Plane Restoration, Advise Needed

[Stew Denton]

Hi All, I recently bought an old Stanley plane on Ebay. It isn't bad looking for the money, but does have a significant problem.

The round head machine screw that holds the adjustment clip on the back of the frog is rusted in and the screw is rusted in place. It is frozen in place, even though the rust doesn't look real bad. I am wanting advise on how to get it out. I've tried lightly tapping on it lightly with a pin punch and hammer, hoping to loosen the screw, but the screw does not move.

I am thinking about soaking the frog around the machine screw in penetrating oil followed by zapping it for maybe a half hour in an ultrasonic bath that I can borrow from work. If I did such, I would likely use an organic hydrocarbon solvent in the bath, and put the frog in a Ziploc bag of the penetrating oil that will be setting in the container of solvent. That way the penetrating oil does not get diluted in the solvent.

One of the maintenance guys at work said that soaking it brake fluid has worked better for him than soaking in penetrating oil.

Any better ideas would be much appreciated.


Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Brake fluid would remove any paint. Other than that, sounds like you are on track. I bet the penetrating oil alone will work.

[Dave Parkis]

I've had a few of those and here is how I solved the problem. I place the plane in a vise with the rod straight up. I apply a couple of drops of Kroil and let it work for about an hour. That's the easy part. Getting the post out without damaging the threads is the tricky part. To do that, I took a piece of aluminum flashing about 4" square and folded it twice, wrapped it around the post and then locked my vise grips on it and just backed it out. The aluminum should be softer than the threads, so the threads don't get damaged. I've done this successfully a few times. Good Luck!!

[Al Launier]

You could try applying heat directly to the center of the screw head using a pointed, or flat head electric soldering iron of ~50 W. This heat would be confined to only the screw causing it to expand & then contract once the heat is removed. This could be enough to "break" the rust & allow you to then use a screw driver to finish the job.

[Sean Hughto]

Why do you need to remove the screw? We're talking about the top (dark and small) screw in this image right?:


If that clip were welded in place, would it be a problem? If not, then why not leave it alone?

Also, if my experience is at all representative, you will pretty much never be messing with your bench plane frogs once you set them up the first time.

[Tom Bussey]

Put hthe frog in a vise and put an adjustable wrench on the clip and try the turn the clip counterclock wise. If you can wiggle it. If it moves, you can allow just enough pressure to be release from the screw to remove the screw. I have a 95% sucess rate if it moves. If that doesn't work send it to me and I will remore it for you. There is no charge on my part, shipping cost is yours.

Al also has a good methiod but a little water on the hot screw shocks the rust even a little more. Heat works very well as long as you can heat only the screw and not the plane also.

Tom

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

Thank you all for the advise. Sean, the reason is that I would like to restore the plane. Your point is, of course, correct and I had briefly considered such a few days ago, but I bought the plane for a gift and want everything on it to be in good working condition.

Tom, thank you for the offer, it is much appreciated and I would like to take you up on the offer. In fact, however, I would like to send the entire plane to you for your grinding service to flatten the sole. I have work to do to clean it up, so it will be a bit before I can send it. I am planning to send a private message to you.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Tom Bussey]

How about before and after pictures. Looking forward to talking with you.