Stanley #81
Mark in B'ham
>When I went to KY this weekend, my father gave me an old Stanley #81 scraper plane. Now I need to know what to do with it. I found some info on some other web sites that told me that the #81 was manufactured between 1909 and 1942 and is cast iron with a nickle plate and rosewood for the sole. This site, http://www.brendlers.net/oldtools/scraping/scraper.htm had a lot of info on sharpening the blade but a few questions remain. I was hoping some of y'all would know what to do.
Right now the blade is sharpened on a curve and everything I've seen so far shows a flat bevel. I know that you can put a slight curve on the edge of a plane iron to keep the edges from leaving marks, but this whole blade is curved. Was that perhaps a characteristic of the #81 as opposed to the #80? If so, what do I need to do to keep the curve right as I'm sharpening and drawing the burr?
Secondly, do I need to do anything to the sole to keep the rosewood in good repair. It seems to be solid but I haven't checked it for flatness. How much care do I need to take when I'm flattening it?
Thank's for the help.