Reviving a knuckle cap plane

[Adam Woznicki]

I just finished the first stage of fixing up a Stanley #18 Type 2, and thought I'd share some pictures.

This is by far my oldest plane, somewhere between 1888 and 1893, that makes it around 120 years old!

I still have to fettle the sole and set up a replacement blade, but I love the way the knuckle cap feels. I just wish the sides had the little finger ovals like the later types.

Not bad for $5

I'm hoping the cap holds better than some people say they do.

[Jonathan McCullough]

That's looking much better. If you're going to paint it, I'd recommend high temp (500 deg F) spray paint and a lot of patience. If the iron isn't too badly pitted, you may want to sharpen it up and give it a whirl. I've got a 220 with an iron that just doesn't seem to quit.

[Mike Brady]

That is looking good just the way you have it now. I wouldn't go any further. Put a good edge on it and go!
There were some photos recently of a knuckle-joint plane that a guy had re-nickelled and rejapanned. It looked better than new, but a little strange at the same time. The longer you spend around old tools the better well-cared-for natural age looks. The basket cases need a lot of help but yours is well short of that condition.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks nice.

That body with the finger grips is a bit rare compared to the Excelsior body without or the later style body.

jim

[Adam Woznicki]

Jonathan-I'm just going to leave the paint as is, I've never been good with paint. As far as the blade goes, the original (tomb stone logo) was worn down, slot expanded, and worn down again. I got a 220 with a descent blade in the same deal so I'll use that one.

Mike-thanks for the complement, I'm going to look for those re-nickelled photos.
I wonder if anybody has nickeled a body?

[Mike Brady]

Adam, let me see if I can find a link to those photos. They could have been on another forum. I recall there was quite a bit of inquiry about the cost of plating. The general idea I got was that you give your item to a plater and he tags it onto the next nickel-plating run that he does. Now that I think about it it was a block plane with a lever cap not a knuckle cap. I had never seen a nickle-plated lever cap on a block plane.

[Joel Goodman]

I had never seen a nickle-plated lever cap on a block plane.

Sandy Moss has block planes on his site that have nickel plated lever caps as well as nickeled knuckle joint planes. They look great!

[ken seale]

Send it to me. I can do it for $20 plus the return shipping ($4.60).

Just drop me a PM and I can send some pics.