The blade and chipbreaker on the plane are next on the list (not that the order is that important).  Here’s a photo of the parts before starting cleanup.

The chipbreaker looks pretty good.  The blade…maybe.  Getting a usable blade with an old plane is a gamble.  In my experience, the odds are about 50-50.  At a glance, the blade looks okay, but on close inspection you can see rust pits near the edge.  Pits are almost impossible to remove unless they are very shallow.  There is also evidence of overheating near the edge.

I started with the blade.  To remove the pitting and overheated areas I went to my grinder and just ground off the end of the blade.  I removed about 1/8″, grinding it off square to the face.  I then went to a coarse diamond stone to flatten the face and remove any remaining pitting.  I spent about 30 minutes there (about the limit of my patience – longer than that and I consider the blade not worth rescuing), then took it to my Shapton ceramic stones (1000-4000-8000).  At 4000 grit, the surface looked like this:

Not good!  I had never seen this kind of pattern before, but I knew it couldn’t be good.  Differences in color in heat-treated steel usually indicate differences in hardness.  This color change typically shows up as a straight line about 1 1/2″ from the beveled edge of the blade, indicating the depth to which the steel was quenched during heat treatment.  This was no straight line.

I took an awl and tried scratching the surface.  You can see in the photo where the awl made a scratch in the dark area (click the photo to enlarge).  To the left of the scratch, in the lighter area, you can barely make out where I tried to make a similar scratch.  The dark area, which encompassed most of the edge, was soft and not capable of holding a sharp edge.  The blade was worthless (and a waste of 40 minutes of my time).

The only spare 2″ blade I had was a used Hock I had just purchased from a friend who was closing his shop.  It now had a home.

On to the chipbreaker.  The chipbreaker on this plane is the old style; the business end is tapered gracefully to a point.  On later versions, the taper is much more abrupt, more like the bevel on the blade.  Functionally, I don’t think it matters, but the earlier version is certainly more elegant and shows more attention to detail:

Older versions also have, on the underside, the scale from the heat-treating process.  When cleaning up the chipbreaker, I try to leave this “patina.”  The photo below shows two chipbreakers, one older and one newer, after cleanup and deburring (filing) the inevitable dings on the edges.

The primary goal when fettling the chipbreaker is to get it to seat solidly on the face of the blade with no gaps. I also want to create a smooth surface for the chips to slide on as they exit the throat of the plane.  I start with the upper curved surface.  Sometimes, filing is necessary to get the surface ready for stoning.

After filing (if needed), I smooth the surface using waterstones, starting with 1000 grit and finishing at 4000.  I slide the chipbreaker over the stones while rocking it to create a smooth curve.  Here’s the completed top side, ready for those shavings to glide right over!

I place the chipbreaker in position on the blade and look for gaps at the interface.  Gaps here would allow chips to wedge themselves between the blade and chipbreaker, quickly clogging the mouth of the plane and making it impossible to use.

Cleaning up this interface involves stoning it at an angle.  You can’t just lay the chipbreaker on a stone and rub; the angle needs to be steeper than that.  I set it up so the back end is about 3/4″ lower than the front, then rub the chipbreaker across the stone.  I find that a diamond stone works best for this.

You must be careful when doing this to ensure the surface you create is flat.  It’s easy to create a convex surface.  Check it by placing it back in position on the blade and looking for gaps.  In the photo above (the one showing the undersides) you can see the shiny area created by stoning process.

Next on the to-do list is to clean up the fasteners and lever cap.  My philosophy is to get all the crud off, but not loose the 90-year-old patina.  I suppose you could make the plane look like new, but I don’t see the point in that.  My goal is a tool that looks like it’s been well used, but well cared for.

You can see the “before” version of the parts here.  Lots of crud, but no evidence of serious rust or broken parts.  My cleanup arsenal includes WD-40 (and/or BoeShield), 00 and 0000 steel wool, a small brass-bristle wire brush, a toothbrush, a fine Sandflex block, a flat jewelers file, and a putty knife or 6-inch ruler (not the flexible kind).

On the screws, I start with the wire brush.  It does a great job of removing the crud and surface rust but not harming the patina.  If all goes well, that’s all you need.  But that’s rare.  You may need to use the Sandflex block to remove thicker deposits on the screw head; if so, be careful you don’t make the head shiny.  You can also use the wire brush to clean the threads.  The file can be used to clean up sharp edges in the screwdriver slot.  Sometimes, I’ll lightly chuck the threads of a screw in my drill press (don’t use the chuck key, just tighten snugly by hand), and spin the screw while holding the wire brush or Sandflex block.  The sharp corner of the 6-inch ruler can be used to clean out the screwdriver slot.  Here’s a before and after photo of one of the frog attach screws.

And here’s the brass adjusting nut.  It’s a little brighter than I’d like, but it was so full of crud it was difficult to save any of the original patina.  I mostly used the brass brush on it; the Sandflex block is too harsh on the brass.

The lever cap is a very prominent part of the plane, so I really try to keep it looking nice.  I primarily use the brass brush and steel wool on it.  In this case, I had to use the putty knife to carefully scrape off some particularly hard deposits.  I avoid the Sandflex block; it would remove the patina.  A little WD-40 or BoeShield also helps to loosen up bits of crud and lubricates the moving parts.  I blow out things out with compressed air when done.  Here are all the parts, after cleanup.  Purty!

Finally, the next step…  In the time it’s taken me to get this series of plane tune-up posts done, Fine Woodworking has published two articles on the topic and stolen much of my thunder.  But, I’m happy to say that I’ve recently completed the plane and hope to get the remaining posts up soon.

The interface between the frog and plane body must be solid and free of racking forces which could distort the parts.  Most old plane parts don’t meet these requirements; the frog typically rocks a bit when seated on the plane body.  I test this by placing the plane body on the bench, then setting the frog in position.  I then grasp the frog and see if it rocks; on this plane it didn’t, which is rare.  It can be hard to tell sometimes; the rocking can be very subtle.

Next, I press down on the frog and slide it back and forth.  This allows me to see where the parts actually touch each other.  The photo below shows the results of this test.  (Click on the image to bring up a larger version.)  The arrows point to the shiny areas that indicate rubbing.  Note that the frog adjusting screw and corresponding adjuster tab on the frog must be removed in order to perform this procedure.

In order to get better contact, I’ll lap the parts together.  I put a drop or two of oil on each of the three “pads,” then sprinkle a tiny bit of 100 grit silicon carbide lapping compound on the oil.  A little bit goes a long way – don’t overdo it.  Lee Valley sells 90x lapping grit, or you can use something similar from an auto parts store.  I lightly clamp the plane body in a vise, place the frog in position, and with both hands grasping the frog as shown, slide it back and forth while applying downward pressure.  The grit cuts the cast iron, resulting in a matched set of parts.  Be careful clamping the plane body; note that I have it clamped along the bottom edge so the clamping forces are not bending anything.

When done, the pads are consistently dull over their whole surface (or most of it).  This plane turned out quite nice, with most of the surfaces lapped.  I’m mostly concerned about the two nearest the mouth; they turned out great.  The process on this plane took about 10 minutes.

When I’m done, I clean the parts with paint thinner and then carefully blow out the area with compressed air.  Make sure you get all the grit out of the threaded holes.  Installing a screw in one of those holes with even a little grit will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

One last note:  A couple of years ago, I worked on a plane in which the frog was so poorly machined it couldn’t be lapped without filing it first.  If you end up in this unfortunate situation, be advised that filing the frog is possible, but you can ruin it quickly if you’re not careful.  Go slowly and deliberately, keep the pressure on the file directly over the area being filed, and take small strokes.  Good luck!

First, an update:  Winger Tool is no longer accepting planes for machining.  Steve Winger was having trouble getting consistent results and decided it wasn’t worth his time to do this work.  I suggest you go to Ro-La Grinding in Culver City, 310-397-9718.

Second:  Yes, it’s been quite a while since I updated the blog.  My apologies if you were waiting on the edge of your seat to see what comes next on the plane tune-up…

Next up on the plane body is the mouth.  It won’t take much to make it right; as I noted in the last post it’s in good shape.  I first clamp the plane body vertically in a vise.  Be careful here; you could crack the body if you overdo it.

Here, I’m filing the front edge of the mouth with an 8″ mill bastard file.  A 10″ file is usually too thick to fit in the mouth, although if it did I’d use it.  I file until the surface is flat and square.  I check it as shown in the previous post.

Here’s the mouth after filing.

Straight and square…

Next, I change the angle of the body as shown and open up the throat.  This allows shavings to more easily exit the plane  and not get stuck between the front of the mouth and the chipbreaker.

The mouth, complete.  Note the chamfer; I was careful not to completely remove the flat from the initial filing.

If you look at a Lie-Nielsen plane, you’ll see they machine the mouths on their bench planes in a similar manner.

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.

UPDATE:  Winger Tool is no longer accepting planes for machining.  He was having trouble getting consistent results and decided it wasn’t worth his time to do this work.  I suggest you go to Ro-La Grinding in Culver City, 310-397-9718.