Refurbished a #3 in less than 1/2 hour - Fun!
Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.
>Last year when I visited my parents, I went lurking in the basement where my father puts his woodworking tools.
Now, as a backgrounder, my father is a retired mechanic, and is used to that "oil mist" that float in mechanics' shops, so none of his mechanics' tools ever rust (on top of most of his tools being chrome vanadium, which aren't prone to rust much in the first place).
But he thinks that woodworking tools behave the same way... So last summer I pulled out of a closet a "Defiance by Stanley" #3 (not the actual number, I just can't remember it right now). That thing was just a total piece of rust, with a broken tote on top of it all. When I went back home I dismantled the plane, glued the tote back together (it was a clean break, fortunately), and ran the plane parts through electrolysis. Afterwards I put it back together, but since I didn't have a need for it I just left it there.
Now my father is in town, and tonight I was giving him a short "tutorial" on planes. As we spoke I showed him the plane, which used to be a hunk of rust. I then told him that the plane was still indeed useable (even if it's not a Bailey or better), so I told him I would demonstrate how to do it...
Since I've never known dad to be of the patient type, I rushed through all the tune-up steps. But lo and behold, after less than half an hour I had a plane that could take shavings in the one to two thou thickness range...
Mind you, the plane is not in the kind of shape I would accept for myself (I went way too fast on some items), but dad was mighty impressed by the shavings that came out of what used to be a hunk of rust... He would have never guessed that this plane still had some life in it (even a low grade Defiance).
Everyone was happy. That's what matters...
DC