This is part 4 in my plane tune-up series.  In this post, I’ll be fettling the body of the plane.  I got it back from the machinist a while ago, about two weeks after dropping it off.   However, I didn’t take a good look at it when I picked it up.  Steve at Winger Tool was having some problems with his grinding wheel and the sole wasn’t as smooth as I wanted.  It was probably just fine from a functional standpoint, but it didn’t look that great, certainly not up to his usual standards.  It took me a while to get it back down to him…

He cleaned it up for me, taking off an additional two or three thousandths.  Here’s a photo of the bottom.

The grinding process leaves the edges of the body pretty sharp.  I use a mill smooth file to lightly file the side edges, hitting them just enough to keep them from cutting me.

Similarly, I file the front and back edges.  I’m careful not to remove too much material here, as rounding these areas too much may allow the plane, in use, to ride up and over shavings or debris in its path.  Here are before and after shots of the back edge of the plane.

The mouth of the plane is next.  The mouth holds the shaving down during use to help reduce tearout.  In order to do that well, the front edge of the mouth should be square to the body and straight.  It should also be relatively sharp; when viewed from the side of the plane, the arris between the sole and the vertical part of the mouth should not have any radius.  Here, I’m checking the mouth with a combination square.

Another view of the mouth prior to modification:

The mouth on this plane is surprisingly good.  Typically, they aren’t quite square and rarely this straight.  It won’t take much to get this one in fine shape.  I’ll discuss fettling the mouth in the next post.

The first order of business for cleanup is the body of the plane.  If it’s not in decent shape, all I have is a paperweight with some spare parts.  During the cleanup process, I’ll primarily be looking for cracks.

I use paint thinner or kerosene to clean the metal parts.  I pour it in a pan and use a toothbrush to clean most surfaces.  Because there are lots of corners which the toothbrush won’t reach, I also use an acid brush with the bristles cut to about 3/8″.  It does a much better job of getting into the corners.

I use a Q-Tip to get into the screw holes.  I also thread the appropriate screws in and out of the threaded holes a few times, which along with the solvent, cleans things up nicely.

The japanning is typically chipped off in many places, and the cast iron below is often rusted.  I use a small wire brush with light pressure to clean up the rust.  Too much pressure will scratch the japanning.

This plane had some white paint splattered on it, which did not come off with the wire brush.  I used a somewhat dull scratch awl to pick away at the paint.  The scratch awl was also helpful in cleaning the corner areas near the frog interface.  Here’s a detail photo of the cleaned up body.  Lots of pitting, but I’ll deal with that later.

Next, I want to determine if the sole is flat.  The area of most concern is around the mouth.  In order for the plane to work well, the mouth area needs to be in close contact with the wood.  I use a straightedge to check.

Not good.  At the most important location, the front edge of the mouth, the sole of the plane is about .010 hollow.  If I wanted to use the plane for relatively rough work, this wouldn’t be a problem.  But I use my #5 for all kinds of things, including smoothing, and I want the sole flat.    How to get there?

It’s quite possible to do this yourself with some sandpaper and a flat surface.  With the price of sandpaper at least a buck a sheet, and my time valued at something greater than $10/hr, it’s a no-brainer for me.  I’m going to have it machined.  There are  two grinding shops in the Los Angeles area who have done this for me before, Ro-La Grinding in Culver City and Winger Tool in Stanton.  Ro-La was “trained” in the art of plane grinding by Allan Boardman back in the 1980′s.  Steve Winger’s shop used to be adjacent to Cerritos College, where I teach.  We got him up to speed a few years ago and he has since ground many planes for our handtool class students.

So, it’s off to the grind shop for the next step.  When I get the body back, I’ll do a bit more cleanup and deal with the chipped japanning.

I finally received the plane I won on eBay.  The seller mailed it quickly after the auction ended, but due to the Memorial Day weekend I didn’t get it until over a week later.  The “unboxing” went well, although the box itself was a bit ruffled.  The corner was broken out and I could see the end of the plane.  The only padding was a paper bag.  Fortunately, the plane was okay.

I was able to quickly determine that it’s a Type 11, my first choice in Stanley plane types.  The three patent dates mean Type 11 or 12; the low knob and small adjuster nut indicate a Type 11.  A quick look showed no serious defects, no cracks, no missing parts.

Given the amount of crud on the plane, it was obvious it hadn’t been cleaned in quite a while.  It had been used, however, as the handle, knob, and blade adjustment nut were clean.  Whoever owned it before didn’t care much about appearances!  The blade was still pretty long, so it hadn’t been sharpened a bunch.  Good news.

Taking the lever cap off was easy.  If the lever cap is difficult to get off, it means either something is frozen up or it was put on too tight.  Too tight often means someone tightened the lever cap with the screw instead of the lever (not a good thing).  The frog attach screws also came out easily.  Things were still looking good.

Wow!  Lots of crud around and under the frog; apparently, it hadn’t been removed in quite a while.  Not a problem; actually a good sign.  Why good?   Many people tend to overtighten screws and/or use the wrong size screwdriver, which can mess up screw heads.  These are in great shape.

Next, the blade.  If it’s too rusted on the non-beveled side, it won’t be useable without lots of work.

Both blade and chipbreaker look pretty good.  I see no major pitting on the blade near the edge, although it’s a little hard to see until it’s cleaned up some more.  The other end of the blade is bent, but I should be able to fix that.  The chipbreaker looks great.  From what I understand, the black on the underside is from the heat-treating process.  Usually, it’s not this clean and consistent.  Another good sign.

Here’s a photo of all the parts.  Everything looks great and I think this plane will clean up very nicely to make a great user.

I was amazed at how much crud came out of the plane, so I included it in the photo.  As for the rest of the parts, I’ll discuss how I clean them up in future posts.  When the plane is complete, I’ll be selling it on eBay.  My current #5 has been with me for a long time and I don’t need another one.

I just purchased a plane on eBay.  Not that I need another  plane…  I just wanted to describe the steps I take to tune up a bench plane, and I neglected to purchase a suitable plane last week at the quarterly Old Tool Swap at Anderson Plywood in Culver City.  Just plane forgot…

The plane is a Stanley #5.  It’s a little hard to tell in the photo, but I think it’s a Type 11 – low knob, no raised ring around knob, no logo on lever cap, small adjuster knob.  When purchasing old Stanley bench planes, the Type 11 is my first choice; I like the low knob.  Types 11 through 16, however, have the main features I’m looking for:  frog-adjusting screw, rosewood knob and tote, and the frog is accurately located front and back (more on that later).  If you want more info on Stanley plane types, there’s plenty on the web; Google this if you’re interested.

The seller only posted the photo above and this description “Nice #5 Baily wood plane.  Blade is a Stanley with the Sweetheart mark. Handle has a chip removed at the top; but no cracks. A few spots of lite rust. This is as found, has not been cleaned.”  Bidding started at $9.90 and shipping was $13.03.  Perfect for my project.

When purchasing an old plane, I have the following questions:

1. Is anything cracked?  Cracks on the body around the mouth area immediately disqualify the purchase.
2. Are all the parts there?  Parts can be replaced, but I’d prefer to not mess with hunting down replacement parts.
3. Is the blade salvageable?  No pitting near the tip, lots of blade left, and flat.  Ron Hock and others make great replacement irons, but this will add about $35 to the plane.  Ditto for the chipbreaker, but at a lesser cost.
4. Is there a lot of rust?  Surface rust is no problem, but when parts are really pitted, I’ll pass.
5. Are the handle and tote salvageable?  No serious cracks.  A chipped handle (like this plane) can be fixed, but some damage isn’t worth fixing and will require replacement.
6. Are the adjustment knob and lateral adjusting lever working well?  The brass adjustment knob can get pretty trashed where it interfaces with the Y-adjusting lever, or the knurling can be worn off.  The lateral adjusting lever rivets can be loose, the washer may be missing, or the little tab at the far end of the lever can be loose or missing.  The knob is easy to replace, but replacing the lateral adjusting lever is tricky business.

From what I could see in the photo, everything looked pretty good, but I needed more info.  I emailed the seller to see if he could supply some additional photos.  He did, emailing me three pics.  They showed the underside of the body around the mouth; the blade/chipbreaker and lever cap; and the area behind the frog.  Not great pics, but enough for me to determine what I’d spend on the plane.

I decided my maximum price would be $35 including the shipping, which worked out to a max bid of $21.97.  No one was bidding on the plane, so I hoped I might get it for much less.  Turns out, I got the plane with a winning bid of $12.47, for a total price of $25.50.  I quickly paid, and the seller shipped it the next day.

As I write this it’s on way from Connecticut to Southern California…