A Question about Wood Planes

[bigcaddy]

Does any member on here collect or refinish wood planes as a hobby? I come across them at estate/yard sales ever so often and wanted to know if its acceptable to refinish them.

I've dealt with antiques all my life and know there are many things you don't touch, no matter the condition. On the other hand, what person would what to use a rusty and damaged Stanley wood plane, let alone put it in their collection?

I'm just looking for some general rules/tips/ideas about how to proceed with my pile of wood plane sitting around my office.

 

[lilredex]

I see a lot of wooden items cleaned up and rubbed down with Boiled linseed oil to make them look pretty. Mine are used, so I mainly clean them up to function properly.

 

[Mavawreck]

I do, although not terribly seriously. I just collect them as needed and refinish them to use. If you find an original plane that is somewhat rare than I suppose you might hurt its value through refinishing. Most of what you find probably wont matter. You might start researching brands and model numbers before you get too far. A crappy plane unless it is particularly rare is just a crappy plane. A crappy plane that was once a quality tool may be of value to a collector as is or of value to a woodworker as a tool. When appealing to the woodworker, this guy seems to be way smarter and way better with words than I am
https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/planes101.htm

I've always wanted to fix them up and resell them.

 

[Outlawmws]

I can't say I'm a collector per se, but about all I generally do with a wood body plane is clean it with Murphy oil soap. Mild won't hurt finishes, and does a good job cutting ordinary grunge grime. An exception might be one that was already beyond redemption, and didn't have collector value beyond ordinary. Some really old planes you are better off doing the absolute minimum. I have several that are between 100-150 years old, but none that are spectacularly valuable.

Some will tell you absolutely don't touch it with anything short of light dusting (and some will even say don't even do that...), as it disturbs the "patina" there is patina (normal wear and tear, and possibly the marks left from being used), but much of what is on these is pure abuse form getting tossed around in a garage or an old box of junk... hardly patina...

 

[bigcaddy]

Thanks, everybody.

I usually come across the standard Stanley/Bailey No. 4 or 5 that everybody seems to have in their toolbox. Once in a while ill find a Sweetheart marked plane and i do have a Stanley No.1 that will never get refinished or touched!

Has anybody ever stripped a metal bodied plane down to bare metal and repainted it? I've already stuck a iron and chip breaker in the electric bath to see how they come out but the sole is next since its lost much of the original paint and looks terrible.

 

[Mavawreck]

I did on an old Fulton - stripped the paint, polished the sole, repainted the frog and chip breaker, stripped and refinished the handles which was a pain in the ****. It came out ok. Wasn't my favorite plane before or after.

I refinished the wood bodied Bailey in the middle. It will never be a valuable plane as it was too damaged when I bought it to ever be 'right'. I smoothed out the mouth, leveled the bottom, repainted the steel portions, and refinished both handles. It looks nice on the mantel. Used a rubbed oil finish on the sole and handles and then coated with linseed oil / turpentine mix to give it a deep matte finish.

 

[sumner52000]

I did on an old Fulton - stripped the paint, polished the sole, repainted the frog and chip breaker, stripped and refinished the handles which was a pain in the ****. It came out ok. Wasn't my favorite plane before or after.

I refinished the wood bodied Bailey in the middle. It will never be a valuable plane as it was too damaged when I bought it to ever be 'right'. I smoothed out the mouth, leveled the bottom, repainted the steel portions, and refinished both handles. It looks nice on the mantel. Used a rubbed oil finish on the sole and handles and then coated with linseed oil / turpentine mix to give it a deep matte finish.

My wife said you must be single. She would never let me put tools in the house.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Thanks, everybody.
Has anybody ever stripped a metal bodied plane down to bare metal and repainted it? I've already stuck a iron and chip breaker in the electric bath to see how they come out but the sole is next since its lost much of the original paint and looks terrible.

I've painted lots of them, like mentioned, most are not worth a whole lot anyways.
Plus in 50 years, probably no one will know anyways. Especially just cleaning, polishing it.
Here is a 60 1/2 and a #7 I did,

 

[Mavawreck]

My wife said you must be single. She would never let me put tools in the house.

Its true, I used to be

Now we just work together on things...

 

[bigcaddy]

Were you using the bath tub for electrolysis? That might not bode well with my woman but you have gained my respect for such an act

 

[Cookannapurna]

I use hand planes every day. I own several cabinets full of them. I keep buying more!

My personal belief is that they were made to be used. I am not a "polish it and put it on display" guy. If they are rusty, it's a bath in Evaporust, or the electric spoogee tank. Only because rust leaves marks on wood. Then it's a spray down with T-9 Bioshild, and a sole waxing.

If you google hand plane restoration, there are all kinds of sites dedicated to "restoring" them. Paint removal, re-japanning, polishing and such.

 

[Ridge Runner]

One thing to bear in mind is some of the handles on old planes, like the Stanley 45, are rosewood. Due to endangerment, it's illegal to even take the Brazilian Rosewood in a hundred year old plane across national borders. If you heard about Gibson (the guitar company) getting in trouble a little while back, it was because of that.

So, think twice about replacing or refinishing the fancier handles.

 

[Outlawmws]

One thing to bear in mind is some of the handles on old planes, like the Stanley 45, are rosewood. Due to endangerment, it's illegal to even take the Brazilian Rosewood in a hundred year old plane across national borders. If you heard about Gibson (the guitar company) getting in trouble a little while back, it was because of that.

So, think twice about replacing or refinishing the fancier handles.

Not quite what happened to Gibson, they were purportedly caught with "laundered" wood, newly harvested. old Cites protected species is generally OK to import/export, but you also need licensing to insure its the real deal and not fresh harvest from endangered species.

Madagascar rosewood logging controversy
Main article: Illegal logging in Madagascar

In 2009 controversy arose surrounding the intensification of rosewood logging in Madagascar's national parks.[1] Logging was linked to criminal syndicates that laundered rosewood logs through Reunion and Mauritius before transporting timber to China for processing.[2] Finished wood and furniture was then shipped to Europe and the United States. In November 2009 Gibson Guitar Corporation in Nashville was raided by federal authorities for its alleged use of illegally sourced rosewood.[3] [4] The investigation is ongoing as of September 2011

 

[Ridge Runner]

Thanks for the correction. It's late and I couldn't remember.