Not your average restore.

Union?? #4     

If tools with character is your thing, this will fit very well in your shop. I’m only guessing this is a Union, and if it is, its an early one. Its well built and works very well. The front knob bolt is similar to the Union X series. The rear tote bolt was similar but I had to replace it because someone had cut it way to short. If the Buyer would like the original I will send it. There are no markings on the base other than the size.

The tote is an experiment of mine. It came out ok. Its rosewood with some Ash reinforcement strips. It is a replacement tote, the original was trashed. The knob is the original mahogany.

As you can see, the chip breaker has some serious pitting. I thought about replacing it, but the business end is perfect, and it just fits the plane. The original cutter was a Victory replacement. (I assume replacement). It was pitted a very small amount, but enough so I wouldn’t leave it in a smoother. It now has a Stanley cutter.

The cap has a pebbled look. I almost think it may have been painted originally, but I see no evidence of that.

It has been Completely tuned and sharpened and it works very well. It will make a very good smoother for a reasonable price tag.

The before

And restored.

Yes, its for sale, https://timetestedtools.wordpress.com/tools-for-sale-2/

I almost hate to sell it, but I need to regain some space.

 

Thanks for looking.

Don

A Jenny revival –The Stanley #37

Join the conversation on the timetestedtool forum

When she came to me, this was the condition.

(ref http://supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan4.htm#num37) The name "Jenny" is unique to this plane. Since this plane is slightly shorter than the metallic jack plane, a parallel naming was taken from the asses (donkies). "Jack" is a commonly used when referring to the male donkey, and "Jenny" is a name sometimes used for the female donkey. The jenny is smaller than the jack, hence the naming of the planes. All of this is really conjecture, but it sure provides some filler for an otherwise bland series of planes.

This plane also has the step in the wood, with the cast iron frame following the contour of the wood, though not as pronounced as the #35 and #36. This isn’t a very common plane, but Stanley saw fit to offer it for some 50 years.

A soak in some BLO

Watch the cracks and checks disappear. Semi-wet sand with BLO (Tru Oil works to). It needs to jell up. I let this set over night. And the first coats of tru-oil are put on after. They will be wet sanded until I’m happy with the hidden checks. A little planing and Scraping just to remove the gunk.

Saving the #5!

Join the discussion at http://timetestedtools.forumchitchat.com/post/saving-the-5-7734964?pid=1289352214#post1289352214

I was looking through my broken plane pile for some inspiration. I came across a #5 with some issues.

I set it on the bench for a better look. There has to be a way to save it. A little comparison to a #604, and away we go.

A way to use the original thread even though I haven’t sprung for a tap and die yet.

I decided to leave it sandblasted and clear coated. I like the greyish “gunmetal” look”

— Master hand plane hoarder. – http://timetestedtools.com

A type 14 Stanley #5C restored.

I don’t have any before pictures, because this beauty came with a type 20/21 frog with the folded lateral, so I wasn’t even going to do anything with it. I changed my mind more just to see how much work it would take, since it was a jack anyhow, I figured it would be ok. I thought it was strange that it had rosewood, but I didn’t think to hard on it.

On closer inspection though, I found this wonderful type 14. Based on the broken tote tip, I would say it was dropped and the original frog busted.

I had the correct frog, so its all back to normal now.

I didn’t do the tote repair, its an old repair which seems very solid. I just sanded it out and refinished, leaving the history intact.

Check out my tools for sale…..

My June #5 restore

A recent restore I thought I’d share.

The before

And as it is for sale

 

And if you haven’t done so already, please take a look at the new web site.

dw

Page 3 – Some Before and After Pictures (My Restores)

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I bought this #5 figuring it was a parts plane. It didn’t have a lever cap (the one in the before is one I added) and the rust was pretty bad, so I figured it was toast.

But with a lot of TLC, I think its back in true form. A type 9 I believe. The blade is pitted bad enough that I can’t see what the logo was, but the pitting stops at the cap.

 

Page 3 – Some Before and After Pictures (My Restores) -  Page 2 – Some Before and After Pictures (My Restores) – Page 1 – Some Before and After Pictures (My Restores)

How about a Stanley type 5 #4 restore with some Character?

So seemingly a typical restore, but through the rust and grime I never noticed the break/fix on the rear of the heel. The fix was pretty old and its solid. And the hole, well that’s a mystery. Maybe the owner thought it would help hold the broken tote. Either way, this seems like a nice type 5 #4 with a bunch of character.

 

I Replaced the transitional cap with a one from a reasonably close vintage. I’ll still need to finds the right iron (cap screw hole in the top) but that’s a minor detail.

Added some cherry wood to dress it up a little.

Sargent #415

Next is the Sargent #415. The Sargent# 415 is like the Stanley# 5 1/2 size. This one I have before pictures of.

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Note the condition of the knob and tote. They obviously needed replacement, and I wanted something other than rosewood. I decided on bloodwood. A lot of Sargent’s came with Mahogany, but I didn’t have any available. I thought this was a suitable replacement. And Of course I never make one at a time.

The japanning was shot as well, so it needed to be stripped and repainted. As with the #708 and all my repainting, I used Dupli-Color Engine Enamel DUPDE1635 Ford Semi Gloss Black spray paint

 

I put a modest camber on the blade, so no full width shavings, but a nice jack style plane for my collection.

 

And the two together

Thanks for looking and may all your irons stay sharp and your shaving stay crisp.

The Sargent 708

I bought this plane because it came with some others that I made a deal on. It didn’t have a iron and it sat for a while. After doing some research I found out these go for a quit a bit of money, so I figured I find a blade and get it working. The #708 is a #3 size smoother.

After looking around a bit and emailing a few people, Bob Kaune over at http://www.antique-used-tools.com emailed and said he had a blade, so I bought it.

The plane needed repainting so I sandblasted it and stripped it. Painted it with Dupli-Color Engine Enamel DUPDE1635 Ford Semi Gloss Black spray paint as I suggest in my restoration blog.

The Sargent 708 has a feature I haven’t had on any bench plane before. The front piece acts as the cap iron and its adjustable, so you can fine tune it for a very thin shaving, without taking anything apart.

This plane works amazingly well. This piece you see it sitting on is a piece of ash I use for testing. This is the first plane that totally eliminates tear on this stuff, including the Ulmia 25.

Note all the pictures. I just kept stopping what I was doing (restoring a Sargent 415) to take a few shavings. It was wonderful.

 

 

I can find any before pictures, but its in with a group.

 

the Sargent #15 Shaw Patent.

I made some awesome scores at the Madison Bouckville antique festival this year. Maybe you’ve already seen the Stanley #1 I found, or the Sargent 307, or the Ulmia #25? Well today I cleaned up the Sargent #15. I’ve never had a Sargent #15, or any of the shaw patents before.

I’ve also started a sort of fondness for Sargent. I absolutely love their block planes. I’m not a big fan of the typical 40x series and thought the Sargent bench plane series was a bust until I snagged this little sweet heart.

The Shaw patent was put out similar to the Bedrock. It’s got a frog design that allows the frog to be adjusted without the blade being removed. If they are all like this one, they are a high quality hand plane.

The casting is heavy, the blade is thicker with a slight taper, the cap iron is heavier, and the knob and tote is nice. I don’t think its rosewood, but its something beautiful.

This is the way it came.

I’d love to determine its value, but so far I haven’t found one for sale, or thats been sold, so it’s still a mystery.