Hand plane finish

[Bobby Thompson]

If you had a choice which finish would you prefer on a refurbished hand plane, paint, powder coat, jappaning?

[mvflaim]

If you had a choice which finish would you prefer on a refurbished hand plane, paint, powder coat, jappaning?

Black japanning. No question. Buy it from Liberty on the Hudson. Expensive, but a quart will last years as long as it doesn't dry up first.

[bandit571]

Usually use Rustoleum Semi-gloss engine  black.

[Bobby Thompson]

If you had a choice which finish would you prefer on a refurbished hand plane, paint, powder coat, jappaning?

I have jappaning and have several I have done. It is a slow process but not too time consuming. A few minutes to apply and several hours until the next coat. Actually the labor time is not much more than paint. I can powder coat cheaper and faster than paint and the powder is bullet proof. A guy here in town does powder on a larger scale than I do and he tried to sandblast some off with no success. The only real way to remove it is to chemically strip it. I have burned some off with a torch but that is real time consuming. I might add that I grind after any process.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Rustoleum for me.

[Joe Bailey]

If you had a choice which finish would you prefer on a refurbished hand plane, paint, powder coat, jappaning?

Japanning.

[AHill]

Do you want to restore it to sell or restore it to use?  If the former, Japanning.  If the latter, Rustoleum engine black semi-gloss.

[Alan S]

I prefer none of the above: planes that look their age and work perfectly.

[Strokes77]

A la Natural...
Clean, derust, oil, and wax. Whatever jappaning is left stays, otherwise leave the iron exposed.

[DaveParkis]

If I were restoring to sell as a "collectable ", I would learn how to japan. For my own users, I think powder coating is the better choice. I've seen planes that were done in paint and they loom pretty until the paint gets dinged. My experience is that powder coating is darn near indestructible.