainly Joseph Marples, is it possible to date these from the makers stamp?

 

[tobytools]

Nice set of planes there, your bang In with the irons so not much more to say there. I would just wipe down the body's with a oily rag, boiled linseed oil is best for this, sevral coats on each done. I've hydrated some of my plane by bunging up the mouth and pouring linseed oil into the body and let it soak for a while. Tho I wouldn't do that with the moulding planes as it may effect the wedge locking action to the iron, it's fine with smothers and jointers, this I know

I could copy the text from British plane makers from 1700 ect but I'll leave that to someone else who enjoys that side of things.

Less is more when restoring woodies and the tools themselves can tell you the solutions to any of the problems you may face,

Thanks
TT

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The firm of Joseph Marples (do not confuse with William Marples) is mostly associated with marking tools, and the firm is still in business in Sheffield. They currently use the Trial 1 trademark for their top quality range. BPM2 lists them making planes at Cambridge Works in 1881, and at York Works up to 1900. (Those dates may not be exact, and may have been expanded and updated in BPM3.)

 

[AndyT]

I spy an odd one out... I think you have a French combined tongueing and grooving plane in the first picture, third from the right.

As others have said, a drop of linseed oil will get you a long way. Just remove the dirt, not the age.

 

[tobytools]

I spy an odd one out... I think you have a French combined tongueing and grooving plane in the first picture, third from the right.

As others have said, a drop of linseed oil will get you a long way. Just remove the dirt, not the age.

Correct Andy and good eye, The snecks on the irons is a tell tale sign but the shape of the wedges confirmes all suspicions

TT

 

[AndyT]

The firm of Joseph Marples (do not confuse with William Marples) is mostly associated with marking tools, and the firm is still in business in Sheffield. They currently use the Trial 1 trademark for their top quality range. BPM2 lists them making planes at Cambridge Works in 1881, and at York Works up to 1900. (Those dates may not be exact, and may have been expanded and updated in BPM3.)

Right as usual CC!

The third edition of British Plane makers puts the date range for Joseph Marples at York Works as 1868 to 1883 and notes that Joseph Marples planes are uncommon.

William Marples were a very significant and long lasting maker, selling wooden planes from 1856 to 1965. Tools marked with their name are much more common.

 

[como]

Thanks very much guys, this is just the type of info I was looking for. So regarding the restoration, I will clean up the irons as mentioned, and for the plane bodies a wipe down with boiled linseed oil. I would imagine some of them are that dry that they may need a more than one application of oil.

As for the dates 1868-1883 wow!! My father in law did mention that they were passed down either from his father or his grandfather (I'm not sure which but I will get clarification on that), but the dates would suggest that it may have been his grandfather.

Andy, so the tongue and groove plane is French, and you can tell this by the snecks on the irons and the shape of the wedges as Toby mentions? The main body of this one seems to be quite a dense wood, I'm guessing box wood. There doesn't seem to be any makers mark, would that be normal for a French manufacturer or could the plane be user made? I have took a few more photos of this one so you can get a closer look.

 

[tobytools]

Probably Peugeot of some such. Do the irons have any markings? The wood it made from is not box wood,, ahh I can't remember at this moment but it begins with a "C" I think.
I'll post back later.
Not user made that's for sure..
Combination t&g planes are less common than you think. What size is it?

As stated a few applications of oil will be needed, if a plane is that dry and cracking you could allway fill a small tub with oil and bathe in the container, an oily would be fine

You have a good set of tools there.

Thanks
TT

 

[AndyT]

The usual wood for French planes, beginning with C, is cormier, though this one looks a bit light in colour so could be something else.

The constructional difference is that the mortices are sawn out from the side, then closed by gluing on a thin strip.

 

[Carl P]

For cleaning wooden planes various people on this forum have recomended a mixture of equal parts turps (or white spirit etc), vinegar and boiled linseed oil, I have found it very effective and follow it up, after cleaned and dry, with a liberal coat of boiled linseed oil, wiped down after a few hours.

Cheerio,

Carl

 

[como]

Hi Toby, the dimensions of the body are 8 3/8" x 3" x 1 5/8". I have found some sort of marking on the blade after a gentle scrub with a brass brush, but the marking seems to be mostly corroded away (see pic).

Carl, thanks for the tip.

 

[AndyT]

I have found some sort of marking on the blade after a gentle scrub with a brass brush, but the marking seems to be mostly corroded away (see pic).

I'd say that was "Peugeot-Jackson" - as seen here:

(from http://jpcousinou.free.fr/page.php?41)

(The second line reads "Acier Fondu" ie cast steel.)

This page http://www.mot.be/w/1/index.php/WebLogoWho/00000359?language=En gives dates of 1866 to 1899 for the Peugeot-Jackson partnership.

 

[tobytools]

Nice works Andy,
This is most likely the answer but with only "son" being visible it could be anything...

Now sharpen her up and show us the money shot.

TT

 

[AndyT]

Nice works Andy,
This is most likely the answer but with only "son" being visible it could be anything...


TT

Look again!

I see the initial P and KSON at the end. Clear enough for me.

 

[tobytools]

Nice works Andy,
This is most likely the answer but with only "son" being visible it could be anything...


TT

Look again!

I see the initial P and KSON at the end. Clear enough for me.

Shhhh..
I must be going blind.


TT