I confess...I'm not usually a hand tool guy but I got this yesterday and am thinking about restoring it. Having never done it I went the the encyclopedia of fixing thing, YouTube, and found a few videos on how to do it. In one of the videos the guy mentioned a rust remover made by WD-40 sold @ Lowe's. Which rust remover do you use? Any other tips you can offer me would be appreciated.
My question is this worth restoring? I don't intend to sell it but if I were to restore it what would it be worth?
+1 on Evaporust. Can't beat it. Extra strength vinegar might work, too.
Before you do anything, make sure its worth saving - check the sole for flatness with a straight edge. Believe it or not, these planes can bow, twist and warp how much depends on whether it can be corrected.
Give it a shot, its worth at least a hundred bucks if its usable.....
(12-08-2020, 09:44 AM)rwe2156 Wrote: +1 on Evaporust. Can't beat it. Extra strength vinegar might work, too.
Before you do anything, make sure its worth saving - check the sole for flatness with a straight edge. Believe it or not, these planes can bow, twist and warp how much depends on whether it can be corrected.
Give it a shot, its worth at least a hundred bucks if its usable.....
Evaporust for sure. Disassemble down to the last screw for the soak. A good stiff brush to remove as much gunk as possible before soaking. Then a fine brass bristle brush after to get the last bits of now soft gunk out of threads and such.
A cheap wallpaper paste tray liner works great for long bodies like jointer planes. You definitely want the entire casting covered with Evaporust otherwise you will end up with a witness line that is the devil to remove. An overnight soak usually does the trick. Last time I did this I also put cling-wrap over top of the tray to minimize evaporation.
On parts like the adjuster wheel which may be brass, the Evaporust won't hurt them so there isn't much need to remove the threaded rod.
Evaporust tends to leave cast iron a dark brown to black color. It buffs back to a gray with a bit of elbow grease and a nice oil (just about anything from 3-in-1 to synthetic motor oil is fine, I like the synthetic motor oil -- "dries" to a pretty tough film).
If the handle is cracked, epoxy is a good choice. And over time the rear tote tends to shrink a bit and sometimes you need to grind off one thread from the rod to get it tight again. Just be careful you don't bugger the rest of the threads.
Sharpen up and use. Reconditioning a blade is a much longer thread and you can probably find a few searching back a bit. Easy stuff. A jointer isn't a smoothing plane and so the level of fettling required isn't nearly as high to get good results.
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. -- G. Carlin
I'll be a contrarian here. Y'all have seen the condition of planes I've posted in the S&S (pre-covid, I've not been able to rust hunt now for a long time) and I've never used any chemicals for rust removal, and I've rehabbed many in worse shape than the one you've been gifted. Soft wire brush, some abrasives, cleaning with a degreaser (I use "Greased Lightning" from the Borg) does wonders and will put that plane into user shape in short order. Just my experience.....
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere Non impediti ratione cogitationis
mainly used to joint long edges, for panel glue ups.....still has the OEM iron and chipbreaker.
Was never "soaked"....a Hock "Cure-all" iron was never needed. Sole was indeed flat, merely needed all them grooves in it's sole cleaned out.
Sitting it the plane til beside this one, is an Ohio Tool Co. no. 0-7 smooth sole. OEM ( globe logo) iron had broke, has a Stanley iron now. Both will give ne a decent Cardio Workout...
That is in pretty good shape as it is. I'd not worry much about rust removal on the plane body itself, and would start with least invasive way to remove rust on sides and bottom - razor blade with WD 40, then a scotchbrite pad. Put aside.
For the blade and chipbreaker, I'd take the same approach, then get out stones and flatten the back - look for pits. If back of blade is badly pitted near the cutting edge, a replacement blade is probably a good idea.
If it is ok, sharpen it up, adjust the cap/chipbreaker, and find some wood to plane.
Not much work needed to validate it will do it's job. If you are not satisfied with how it looks, there is always more polishing you can do, but this way, you'll know it is worthwhile if it cuts first.
I can't tell, but it looks like a low knob plane, which I happen to prefer.
My argument for the use of Evaporust is that it's a "fire and forget" method. So long as the item remains submerged, the rust and gunk is handled. So for me it has allowed me to do other things instead of spending time greasing my elbows. Either method works, chemical or mechanical, works better with full disassembly.
But many people don't like the resultant dark patina it produces. It's a side effect of the chelation process it is using to convert red rust and unrusted iron to iron-oxide acting as a future barrier to red rust. And it will get down inside pits and threads so long as you either leave it along long enough to soak through anything filling up the pit or use a little mechanical abrasion to speed up the penetration.
Other than occasionally straining out the chunks of goo and replacing some of the water that has evaporated, I'm still using the same gallon of Evaporust I bought years ago. At least 7 years ago, might be 10. I know one person who used a just a couple gallons of the stuff to derust a huge Barnes Planer. Thing is about the size of a Volkswagen Beatle. He was patient.
Chemically de-rust it, mechanically de-rust it , don't de-rust it. Whatever floats your goat. But clean it off a bit, sharpen up and test it. Jointer planes aren't smoothing planes and they don't have to be perfect specimens to do the job.
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. -- G. Carlin
You could remove the rust from the bottom by rubbing it vigorously with wood. I tend to sharpen the blade first and remove and smoothen wood while de rusting the parts that need rust to be removed.
Point is, a lot of the hand plane restoration is just cosmetic. Focus on sharpening. You can clean the rest with WD-40 and a tooth brush.
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