Found a Used Bronze LN #4 - advise

[Nick Stokes]

Found a man selling this plane on the cheap. It shows signs of being heavily used, and maybe not always in a shop. He mentioned being a carpenter...

Anyway, I bought it because I did not want to miss out. But, how would you proceed. How do I flatten the sole? When I hold a strait edge to it, there is a slight visible gap, I believe the heel of the plane has a ding that is causing a small hump... Anyway, how do you flatten it being bronze? If I need to treat it just like Iron, then I will proceed?

How do I go about polishing up the brass a bit? I'm ok with an older look to it..and some light scratches don't bother me... but some spots look bad... like heavy dark spots instead of a steady color change.

Last question is about the Tote and Knob. There are scuffs and scratches. Any way to make these look nicer?

Obviously one option is to not touch it...

LN4 Knob.jpgLN#4.jpgLN4Tote.jpg

*Edit - Is there any way to date the Plane? I can't find a timeline of these planes... have there been different versions? Or have they been the same since 1981?

[Jim Koepke]

Nick,

Are you trying to make a collectable plane or a user?

A little sanding and a refinishing on the tote should be enough for a user.

Maybe a little work with some abrasive to remove the small hump if it is the cause of the visible gap.

jtk

[Nick Stokes]

Nick,

Are you trying to make a collectable plane or a user?

A little sanding and a refinishing on the tote should be enough for a user.

Maybe a little work with some abrasive to remove the small hump if it is the cause of the visible gap.

jtk

Thank you Jim. I want to use it. I want it to be my smoothing plane. Thanks.

[Derek Cohen]

Sharpen the blade, try it out, and then decide if it needs more work than cosmetic.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[mike holden]

Take a fine file to lower the area around the "ding", then take a few shavings. If all is well, you are done with the sole. The tote and knob can be cleaned up with sandpaper and shellac. As for polishing the sides, bronze ages to a nice patina, and I leave mine alone. If you wish, use a metal polish to shine it up.
Nice find! you will love it.
Mike

[Ron Brese]

If you send it to LN chances are they'll make it right as rain for you at very little cost. Give them a call.

Ron

[James Pallas]

Nick You've got some very good suggestions from some very qualified experts. I'm no expert, I have no idea how the standard procedure has gone to grind away. I have several old planes in use and some new ones also. The older ones work just fine nearly as good as the new ones. The older ones have some little things like backlash or no lateral adjuster but do the job just fine. I have not ground any of them or for that mater any plane I have owned. My advise is to clean up sharpen up and try it. Again this is an amature approach. It does work however.
Jim

[george wilson]

I agree with Ron's proposal. I might say that the bronze they use is a very tough alloy,too. But,a thousandth or two of an inch below the surface there is fresh,bright metal. That's an advantage of metal over wood. Especially a non tarnishing or tarnish resistant metal like bronze.


Possibly some water has gotten on the plane,or maybe it has been used on pressure treated wood which can be quite wet. But,it will polish right up. The important thing is to not sluff off the corners of the tool with excessive buffing on a buffing wheel. If LN will re hab it,and you are not sure of your abilities in re habing surfaces,see about letting them do it. The worst thing is to see something like a gun that has been badly buffed to death,and re blued.

[Nick Stokes]

Thank you all for the thoughts. I guess my biggest problem would be that the sole isn't flat. I wouldn't worry if it was a jack plane or whatever.. but if I intend it to smooth, it needs to be flat.

I will contact LN and see what they might suggest, in the mean time, I will deal with the cosmetic flaws as suggested above.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Nick:

As for the date - going by the iron only - when it was labeled Lie Nielsen as yours is, it ( IIRC ) is an A-2 blade - it has been quite a few years that A-2 has been available - if there are foundry marks, I suspect LN could narrow it down for you.

BTW, what was cheap - if you don't mind me asking??

I wish I had one - nice score-

Dave B

[Andrew Hughes]

I have one of those,nice find.One way to check the sole is to rub some pencil lines on a flat surface.Then rub the sole of the plane to see when it picks up the graphite.Ive used my jointer bed but have several other surfaces.As would any respectable woodworker.

[Nick Stokes]

Nick:


BTW, what was cheap - if you don't mind me asking??

I wish I had one - nice score-

Dave B

I paid less than half of what a new one would cost. So, I felt it a good deal.


Update - I contacted LN. They are incredible. They want me to send it in, and they offered to look at it, call me to talk about what it needs, and fix it up and send it back. If it needs it, they will even lap the sole for me. Wow.

I will update again once the plane returns from it's trip up north.

[john zulu]

It looks in good shape. LN service is incredible.

[Harold Burrell]

I paid less than half of what a new one would cost.

"Just walk away, Harold. Don't say it. You don't want to get in trouble now, Harold..."

[Nick Stokes]

"Just walk away, Harold. Don't say it. You don't want to get in trouble now, Harold..."

Which is why I initially withheld this information....