New(to me) planes

[Paul O.]

My Stanley #4 that I won on ebay arrived today. Boy is it dirty, this is going to be interesting. Quite a bit of rust but doesn't look like deep pitting type rust. The real problems I think are the two bolts that hold the frog to the body are frozen. I twisted off the bolt that holds the tote to the body, so will have to drill that out. Also the adjusting nut is rusted so bad I think that piece will have to be replaced all together. All in all not too bad I think for $16.50 and the expierence I'll gain from this. Also went to a couple antique stores today and picked up a #5 Stanley Bailey in excellent condition, not sit on the shelf pretty, but clean and usuable for $44.00. Also got a 9 1/4 Stanley block plane for $24.00 in good looking shape. Haven't had a chance to try and date em yet, but noticed the 4&5 don't have patent dates on the bed. The 4 has a patent # on the back of the lever cap. That is all I know at the moment. Yep, will be interesting. Any comments, please feel free. Thanks for listening.

[bridger]

for the frozen screws, a long soak with wd40 punctuated with some taps with a mediumish hammer. tap straight down on it through a screwdriver as well as at right angles to the lenght of the screw right through the castings. don't hit hard, just tap, but do it lots of times. it'll help the wd40 capillary and percolate through the rust....

[Kevin B]

You can also try sending your nasty planes to Mike in Katy, Texas. His website is

does great work for reasonable prices. Planes look new when he's done.

Regards,

Kevin B.

[Paul O.]

this myself as I can first.

Paul O. [e-mail]

[Tom Veatch]

Paul,

FWIW, I remember when I was researching electrolytic rust removal, there were some comments in the Google results from an auto restorer. He indicated that he used the electrolytic process to free up frozen engine parts in junkyard engine blocks. I've never tried it and cannot comment on the effectiveness. But, thought I'd bring it to your attention.

Also, when you start on the sheared off bolt, be aware that it is a "non-standard" diameter/pitch combination. If you try to chase the threads with a "standard" bottoming tap, you may be in for more trouble.

At the very least it looks like you are going to need a replacement tote rod. Stanley still offers repair parts for bench planes,

I suspect those parts are applicable to the later models and may or may not be interchangeable with the vintage variety. You may wish to verify application before purchase.

Other sources for Stanley replacement parts include

(Mostly specialty plane parts are listed on the website)

(Stanley replacement parts, new, old, and 3rd party style)

Good luck. It is indeed a pleasure to rescue one of those old tools from the scrap heap and restore it to useful life.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA