I do have a belt sander.... Well, it belongs to my Father-In-Law but he said that he is not using it and left it at my house. I am a bit embarrassed that I did not think about using it. I spent about 30 minutes yesterday doing this by hand. I should give that a try....
I am doing this as a favor for a neighbor. I told him that I would sell it, but, I am not willing to sell it if I cannot make it work correctly. Well, I mean I would if the person buying it understood what they are getting into. On the other hand, the neighbor thought that it was worth upwards of $60. I doubt that this will ever be worth that, which means that if I do sell it I will clear the asking price with the neighbor and simply return it if he is not happy with the price.
I should check to see how much progress I made, but the only redeeming thing is that it was so badly out of wack that it really was only touching at the toe and the heel. The implication, of course, is that the initial work went very fast. I did not check again to see how much I have achieved, but, there is still a very large area that is not touching.
I can't wait to see what it looks like under the frog. I suppose I mean that I am that I am very nervous about it.
Years ago I gave my very usable #8 to a friend since he needed one and could not afford to buy one. I figured that I could easily replace it from one on ebay, which is how I found my current #8. The new #8 has never worked as well as that old one, but I do have two #7 planes that work well; not that I really need two. I have a new in package #4 and #5 that I have simply not got around to looking at, but they were made in India and based on research and feed back from here, I understand that they have a good reputation. I should probably just sell them. They were given to me for helping a family when their Father died. They had no idea how to deal with all his stuff. I was able to walk through and quickly identify a bunch of easy to sell items and provide a general price when purchased new. To thank me, they gave me some things that were either not worth selling or things that were unclear (like the three planes made in India).
After I rehab this #4 (successfully or not), I should take another look at that #8 and see if I am now more able to use or able to improve it. If is a Franken plane I fear.
You might want to check and make sure that belt sander has a reasonably flat platen first, and of course check your work very frequently while actually sanding the tool.
I've used belt sanders to flatten tools before, but it's really easy to sand in a depression if you're not careful. I alternate between the belt sander and coarse grit sandpaper on a granite plate, using the scratch marks from the sandpaper to guide where I use the belt. It's easier if you hand-sand at 90 deg to the motion of the belt sander, so that you can tell the scratches apart.
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 09-14-2016 at 4:33 PM.
I always wonder how people come up with such prices.On the other hand, the neighbor thought that it was worth upwards of $60. I doubt that this will ever be worth that, which means that if I do sell it I will clear the asking price with the neighbor and simply return it if he is not happy with the price.
I would set a starting price if you are selling on ebay.
If you get it tuned up and working well, make sure that is stated when you sell it.
It has been a few years, but I have sold #4 sized Bedrock planes in good working condition for less than $60.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Mostly, a plane like that will start at $5.99 + S&H Have sold a few.
While on a mission to retrieve the camera's tripod from the shop....wound up doing a full sharpening on a Fulton #3......Iron had been ground at an angle, in towards the center. Back needed flattened. New, straight 25 degree bevel was ground. beltsander and a MK1 Honing guide , followed by the 600 oil stone and sandpaper up to 2.5K. No chatter, able to shave nice thin shavings from a piece of Walnut.
Then< I almost forgot the tripod.....needed it for pictures of a table....
Three planes from today....
The Craftsman No. 3C ( according to the stamp on the side) smooth sole, has a "Golden Oval" Craftsman on the lever cap, and "Craftsman Tools" on the rear handle....
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Made by Millers Falls, for sears. As for the Fulton No.3
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Found in a damp, moldy cellar at a yard sale, $1. Had a yellow mold growing out of the handles. Rear one is a replacement, for now. Might cobble a new handle out of that slab of Walnut it is sitting on.
As for the Made in England Stanley #4?
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Seems to do ..OK.. for an Import. It had a black, plastic depth adjuster knob....until
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One of my spares replaced it.
The Fulton will need a strop for the iron, as I couldn't find mine today.
Hi Andrew,
I wouldn't worry too much about the #8 possibly being a Franken plane. It may be and work OK, and I had one that did, I think, a few years ago. (I also had one that took a bunch of time and work to rehab because the Franken parts were not compatible with the rest of the plane, and I would not have gone to the trouble to restore it because the parts came off a good plane. All told the rehab cost more than the plane is worth, and if it had not been my grandfather's, I would not have done it.)
My point is that you don't know on a Franken plane, it may or may not be fine, you don't know until you get into it. If it were mine I would definitely give it a go, but then I don't have a #8 so would definitely work on it in hopes it would make a good user. Still, sooner or later think that I will have a number 8 by one showing up at a price I think is OK.
I think it is pretty neat that you are trying to help out your neighbor, and I hope the work on the plane goes well.
Now I am not sure what to do with my own Dunlap, because Eric helped his a great deal by using a file, so I am tempted to try the same thing when I get time, but I have other planes that need work that are much better planes than the Dunlap. For what it's worth, I don't know the maker of my Dunlap, but looking at it carefully now, it is definitely not a Stanley.
Stew
Last edited by Stew Denton; 09-14-2016 at 11:09 PM.
Stanley, Made in England #4
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Lumber underneath is Walnut..
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Sears Craftsman No. 3C, Made by Millers Falls, same as their No.8. label on handle says "Craftsman Tools". The logo on the plated lever cap has a brass coloured oval. CRAFTSMAN in the oval. Wood is also walnut
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Fulton, a #3 sized plane, made by Sargent, sold at Sears. Bought at a yard sale for $1. Had a yellowish mold growing on the wood handles. had to replace the rear one. Just rehabbed the iron on this one today. And the chipbreaker.
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Rear handle is a "loaner" until I can make a new one. had already rehabbed the rest of this plane, iron was saved until I had a bit of time and room to work on it. Been using the Craftsman one on the last project..
The "C" model laying on it's side in the background is a Stanley No.5c, T-6.....have it set up as a cambered jack.
I have been very busy, but I wanted to provide an update.....
I wandered out to see Mr. steven c newman, who was certainly much nicer to me than I deserve, but....
He pulled the plane apart and touched some areas I had not looked at. He pulled an odd piece of metal from inside and said something like..... "what is this doing here?" and then he removed it. Looks like someone added an unexpected flat piece of metal between the frog and the base.
A few other things were done, and now the plane is usable. So, a big thank you to Mr. newman!
Oh, and he gave me a few goodies....
I do try to be a decent host....
Glad you enjoyed the day....Learn anything?
Yeah, I had never seen that before, but without Steve pointing out that it was not right, I probably would have simply shrugged and moved on.
When took possession of the plane, the blade was mounted the wrong way around, so the chip breaker was not near the tip of the blade, it was near the edge of the bevel. One result was that the blade protruded significantly out the bottom and there was nothing that you could do about that. I don't know if that is why someone tried a shim, which was still not enough, or if it was because the be bottom of the from was very rough, but Steve hit that with his belt sander and made short work of the issues there.