Old tools

[Inor]

I have been spending too much time lately sitting in front of the computer doing real work, so tonight I decided to start another small plane restoration project. So I went to the magic box where I put all of the old hand planes Mrs Inor bought at garage sales and picked out a Stanley-Bailey No 8.



This thing is an absolute beast. It is the largest hand plane Stanley made at 24 inches long and a full 3 inches wide.

This particular one is too new to be a collectable. The casting date on the frog is 4th quarter of 1959. So it was made just about the time that Stanley started to cut corners. It is still a very good plane, just not as desirable as the pre-WWII models. It does still have the Brazilian Rosewood tote and knob. I also think it is pretty cool that the sticker is still on the tote.

It was made when they were still using the old style of japaning, but the japaning is noticeably thinner than on my classic Stanleys. Also the knob on the lateral adjustment lever is still the old style that is a piece of steel that is peened into the lever rather than the new style where they just bend the end of the lever over. So it is still a damn good plane, just not a classic.

Other than some surface rust, it is in outstanding shape. Just based on the wear, I am guessing whoever owned it previously was not a real woodworker. I think they might have wanted to get into wooding and bought the plane then let it sit in the garage for 50 years. From looking at the iron, it still shows the marks from machining it at the factory, so I do not think the iron has ever even been on a sharpening stone. (The very first thing a wood guy does when he takes a new plane out of the box is spends a half day personalizing the iron and getting it razor sharp.)

[Inor]

The other thing that leads me to believe it was hardly, if ever, used is that it came apart really easily. None of the screws were rusted in and everything just came right apart like it just came from the hardware store.



I did not spend a whole lot of time with it tonight other than getting it disassembled. I did get the cap iron and the chip breaker cleaned and "de-rusted". The only thing I noticed is there is a bit of rust under the japaning around the mouth, a spot about 1/4 wide and 1 inch long. It is not horrible, but I think when I clean the body up the japaning around that spot will break off. Even so, I do not think I am going to go through the trouble on this one to sand blast it and re-japan it.



I am real excited about this one because I was planning on making a new shooting board and this will be a prefect shooting plane once I get it done. The sides and bottom are absolutely perfect square and perfectly flat. So it is really just a matter of giving it a little TLC to get it cleaned up and sharpened and get it into service.

[Inor]

Tonight I got the sole cleaned up to 320 grit. There are still a couple stubborn stains that will not come out. But they will not affect performance so I am just going to leave them. They are not horrible. It is just not quite as clean as I would like.

I also decided to try a piece of the countertop from our house build for sanding the sole. I would prefer a piece of float glass, but the plane is big enough any imperfections in the countertop should not cause a problem. So far, it has worked well.

[Inor]

I finally got it done!

I am amazed at how much the quality of Stanley tools dropped from the 1920's to 1959 on this one. You can see in the photos where the castings were not flat even after machining. I did not dare sand it much more. Also, the cutting iron was not even close to flat. As I mentioned in my first post on this one, the iron had obviously never been sharpened. It still took me over 3 hours just to flatten the back.

But I am pretty happy with how it turned out. It will never be a collector, but it will serve me well in the shop. And I am sure Mrs Inor did not even pay $5 for it, so that is even better!

[Slippy]

I finally got it done!

I am amazed at how much the quality of Stanley tools dropped from the 1920's to 1959 on this one. You can see in the photos where the castings were not flat even after machining. I did not dare sand it much more. Also, the cutting iron was not even close to flat. As I mentioned in my first post on this one, the iron had obviously never been sharpened. It still took me over 3 hours just to flatten the back.

But I am pretty happy with how it turned out. It will never be a collector, but it will serve me well in the shop. And I am sure Mrs Inor did not even pay $5 for it, so that is even better!

Excellent! I'm continually impressed with your skills, Inor!

Slippy Approved!

[Inor]

Here is my newest addition. A type 13 Stanley #4 smoothing plane.





This one is not a garage sale special. I picked this one up on Flea Bay and probably spent too much for it - $40. I have not done anything to it beyond removing it from the shipping box. The only thing I did was to take the frog out to see the date stamp - 1936. I do not think anybody has done anything to it other than maybe remove some surface rust and try to sharpen the blade iron. It does not even have any marks on it from steel wool and the marks on the sole appear to be from the factory. The iron is not as sharp as I would like, so I will have to spend some time on that.

I have a couple small wood projects coming up, so I think I will try it with just a good coat of wax and a sharp iron. I will probably put some sweat into bringing the sole and sides up to 600 grit eventually. But that can wait for a little while. Overall, it will make a nice addition to my classic hand plane collection.

[Big Ken]

I was at a thrift store today and they had a plane, I remembered this thread but couldn't remember if the name was one that was mentioned here, so I had to look here again to see if it was one of them, it was a bailey, it seemed kinda of short like the one above, I should have taken a picture, they wanted $13.00, kind of thinking I should have bought it.

[Inor]

I was at a thrift store today and they had a plane, I remembered this thread but couldn't remember if the name was one that was mentioned here, so I had to look here again to see if it was one of them, it was a bailey, it seemed kinda of short like the one above, I should have taken a picture, they wanted $13.00, kind of thinking I should have bought it.

Bailey is a model of Stanley plane. All 3 of the planes I posted about in this thread are Stanley Baileys.

I have always had a couple planes that I kept around the shop for use on projects. But since I started restoring the ones in this thread (with several more to come), it is becoming an addiction! I am using them more and more on projects and enjoying my wood time more than I ever have.

[Big Ken]

Bailey is a model of Stanley plane. All 3 of the planes I posted about in this thread are Stanley Baileys.

I have always had a couple planes that I kept around the shop for use on projects. But since I started restoring the ones in this thread (with several more to come), it is becoming an addiction! I am using them more and more on projects and enjoying my wood time more than I ever have.

I trying to remember but didn't see Stanley on it, Made In USA, Baily, damn should have taken a pic, is it worth picking up for collecting? I'll never use it but it looked cool.

[Inor]

I trying to remember but didn't see Stanley on it, Made In USA, Baily, damn should have taken a pic, is it worth picking up for collecting? I'll never use it but it looked cool.

For $13 dollars? Definitely worth picking up.

They do not always say Stanley on them. The 5 1/4 that I posted first in this thread does not say Stanley on it.

Okay, now you got me going... I normally do not keep tools strictly for their collector value. I love old hand tools, but I want to use them as well as have them. But of course there are exceptions.



This one is a Stanley Bailey Number 3 smoothing plane. It was made some time in the mid 1880's. They called it a "transition plane" because cabinet and furniture makers at the time did not want metal planes. They thought all planes had to be made of wood. As collectable planes go, it is not worth a whole lot, maybe $100-$200. But I keep it just because I think it is cool. It stays in my shop. I have used it a couple times just because... But mostly it is there just to look slick.

Then we have the Holy Grail of hand planes:



It is a Stanley Number 1. Stanley Number 1's are extremely rare and even a crappy one from the 1930's is worth more than $1500. (They quit making them when WWII started and most of the ones in existence at the time were melted down for the war effort. That is why they are so rare.)

The one in the photo is the rarest of the rare... It is from the first run of Stanley Number 1's created between 1865 and 1868. It has only light surface rust and no pitting and everything on it is original. I have no idea what it is worth, but it is a LOT. Mrs Inor bought it at a garage sale, so she paid next to nothing for it. It now lives in glass in our living room. I have not even worked up the courage to take a Scotchbrite to it to shine it up for fear of ruining it.