Old hand plane and new "Japan", need help

Follow the flashing dot... *LINK*

Scott Burr in foggy Ben Lomond CA

>To the articles and review section. Lots of good info under the handtool section.


http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl#handtools

Re: Old hand plane and new "Japan", need help

Todd Hughes

>Japaning is a mixture of Asphaltum,[Tar like substance] and other items not really a paint like is normaly thought of .After appliying it the peice is heated up in an oven so that the Jappaning will smooth out and be cured so as to be more hard and durable.

In my experance seeing well used planes that someone has tried to make look "Like New",[mostly by painting and over cleaning] they sort of turn out like a 70 year old woman trying to look like a teen ager by wearing pig tails and a cheerleader dress.Just doesn't do it and at best looks kind of goofy.If the plane has more then 60% or so of it's original jappaning I would just properly clean it up and leave it at that. I have re jappaned a good many planes but normly tone them back afterward to make them look like a clean 95% plane that has seen light use.Much more believable and better looking then some plane that has been shined up in a failed attempt to make it look "Like New".

If you do decide to refinish the plane I would recomend that you do re japan it instead of just painting it.Is very important to remove all the original jappaning.I do this with little scrappers and a wire wheel but have heard of people using paint strippers with good luck.....Todd

Re: Old hand plane and new "Japan", need help *LINK*

Wendell @ Murphy, TX

>If you don't want to do the re-japanning yourself, there's a fellow on the web that does plane restoration. I have heard good things about his replacement handles.

Wendell


Plane Wood by Mike_In_Katy

mike does nice work on totes....

John Truxell-Svenson (jvs)

>...and can do things like put a low knob on a raised ring base, if that is what you want. I asked him to do a set with a low ring and more vertical MF/Cliton-style tote to fit a couple of mid-century Stanleys, and the workmanship/finish was flawless (he may still have the pattern if you are interested). Only seen pictures of his reconditioning (zapping, cleaning, and re-japanning), but they sure look pretty.




/jvs

Thanks to you all ...

Ron, Sacramento, CA

>sounds like I may just keep my 70 year old lady and appreciate her for what she is, though new wood may be an appropriate update.

Ron