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+-- Thread: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock (/showthread.php?tid=7220344)
Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - JimReed@Tallahassee - 02-15-2016
I love to get planes back on their feet and still get a rush pulling wispy shavings from an old timer. This plane was no exception. Here is a teaser picture of it in action:
This adventure began with the mailman dropped off a pitiful little Type 5 Bedrock 604C. It must have been in the toolbox one day long ago when grandpa painted the bathroom because it caught a few drips of white (now yellowed) paint. Garage storage had not been kind and rust was taking over.
This plane was actually in pretty good shape and I have seen planes in much worse condition. It looked like an easy case. My restoration philosophy is to do as little as possible to return the plane to use. My objective is to make it look like it just came off granddaddy's workbench shelf.
Everything came apart easily. There was a fine collection of shavings from granddaddy's last project packed around the frog.
I cleaned all parts with bristle brushes and used wire brushes on the stubborn spots. The adjuster wheel on the frog was stuck and required extra care. Here is where the gentle restorer needs patience. My experience has taught me that lubricants almost always find their way around in time. This stubborn wheel was soaked it in liquid wrench for three days. I wrapped the stem in a shoprag and clamped it in a vise. Then I used pliers and another shoprag to tease it loose. Savage, yes, but effective. Done properly, it leaves no marks.
I carefully scraped the white paint off the knob. Old paint is brittle and can be teased off in chunks with a lateral flick. A scotchbrite pad helped smooth everything over and a light coat of Johnsons paste wax coaxed a shine from the knob and tote (which is in perfect condition).
Metal parts went to the spa where they were treated to a generous rubdown of 3 in 1 oil. I was surprised to see that most (90%) of the original japan finish remained on the bed. A post spa rubdown with an old cotton sock removed most of the oil and left a nice feel to the parts. Reassembly went well.
The missing blade was replaced by a vintage candidate from my boneyard. I brushed it up with a few passes on AO 800 grit paper. The reassembled plane was put through its paces on a piece of construction lumber. It adjusted well as Bedrocks do. And then I got the familiar rush as I pulled wispy shavings from the pine. It felt great getting this old timer back into the labor pool.
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - museumguy - 02-15-2016
Very nice job. It does a body (plane body that is) good to see a fine restoration,
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - cwarner - 02-15-2016
Well played sir. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - Guest - 02-15-2016
Nice save!
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - HomerLee - 02-15-2016
Great job! Its beautiful. I assume you found the brass adjuster frozen on the stud and you used rags to protect the knurled brass? I have more trouble removing the stud which is often frozen in the frog. What has worked really well is cutting a short piece of soft copper tubing (the kind that comes in a coil), slipping it over the stud and then using vise grips.
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - Admiral - 02-15-2016
HomerLee said:
Great job! Its beautiful. I assume you found the brass adjuster frozen on the stud and you used rags to protect the knurled brass? I have more trouble removing the stud which is often frozen in the frog. What has worked really well is cutting a short piece of soft copper tubing (the kind that comes in a coil), slipping it over the stud and then using vise grips.
I've had the best success with stud removal with some careful application of heat to the frog near the stud, propane torch works quickest, then a leather wrap around the threads and slowly work it out with a vice grip. Patience is a necessary virtue during this process but it is not hard to do. The two more difficult tasks are the removal and replacement of a frog adjustment yoke, and the removal and replacement of a lateral adjuster arm; but that is another story.
Remember that the studs are reverse thread. I always put on a drop of medium loc tite when reinserting.
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - DaveParkis - 02-15-2016
Ain't it great when you can save one of these beauties? Nice job!! I always enjoy seeing planes that you've resurrected.
Re: Making thin shavings with a refurbished Bedrock - Bibliophile 13 - 02-15-2016
It's posts like this that first taught me what to look for in cheap, vintage planes. It's obvious (to a trained eye) that the plane in its dirty, rusty condition had good bones and was worth restoring. But that wouldn't be obvious to most people. It certainly wasn't obvious to me back when I started using handplanes. After seeing threads like this, I got better at spotting diamonds in the rough (or in the rust).
So thanks, Jim, for keeping the plane restoration posts coming. I always enjoy seeing old tools woken up, cleaned up, and put back to use.