Hand tools

I’m finally finishing up this series of posts on plane tune-up.  If you want to see them all, click the “plane tune-up” tag at the bottom of this post.

Assembly of the plane is pretty straightforward, so I’ll skip the simple stuff.  There’s one area, however, that often gets overlooked – the frog installation.

The frog location is important for the plane to work its best.  There are two things to keep in mind; 1) the size and 2) the shape of the mouth.  Everyone addresses the first issue; I’ve never seen or heard anyone address the second issue.  In the first photo below, I’ve temporarily mounted the frog without installing the frog attach screws.  The frog is located front-to-rear using the frog adjustment screw, so that the blade bed (the surface on which the blade sits) is just in front of the rear of the opening in the plane body.  The frog adjusting screw is shown in the second photo below; the bed location is shown in the third photo below.

Sighting down the bed (first photo), you can see that the bed is not parallel to the front edge of the opening in the body.  This will create a mouth (when the blade is installed) that is larger on one side than the other.  In this case the left side is larger than the right.  This opening can be adjusted in different ways, depending on the type of plane.  On this plane, a Type 11, the frog “yaw angle” is set by features built into the plane.  The front of the frog is located side-to-side by the machined tab (tongue and groove?) shown in the third photo.  The rear of the frog is located side-to-side and fore-and-aft by the frog adjusting screw and the clip into which it mounts (second photo).  The front location is fixed, so any yaw adjustment must be made in the rear.  This is done by removing the frog, loosening the frog-adjusting-nut clip and repositioning it to the appropriate side.  In this case, I moved the clip to the right, which moved the rear of the frog to the left, fixing the problem (fourth photo).

If you have a plane that does not have the machined tongue and groove, you can just position the frog manually.  It’s not hard to do, but it’s easier and more repeatable with the features described above.  That’s why I like the Type 11 and Type 12 planes.  I think some later planes also had the feature, but I’m not sure when Stanley quit including it.  I’ve never seen the feature listed on any of the Stanley Type-study pages.

As to the size of the mouth, that’s up to you.  Of course, the smaller the shaving you plan to make, the smaller the mouth.

Here’s one of the first shavings to come off the completed plane.  Note that I have sharpened the blade with a slight crown or curve to the edge so the shaving is thicker in the middle and feathers out on the edges.  Sharpening in this way will allow multiple passes across the face of a board without leaving plane tracks.

Here’s a detail shot of the shaving.

And here are the money shots.

I believe this plane is about as tweaked as you can get on old Stanley.  It won’t out-perform a $325 Lie-Nielsen, but at $25.50 for the plane and $38 for the Hock blade, it’s a great deal.

Almost there!  This will be the last step prior to assembling the plane.

The japanning on this plane is chipped and missing in places, which is very common on these old tools.  You could strip/sandblast it off and start over, but I think that’s too much work.  Overkill, too, unless you want to make your plane look like new.  If you’re interested, check out this link.

My goal is to get the tool working and fight off future rust.  Shellac works great for this.  I use Zinsser Bulls-Eye Shellac and just brush it on the japanned surfaces.

I use an artist’s brush; the one shown is on the small side but it’s what I have handy.  After the shellac is dry, I clean up any areas where I don’t want shellac, like the frog interface, with denatured alcohol.

Here’s the completed plane body.

Note that I also brush shellac on the japanned areas of the frog.

Next – assembly!  Finally…

The tote (or handle) on my eBay plane, like on many planes, was broken.  The most common issue, which this plane had, is a broken ear at the top.  Another common break is a crack right across the middle of the tote.

Here’s how I fixed it:

Using my disc sander, I sanded the break smooth, removing as little material as possible.  I then found a piece of rosewood (I think) in which the grain pattern roughly matched the pattern in the handle.  I also tried to match the color, but I have found that this is difficult (as you will see below).  The rosewood can look very different when recently machined vs. when it is finished.

I sanded the interface where the new piece would attach to the existing handle, then cut the piece roughly to size on my bandsaw.  Using epoxy, I attached the new piece.  Note that the top of the new piece was cut so I could easily apply clamping pressure.

When the epoxy was dry, I cut the piece to shape on the bandsaw.

Then I shaped it with rasps, files, and sandpaper.

As you can see, I really missed on the color.  Form follows function, right?

The hole for the attach screw was cleaned up with a Dremel tool, and then I applied a shellac finish.  The shellac is just wiped on, allowed to dry, and smoothed with 0000 steel wool.  Here’s the completed tote.  In another hundred years the color will all blend together…

If the tote is cracked in the middle (and someone hasn’t already botched the repair), I carefully clean the mating surfaces, attempting to remove loose fibers which would prevent a tight fit between the parts.  Since the mating surfaces are not fresh, I clean them with acetone prior to glue-up.  A caul, shaped to fit the top of the handle, is used to get the clamping pressure aligned correctly.

Back to the plane tune-up; the frog is next.  It’s a very important part of the plane; it supports the blade and blade support is crucial to a properly performing plane.  The blade must be held rock-solid in order to minimize or eliminate chatter.  Here’s the frog at the start of this process.

I use 150 grit wet-dry sandpaper on a granite surface plate to flatten the blade bed.  The lateral-adjusting lever washer sticks out above the surface, so you can’t flatten the whole surface at once.  I hold the frog off the sandpaper as shown and slide it back and forth parallel to the plate edge.  On some frogs (like this one), the Y-adjusting lever folds flat so it doesn’t project past the bed.  You can see it in the photo below in the retracted position.  This is not always the case, however.  If yours sticks out past the bed, you’ll have to make sure you miss it when sanding.

Once the bed is flat up the the lateral-adjusting lever washer (I forgot to take a photo), I turn the frog to get the side areas.

Here’s the completed bed – smooth and flat.  I’m most concerned about the area near the mouth of the plane, so I’m not worried about missing the very top.

You may think that this process would be easier if you just knocked out the pins that hold the lateral-adjusting lever and Y-adjusting lever.  I don’t recommend it.  The cast iron used in these old tools is extremely brittle and it’s really easy to crack or break the casting when removing the pins, especially around the lateral-adjusting lever.

I apply paste wax to the surface to complete the process.

In case you forgot (it was a while ago) or missed it, the frog/sole interface was addressed here.

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.