Help locating some very old information

Re: Help locating some very old information

Mark Nowicki

Not the one you seem to be looking for but this one is close.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f13/rehabilitating-planes-8243

Help you didn't ask for

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Probably a deburring wheel was used.

Stepping back.....what are your objectives- for these tools, for woodworking, for your spare time etc. Start with a long term goal and then work toward it.

I must say that I shuddered a bit when you described what you thought a good thing to do with these old tools. If you want a tool that looks new buy a new tool. The contentment of using a Stanley #4 from 1930 is the fact that it looks like I am using something that has a lot of history. I object to erasing this history in an electrolysis bath, for example.

I am a maker of stuff and that is my primary motivation. I rehab old tools just to the extent necessary to put them in working condition so they can be used to make stuff. I realize this motivation is not for all, and may not apply to you. So, I just toss it our for consideration. In your shoes, which I am not, I would be spending the winter becoming proficient at sharpening, and basic hand tool skills that could be done in your situation. I could practice sawing dovetails in the kitchen if I had to.

Find and join a local club.

agree with bill...

David Weaver

it was probably a deburring wheel. (i'm not bothered by acidic or rust removal methods so much, but they do look bland - the market of buyers is now users, so this kind of thing used to kill collectible value and it doesn't have much impact now except on rare planes - like a plane with all decals and bright metal still in most places and no use - you won't have those).

Walt Quadrato's tools showed evidence of being whizzed across a deburring wheel - a quick way to get surface rust off without taking much base metal and much nicer than a brass brush (bits of the deburring wheel fly off, but not like wire missiles).

Deburring wheels aren't cheap, but if you have a bunch of tools to work though, you'll get your money's worth.

Be careful on saws. The tension in saws is rolled into the surface. If you deburr them too much or sand them too much, they'll lose it.

I use a gray fine wheel from 3m on a 6" buffer. They're about $40, but you could do a hundred mid sized tools with one (and with some touch, you can choose if you want the wheel just to scrub the stuff on the surface, or if you want it to whiz off everything and leave kind of a polished metallic look.

If it's necessary but you don't like the look, a quick wash with gun blue or something similar (not a full bluing, but just something to knock the sheen off of the metal) will fake the aged look a little bit and then wear nicely.

Dealing with rust

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

In a word, no need to for woodworking. Old tools have gotten cheap compared to when I began buying some. I have bought ready to go Stanley #4's at Old Tool meets for $30. No rust removal necessary.

As David pointed out, it is possible to screw up a tool by trying to "restore" it without the knowledge to do so.

There will be occasions where something of great value is rusted and needs work to become collectable or useable. But this activity falls in the category of tool collecting, not woodworking. The Midwest Old Tool Collectors organization and forum is where the tool collectors/restorers hang out. They don't read the books you described.

Old vs. new or totally refreshed...

David Weaver

..a brand new tool or a vintage tool surface ground or with some other nonsense done to it that has a bare toothy cast surface is just a pain (by toothy, I mean any fresh grind that hasn't been burnished -even a fine grind).

Rust magnets, and when they start perfect, then you tend to think the rust can't be left there.

I FAR prefer using tools with some patina left on them and less than perfect lack of rust (especially in non-critical areas) because one never wastes time chasing rust - and following around boutique tools or refreshed tools with various oils and potions and checking them when not using them or any such thing is a complete waste of time.

The one caveat is I don't like my saws rusting (every surface is a bearing surface on them), but once in a while, a close cut or bind is encountered and a bit of paraffin or beeswax on warm saw pulls double duty and gets through the cut and waxes the surface at the same time. I haven't had any panel saw rust in years, and they are in an area where bare cast or bare steel will rust quickly.

I started late compared to most people and a friend encouraged me to buy a LN plane (which I did) as my second plane. I soon had six and faffed around fairly regularly with an oily rag and then my beloved first plane somehow was ignored for a couple of weeks in the shop and got a huge bloom of rust down the cap iron and I spent a fair amount of time (45 minutes?) totally removing it, still leaving a small amount of pitting. What a waste of time. I used the nonsense bottles of "Camelia" oil, which got hard to use in fall and winter in the shop (not warm enough - it starts to set up in the bottle), and of course, the protection provided by it is transient at best and if a plane sits on anything, the oil leaches off of the plane into whatever it's sitting on leaving a spot that rusts quickly later.

The 5 1/4's....

John in NM

You say are not collectors items - I would check into that first. The 5 1/4 is an unusual enough plane to probably rate a higher price in as found condition than reworked. I am not a collector but a user, I only say this because I once had a 5 1/4 and liked it a lot, and when I looked to replace it a few years ago I was surprised at the prices for user grade. Perhaps a fluke, I don't know. I've never understood collecting.