Rough Bailey #5

[Charles Cannon]

I bought this plane a the flea market a couple of years ago and have never done anything to it. Yesterday I was trying to get my cheapo sand blaster to work and used the plane to try it out. The "Black Beauty" may have been a little course for the plane but it's what I had. I blast the inside of the body, lever cap, frog and chip breaker. It removed the heavy rust but I don't know if I need to do anything else before paint. Should the lever cap be painted? I have some walnut I plan on using to attempt a matching tote and knob.
Cannon

[James Taglienti]

Yikes

as a general rule I only sandblast the japanned areas. everything else goes into the electro-bath and wire wheel.

You can try to take a fine wire wheel to the lever cap and other parts to get rid of the blasting marks. It may burnish them away. Also some 220-320 wet dry sandpaper with a bunch of WD40 works.

Stanley lever caps weren't japanned but the recess where it says stanley sometimes was. I think yours was orange.

[Prashun Patel]

I haven't used a sandblaster successfully, but it appears to me that you still have some oxidation on the parts that I'd polish off with some abrasive like a brass brush or wire wheel.

A beltsander does a good job of polishing the cheeks.

[Steve Sheehan]

Sorry . Don't waste your time . You've ruined a cheap plane . Next time use a MUCH finer blasting media and don't blast anything that wasn't Japanned . The machined surfaces can't stand blasting and must be protected .

[James Taglienti]

I disagree with steve. The only way to tell is to use it. You can't make such a determination from a photo.

I've sandblasted a lot of planes with good results. But i never blasted the outside, only the japanned areas. Did I hit machined areas? yes. Did it affect performance? absolutely not.

[jerry nazard]

I agree with James. BUT... before wasting time with aesthetics, sharpen the blade properly and see how the plane performs. If you can get it to work, then you can polish it up and make it beautiful.

[Mike Brady]

Wow Steve; that's harsh. I wish I could post photos here, because I could show you planes that have been blasted and re-japanned with the real material that look "better than new". I say that only because your comment lacked only the phrase" ....so you might as well send it to me free because its worthless now".

[Charles Cannon]

I was able to fool with it a while this afternoon. I went over it with a toothbrush size wire brush as Shawn suggested the washed it down with mineral spirits. Taping off the machined surfaces on the frog was a pain. Then I sprayed them with some black grill paint I had. I didn't have orange so I sprayed the "Stanley" on the chip breaker red.
Since I only blasted the inside of the body I doubt the plane is ruined but if so this is no where near the top of the list of things I've wasted time on.
Cannon

[Prashun Patel]

Charles-

Illegitimi Non Carborundum [sic]

Looking good!
I've spent a lot of time 'ruining cheap planes'. It's all a learning experience. Personally, I enjoy the PROCESS of rehabbing just as much as using the planes. Do how you like!

[Mike Brady]

James, every time I see your sig avatar, I think it is actually a photo of Jimmy Fallon. What's up? Are you really Jimmy Fallon or just his stunt double?

Streator, IL, huh? Did you survive the bad storms without damage? I have a woodworker friend there a nursery business that really got hammered.

[James Taglienti]

Ill have to give greg a call and see how his place is doing.


no im not jimmy fallon.

[David Weaver]

I wouldn't worry about "ruined" or "not-ruined". It's a common plane (i.e, never would be worth worrying about the value unless it was absolutely NOS and had never been out of an accompanying box) that you can turn into a silk purse as a user no matter how it looks.

Nobody addressed the lever cap. The lever caps were lacquered originally. As you've probably found out, a lot of them no longer have the lacquer on them. They're fairly soft, so what I like to do if the lacquer is gone and it's not worth stripping them completely is to run the rust off of them with a sandflex block, and then use autosol paste on them. The autosol shines them up a little and makes them almost look the same, and it leaves a film on them that will keep them from rusting for quite a while.