How much to do to refurbished planes

[Mike Holbrook]

I decided to try out a few of the old metal planes that I read about on these pages. I also had a couple that I bought maybe 35 years ago in the dark ages of hand tools. I have a Stanley 6C, Sargent 414, Paragon #5, Record #7 all of which I gave good long soaks in Evapo-Rust, after doing a little initial scraping, sanding....After getting any remnants of rust off I cleaned them with mineral spirits and sprayed them down with WD40. A couple items seemed to be getting discoloration or flash rusting shortly after the Evapo-Rust bath.

I am trying to figure out how much more I want to do, particularly to the main plane bodies. I am a little perplexed over the painted parts of these planes. Some of these planes have large amounts of worn or rusted off paint. I have seen older planes treated lots of ways. The most severe solution being sand blasting the old paint down to steel. I have seen planes with all the paint removed repainted and I have seen a few just left as raw steel like the rest of the plane. I am not too motivated to make vintage/antique planes into something that looks brand new. At the same time I want a functional tool that does not develop major rust issues up under flaky paint either. Some people seem to just scrape off any flaky paint and paint over the old paint. I wonder if the paints we have available now might be better at preventing rust and protecting the steel?

I am a fan of Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax. I have had good success using this wax for preventing steel hand and power tools from rusting. I plan to wax all the metal services I can get to with this wax before putting the planes back together. I expect I will need to refresh the wax on the bottom of the planes regularly due to all the friction but I am hoping the wax will protect other steel parts for quite a while.

Any wood that I am not confident is in good shape I will buff out and refinish with WATCO.

I am eager to hear how others approach this stage of plane restoration.

[David Weaver]

If a plane has a lot of active rust on the inside parts, I will paint it with phosphoric acid, then brush it with a plastic stiff bristle brush and wash it off and dry it. Any mating surfaces get either a hard block or or preferably a file, but to a functional point. I don't need them to reflect sunlight back at me. Every non-mating surface on the inside of the plane gets shellac.

If the stuff on the cheeks looks more like patina than rust, and there is no clumpy this or that (like paint or unknown stuff that is a hard bump) then I do little to those cheeks. I always lap my plane soles, except for planes that are only for coarse work. That's just me - I like jointers and smoothers to be lapped flat, it takes very little time and effort if you have a proper setup for it.

Handles just get oil and wax, or shellac, unless they're in terrible shape (some millers falls handles tend to have very thick cracked up shellac on them, and only in spots).

That's it. Total process takes about an hour. I don't collect planes, I don't strip them and rejapan them any longer, and I have little interest in turning knobs and making new totes, though I'll do it if I absolutely have to for someone else. I bought and refurbished and put a lot of planes through in my early days - stripped them and painted them with high solids content paints, etc, but I don't have most of them now and the novelty wears off. Overdoing it and making a whole bunch of fresh surfaces just makes even more of something that will rust. Paint itself never holds up like japanning (just take an iron and scratch it down the inside cheek of a painted plane and see what happens), and japanning is too much trouble for me for planes that in reality aren't worth much more refurbished than they are if the loose rust is just taken off.

[Prashun Patel]

I use a wire cup on a drill press or angle grinder to get stubborn pieces rust-free.

For others, I give them an overnight soak in citric acid and then a thorough hair drying immediately (this second part is critical to avoiding new rust in my environment.)

As far as the Japanning goes, unless you are going to get into the business of restoring and selling rehabbed planes, I don't know that it's worth it for me any more. The market feels too competitive and the buyers are too educated. I now only rehab planes for my own use, which means I get all the rust off and then then just make them pretty enough for me to look at. I focus more effort on the blade now.

[Jim Matthews]

@ DW -

Painting on a layer of shellac seems simple enough,
and inexpensive to boot.

Does it stay on, overtime - or does it sublimate
back into its solid form?

[David Weaver]

I've had planes with shellac on, some maybe for 6 or 7 years now and it's still in good shape. I got the tip from an old ernie conover VHS tape a long time ago, you can easily remove the shellac at a later date with alcohol, and it does sort of a half job of making the plane look better (it does look a little better).

A very thin layer of it (blonde) on the cheeks of a plane that will never work as a shooter also does a good job of keeping rust away. Obviously, no shellac on mating surfaces or wood contact surfaces, but otherwise, everywhere else is fine.

[Frederick Skelly]

I have 4 old planes - 3 of which I restored. After removing the rust on each of the first 3, I flattened the soles and then stripped the beat up paint/japanning and repainted. It didnt take much extra work, gave me a known starting place (baseline) and they looked nice. On the 4th, I just left it as-is and waxed it. (Sole was flattened by previous owner.) Both ways work for me. I cant say which is "better" for rust control - I watch for rust and address it if I see any starting. I wipe them with Johnsons Paste after each use.

[Mike Holbrook]

What is the difference between Japanning and regular painting?

I think I will try out the Renaissance Wax on these four planes if for no other reason than to find out how well the surfaces hold up. If I need more extreme measures later, at least I want have to remove major amounts of paint.

[Shawn Pixley]

I derust and clean. Patina I don't worry about. I clean and flatten all bearing surfaces. To get a good mate. I oil handles. I heat the plane and soak the plane body / frog in wax. Planes are wiped down with camilia or jojoba oil. Stored in a plane sock in a drawer with an anti corrosion cartridge. All my planes are users. I am not a collector.

Now the blade I really work on getting them flat and polished. Then I cut and hone a good bevel. The mate to the cap iron gets a fair bit of attention.

[David Weaver]

What is the difference between Japanning and regular painting?

I think I will try out the Renaissance Wax on these four planes if for no other reason than to find out how well the surfaces hold up. If I need more extreme measures later, at least I want have to remove major amounts of paint.

Japanning is baked on adphaltum stuff. It is a little flexible and much tougher than paint.

[Derek Cohen]

.... I am trying to figure out how much more I want to do, particularly to the main plane bodies. I am a little perplexed over the painted parts of these planes. Some of these planes have large amounts of worn or rusted off paint. I have seen older planes treated lots of ways. The most severe solution being sand blasting the old paint down to steel. I have seen planes with all the paint removed repainted and I have seen a few just left as raw steel like the rest of the plane. I am not too motivated to make vintage/antique planes into something that looks brand new. At the same time I want a functional tool that does not develop major rust issues up under flaky paint either. Some people seem to just scrape off any flaky paint and paint over the old paint. I wonder if the paints we have available now might be better at preventing rust and protecting the steel? .... I am eager to hear how others approach this stage of plane restoration.

Hi Mike

I am in the camp where I prefer my tools to look clean and well-looked after. That does not mean that they need to look new - far from it. I enjoy the aged/patina of a vintage plane and prefer to leave them this way. It is just that I dislike grubby planes and tools. There is no justification in my book for rust. Wood that is caked black with grease/grime is not romantic. Essentially, I like restored planes and other tools to start off clean, to age gracefully, and to grow and retain their patina.

Some of my Stanley's have most of their original japanning, and have not been touched outside cleaning and tuning. Others have been stripped and either japanned or painted. The one's that I believe are on the rare side get japanned, and the ones that are more common get painted.

Wood generally gets sanded and re-finished. I am not a fan of varnish or similar finishes on handles, either old or new. I will strip these and use Shellawax, which when buffed creates a hard, clear and resilient finish. This is then waxed for a smooth, grippy hold. Never use an oil finish on Rosewood as it will turn it black. Shellawax enhances the figure and colour.

This Stanley #51/52 received a completed restoration, including stripping down, rebuilding the frog, and japanning.





I used a cold-cure version, made up of asphaltum powder (available from art supply stores) and gloss spar varnish. Leave it to cure in the sun the first day, and then put it aside for another 10 days.

An example of a painted plane is this Stanley #605. It came off eBay freshly painted and supposedly lapped. It was poorly done - the paint was gloss and the sole was banana shaped and the plane would not cut without extending the blade. The plane was stripped to bare metal, the sole was lapped until flat, and then it was resprayed with high temperature engine enamel, which has a flatter finish and nice dark, black colour.





Preparation of the planes includes the most important part, ensuring that parts mate securely, that the adjustment mechanisms work smoothly, and that the blade and chip breaker set up well. Some may see that as the heart of a plane, but it is just a one aspect of a combination of parts that come together to work well and feel good to use.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Curt Putnam]

I am a fan of coating the machined surfaces that cannot be painted (soles) with Mobil 1 or other purely synthetic oil. Let sit for a day, wipe off and then wax. Other surfaces, do as you see fit. Paint generally provides the best protection for the least money and effort. JMO & YMWV

[Christopher Charles]

I put in a minimum of effort into get the plane up and going and have not ever repainted or japanned a plane. Thus, heavy patina rules the day. That said, I've only purchased vintage planes in fairly good shape to begin with, I don't have much shop time, and (most importantly) live in a dry and almost completely rust-free environment.

Cheers,
C

[steven c newman]

Might have done a few planes.IMAG0047.jpg this came in the door awhile backIMAG0052.jpgAnd after a turn in the Rehab Center. Old PAINTED handles weren't all that good looking. Think these stripped down ones look beeter. That ain't "patina" on the iron works, just good old RUST. Doesn't take all that long to rehab a plane. The Thiumbnail picture is a Union #4c, $5, that took a full day to bring back to life. Counting the reglueing of the tote.

[Stew Denton]

Just to add a bit to what David wrote about Japanning, and others mentioned as well.

True Japanning is not a paint. It was developed over 2 centuries ago in Europe for the Europeans to compete with the glossy black finish of Japanese imports of the time.

At that time, of course, they had none of the modern synthetics, so they used the natural materials that they had. There were several formulations, some of which were baked on, and some of which air dried.

Common ingredients were linseed oil, an asphaltum type material of some type, burnt umber, and a drying agent such as a lead oxide. Asphaltum is a petroleum type product, and back then only the naturally occurring material was used. Think of the stuff from the La Brea tar pits or pitch, etc., a black semisolid tarry type material, some of which is almost entirely a solid. As was mentioned above it is mined in the western part of the US, and is sold by art supply outfits. Last time I looked you could find it on Ebay. Other ingredients were also used, such as turpentine to thin it, etc.

The stuff was mixed and cooked together to get it to melt and become a uniform mixture. It was then sold to users, applied, some formulas air dried, and some formulas baked on.

It formed a very long lasting very water resistant tough finish. Many antiques that have been reasonably cared for, which were made about 200 years ago are still in excellent shape and still have a shine. When you look at the old Stanley planes, a lot of them have quite a bit of the original Japanning still present, even 100 years later, and as you know, most planes haven't had a cushy life.

Stew

[Mike Holbrook]

Great info. guys. Nice pictures Derek and Steve. Thought I would post a few pictures as well, not as good as Derek's, maybe I will try the iPad instead of the iPhone next time.:

Here are a few items after the Evapo-Rust bath

IMG_0193.jpg

Here is the Stanley 6C, after an Evapo-Rust bath, now I am using sticky sandpaper on the table saw table to level the bottom and sides. The top, rear of the plane appears to have lost a good deal of the Japanning, other wise I think it is in good shape for it's age.

IMG_0192.JPG

The bottom needs a little help.

IMG_0191.JPG

The plane hardware seems good with almost no work...
IMG_0190.jpg