lateral adjustment rivet

[George Clark]

Does anyone have a source for or know the size of the rivet for the lateral adjustment lever in the typical 4,5, or 6? I have a couple of planes that I think might benefit from having their frogs lapped. I think I will be able to reuse the yoke pin but I suspect the rivet will be toast after removing it. Stanley parts has lateral lever and rivet sets but I thought I'd try to find just the rivet. Thanks.

George

[Jeff Burks]

You can usually just flip the frog over and knock the pin out with a machinist punch (if the bottom is not also enlarged). If you do it gently, with the frog well supported, then you can usually get them back together without problems. The depth yoke pin comes out just as easily. Is it just the later model Stanley planes that have the simplified rivet?

Barring that method you can still lap the frog by masking the lateral adjuster with tape as shown here or here.

I don't have a source for replacement rivets. There are a lot of threads on Old Tools Archive that suggest using a either a 2-Pound or a 3-Pound Tinners Rivet to re-attach a Stanley lateral adjusting lever. Maybe this chart would help if you can measure your rivet after removing it.

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[Johnny Kleso]

I'm pretty good at replacing laterals abd would not remove one unless I had to...

I have broke two good frog replacing the rivets due to my lazyness to make a better fixture to hold the frog while peening..

What I do is take a good smooth mill file and lightly file the frogs face on both sides of the lateral..

I dont think you would need to flat sand the face and think fileing is all it would need..

Two reove the lateral light file the down side of the rivet then with a pin punch of blunted finish nail light tap out the pin..


Tap it back in and using a center punch lighty mushroom the end and only peen if you have a support for the lateral pin on the oppsite side...

[Jim Koepke]

George,

With a little care, it is easy to remove the lateral adjuster and reuse the old rivet.

See my post in the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs on plane fettling:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=114373

Scroll down to "I'm In Love With A Big Blue Frog":

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...56007#poststop

This is just the first part of working on a frog, you will have to scroll down for the putting it back together.

If you have a newer plane with a roll pin type rivet, then you may need to find a replacement. I can think of a few ways to do it without having to drive into town. If you use a pop rivet, do not use the tool, take the rivet apart and shorten it to a length just long enough to peen over or it will look sloppy. You may have to file the head of a finishing nail into a ball to do the peening so it looks good.

If you do have a newer one, be careful and file the mushrooming off the rivet and then punch it through. Use drill bits for gauges to measure the size of the hole. Worst case scenario will have you modifying a nail as a replacement.

Then again, you can save about 10 minutes by leaving the lateral lever in place and lapping the frog one side at a time and hope the sides are in the same plane when you are done.

jim

[Richard Niemiec]

Unless the frog face is totally toast, I vote with Johnny; don't remove it unless you have to. Generally, frogs on older Stanley planes are machined pretty well, and some imperfections are not all that critical IMHO, and can be handled with a file. The risk of ruining the frog, DAMHIKT, are not worth the marginal, if any, improvement that lapping a frog face theoretically provides. Personally, I only remove laterals and yokes when they themselves are broken, and with lateral adjusters, you don't really need them if you're a "tapper" like I am.

But if you're up for it, follow Jim's instructions.

[George Clark]

Thanks to everyone who responded. Great advice from those who have done it. Thanks also for providing the links; valuable information for my project.

George

[Jim Koepke]

George,

Take some before and after pictures and if you are up for it in progress pictures.

Others are sure to enjoy them.

Besides, the work fascinates me, I could watch others do it all day long.

jtk