Birthday present, refurbish same

[steven c newman]

Well, turned 62 last week, and got a present in the mail. A StanleyNo. 39 3/8" Dado plane. It did need some parts, though. Only one of four bolts for the nickers was there. Only the left hand side nicker was there. No iron.....

Ok, I THINK we can do something with it. Had an old cast steel tappett wrench. A duplicate, so it won't be missed. Cut a section long enough to attempt a cutter from it. Grinder and LOTS of water.
tub of h2o.jpg
then laid the blank on the plane, to size it
test fit.jpg
A-yep, this will take awhile. Edge is skewed, sides are skewed. The end has to stick out the right side through a hole. Grind, dunk, check, repeat. Finally got it close, and without burning either the steel, or me, or the shop.
beltsander.jpg
I used the beltsander to refine things a bit. Plunked this blank into the plane, again
trail fit.jpg
close, but I figured I'd let it rest for awhile ( me too) and went to the computer. nhplaneparts had the nicker I needed. Bought it. However, he wanted too much for just two bolts..and I needed at least three. Hmm, well we will try something else. Already making a cutter, might as well remake the bolts?

Went to Lowes, and picked up a Tap & Drill that was close to the size needed, and picked what i thought was the right sized bolts ( note to self...ALWAYS wear my glasses when buy TINY items) and went to the shop
Drill breezed right through, was that close to the right size. Then set up the tap
tap wrench and tap.jpg
And it went in without any problems, even cut the threads without any oil. Then came the time to install a bolt.....no go? Ah, some dummy got the wrong size ( had me glasses on now) tap was for a 6-32 size, bolts were 8-32 size. Back down to get the right size bolts ( and some honey-do items) and try again. The shortest bolts they had were 1/2" long. Ran all four in all the way from the left hand side
bolts showing.jpg
Then I could safely grind each down. One wanted to back right back out, screwdriver took care of that. Went to install the lefthand side nicker....bolts won't go through the top hole.....well, drill bit is still in the drill press, so, a wiggle or three, and the bolt went right in.
nicker install.jpg

Yeah, yeah, they don't look like stanley made them. I can come back later and work them down a bit. Test run showed the iron needed a bit more thinning
Stanley 39.jpg
until it fit just right. Awaiting the arrival of the right hand nicker, before I can try to cut dados. But, tried a rebate along an edge.....works, but, it is a finicky beasty. It will also be rough on the left thumb. There isn't anyway to adjust the depth other than loosen the cap iron, and slide things around, hoping for the best. Will take some practizing to get this one just right. Might even be fun...

[steven c newman]

Managed to get a shaving or two out of it. It will cut a groove as well as a dado
IMAG0109.jpg
Mouth is still a bit too tight, though
IMAG0106.jpg
May have to thin the iron just a bit more. No "frog" to adjust on these. As long as you hold onto the depth adjust bolt, fingers won't get too beat up. Finiky little critter, though.

[steven c newman]

IF I ever want to remove that depth stop....HOW does it come off? Bolt has two different threads going on. Main one will stop before the thinner one is even close to coming out. A Mystery plane?

Got the iron to the right ( I hope) thickness ( thinness?) and tried to cut a groove, and a dado.....works! Goove sides are a bit raggety, but a few more twerks, AND the second nicker should cure that. Doubt IF I want to find the other 7 versions of the Stanley No. 39.....

[Jim Koepke]

Doubt IF I want to find the other 7 versions of the Stanley No. 39.....

My thought is these planes are somewhat rare. Could the reason be they were looking for a problem to solve that didn't plague most woodworkers?

Leave them for the collectors or those who wish to do through dados with a plane.

jtk

[Mel Miller]

Wouldn't it have been easier to reshape a common (and cheap) Stanley 45 blade? Or, even buy a correct original blade?
Same thing with the screws & nicker: Buy the correct parts instead of turning it into a Frankenplane with less value.

[steven c newman]

Not much issue. No OEM cutter, way too mich grinding on a 45 cutter (about the same, actually) Bolts? @ $5 and wind up still one short? Not an option. The correct nickers will be used. Not planning to resell this one, will make it into a user.

I do know where a bunch more of these are. Various sizes, and need the same amount of work....IF YOU want to do them? Have at it.

[steven c newman]

Which I intend to do...USE it. Have the #78 for rebates, and now able to do dados. And, a lot faster the them router jockeys....

[Tony Zaffuto]

Steve,

There must be something about turning 62! SWMBO got me a #39 also for my 62nd birthday, last September (3/4" size). She knew I was looking for one (though I was looking for a woodie, as I already had a #39, but I'll never tell her that!). She got it from one of the used equipment dealers I buy from and the plane looked almost "as new" with bright blade and no chipping to the japanning. Needless to say, it is in my tool display case, the 3/4" #39 I had, is the one I use and I'm still looking for a woodie (I do have one, but I'm looking for a better condition one).