Another Estate Sale Plane Pick

[Al Launier]

Ran across this & picked it up for $5 at a local estate sale. I think it's a Jointer Plane, or perhaps a long Jack Plane, not sure; it's 18" O/A length. It has "Union" on the front of the body. The metal is sound throughout & all the pieces are there. Right now I have all the pieces soaking in white vinegar (suggested by a local person). Also have some Krud Kutter rust remover & Rust Free as followup as necessary.

I forgot to take pictures before i disassembled it, so this is all I can show at this time.

The wooden knob & handle appear to be sound & should clean up adequately.

Actually I don't know why I bought it as I doubt if I'll have a use for it. It's just that wood hand planes appeal to me for some reason & a collection is just statrting to grow. Plus I can't pass up an opportunity for what may be a good deal(?).

[Harold Burrell]

$5??? Yeah, you got a good deal!

What you have there is a #6 Fore Plane. It is kind of in between a Jack and a Jointer, though it can be used as both.

It looks like it could use a severe cleaning. Hopefully there is not too much pitting.

[Moses Yoder]

Union is generally a good quality plane. If you want, you can buy a Hock iron for it.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Al,

+1 on what the guys above wrote. The Stanley #6 is typically 18 inches long, and is considered their fore plane. Stanley planes are the standard to which all others are compared as to the classification. Thus the guys above calling it a fore plane.

The fore plane is called a fore plane, or so I have read, because it is typically the first plane used to dress down a piece of rough cut lumber approximately to thickness and to start to get it flat. It is use before (fore) any other plane is used.

After the fore plane is used, a jointer plane (22 to 22+ inches long, Stanley #7 or #8) is used to get it really flat and to thickness. The last plane used is the smoothing plane (9 or 10 inches long typically, Stanley #3 or #4) to get the lumber smooth enough to finish.

For what it's worth, I have read that Stanley also advertised the #6 as a short jointer plane, and some use it for exactly that.


Typically the fore plane iron is sharpened with a pretty good camber.

Stew

[bridger berdel]

I've used my 6 as a jack and as a jointer, and in my hands it makes a better jointer.

[Reinis Kanders]

I also favor my Stanley no.6 for a lot of things. It is very easy to register when edge jointing small to medium relatively narrow edges almost like BU jack, but with double iron.

[Mark Stutz]

Don't soak it in vinegar too long. It's a much stronger acid than you think and could really eat away at the metal.

Persoanlly, I've used Evaporust with good results, and haven't had to worry too much about letting things soak if I got busy.

[David Ragan]

This is why I have a car battery charger. Works great. I have bought a slew of chemicals to find one to get rust off. Can't beat electrolysis (after a scrub).

[Lonnie Gallaher]

It looks like a Union by Stanley. Stanley acquired the Union plane works in 1920. They continued the Union badge until 1942.

Here is my #7 Union by Stanley. One of my favorite planes.

Union #7.JPG

[Al Launier]

Thanks to all for your comments & especially to Stew for his short tutorial on planes; I found Stew's comments helpful as my knowledge of planes & their useage is very limited, as you've already noticed.

I soaked the pieces in white vineger for (2) days & have since used Krud Kutter Rust Remover and Inhibitor (3) times thus far. The vinegar did a surprisingly good job, better than I expected, and the KK has also removed a lot of rust. It's now time for scrapeing & sanding. The metal looks to be in very good condtion & the knobs as well. I've applied Mineral Spirits to the knobs to clean them up & have sanded them in preparation for staining.

The project is coming along, albeit slowly, but I'll get ther.

[Al Launier]

Well, as you can see it's in somewhat better shape than when I picked it up. You can also see that the cutter in particular is pitted, more than I thought at first with all the rust on it. The brass adjustment screw had all of the knurl "squashed down", probably from pliers as I couldn't get the cutter to draw within the body. After checking things out I suspect it's not the original adjustment screw. To get the cutter edge pulled in I had to remove material from the brass adjustment screw so it could thread in further as it was hitting against the frog well before bottoming out. I also had to remove ~ 1/8" from the edge of the cutter to barely get it within the body & to get the cutting edge into a minimally pitted area. Plus, I had to enlarge the key hole in the cap for the adjustment lever to allow the cutter to withdraw enough to clear the face of the sole. And, the chip breaker doesn't sit cleanly up against the cutter, allowing chips to clog up. I suspect this plane was bastardized years ago with miscellaneous parts (?). I'll probably touch it up some more, but for now I've seen enough of it.

Oh well, will have to look more closely next time (?). I don't know how serviceable it will be, kinda disappointed, but it looks better on the shelf than before and for only $5 what the heck.... it was worth the learning experience.

[Jim Koepke]

the chip breaker doesn't sit cleanly up against the cutter, allowing chips to clog up.

This can be corrected with a little bit of work.

It also sounds like you may have an incorrect chip breaker. This happens a lot if someone who doesn't know about planes gets them mixed up.

It does look good.

jtk

[Mark Greenbaum]

Forgive me for being a novice to these matters, but: Can the sole of the plane be flattened on wet dry sandpaper on granite to make sure it's flat? Same as you can sharpen the iron?

I have a few of my Dad's old planes, and they're not much as collector items, but I love to use them. Much easier than setting up a router for sure.

[Jim Koepke]

Forgive me for being a novice to these matters, but: Can the sole of the plane be flattened on wet dry sandpaper on granite to make sure it's flat? Same as you can sharpen the iron?

I have a few of my Dad's old planes, and they're not much as collector items, but I love to use them. Much easier than setting up a router for sure.

Mark, the best answer to your question is one should make sure there is a problem with the sole of the plane before attempting to flatten it.

If the plane is working well and with a sharp blade can be adjusted to take thin shavings, the sole is probably fine as is.

It is possible to lap the sole as you suggest. The process, if not done carefully, can create more problems.

jtk

[Phil Mueller]

I tend to run it back and forth a few times on very fine sandpaper-800 or 1000 grit- just to see if there are any major issues...if not, let it be.