I picked up a couple of old and well used (abused?) planes off the Kijiji buy and sell website the other day to see if I could nurse them back to health. All they cost me was $20 for both of them, so it isn't like I have that much to lose if things don't go well.
They're both a little rusty, and very crusty with years of grime built up on them, as apparently they were stored in a barn unused for something like 20 years. They will both need the wooden parts replaced, so it's sonn gonna be time to hit the local hardwood boys and see what's in their odds and ends barrel. I intend honing their bases and sides to at least 600 grit and maybe even 1000. The blades are going to require a fair ammount of time with the diamond stones and the Arkansas stone, followed by a leather strop for that final polish.
Even if everything goes 100%, they'll still be a pair of inexpensive planes, nothing special, but it's a shame to see ANY tool go to waste, and since planes are one tool I haven't much experience with, this challenge I've set myself should be quite the learning experience and worth far more to me that way than any plane would be. If all goes well, I'll post pics here when they're done.
Now if I could just get the rust stains out of my hands...

Paul
the little guy

Tiny
There is a bunch of good info on restoring old beat up planes. Fellow 207 David Pruett (and author of The Folding Rule blog) has a multi-part video on the restoring a plane which he posted on the LJ website, which can be found here. You can also search LJ site for additional examples of the process.

Many thanks for the lead. I drop in on the folding rule from time to time myself. That's where I discovered THIS wonderful madhouse...
I shall check it out forthwith. (maybe even FIFTHWITH!)

Paul
the thankful little guy

Went and viewed brother David's podcast. Interesting stuff, but the wife has this thing about chemical reactions in the house, so it looks like it's back to the wet & dry paper and elbow grease. Besides, the electrolitic method won't take out the "dings".

Paul
the little guy

I have posted on this subject before but a few quick points....

Think about just replacing the blades. There are better ones out there now and it is a lot of work bringing back old blades.

I think you will definitely want to go to at least 1000 grit on the body of the plane. I like to use Brasso polish after the cleanup to remove all the honing gunk. Its also great for cleaning up the screws, adjustment nut, and cap iron.

I have had good luck cleaning up the sides and sole of the plane with one of those foam abrasive blocks with some Brasso as a honing compound.

Don't go nuts, the real goal is a good working plane not a swiss watch. Spend your time obsessing on your next woodworking project.

Steve

A soak in citric acid (get the powder from the health food store) or just 5% vinegar (cheapest white vinegar in a jug from grocery store) will do a lot toward removing rust.

Follow up with a light brushing, brass bristle or very stiff nylon works well. Watchout for peeling japaning though. Then dry well and coat with oil. You can use WD-40 to help dry the parts but it really doesn't leave behind much oil. A shot of 3-in-1 works for me. Other guys use a dab of synthetic motor oil. It hardens up in a thin film over a couple days. With a wipe down using a cotton cloth you really can't leave enough behind to mark the wood. Wax the bottom and away you go.

As far as polishing the bottom, its up to you how far you want to go but I've found that 220 works fine and the last few I've rehab'd I stopped at 150. More important is that you have no burrs anywhere on the mouth.

If one is pressing down so hard with the plane you can leave an imprint of the scratch pattern in the wood, perhaps one should consider a bit lighter touch. And if you need a mirror to see yourself, you can do better buying one at Wal-mart.

You can find basic patterns for the rear totes at Lee Valley. I don't have the link handy but if you need help I should have it somewhere. The front knobs are a bit more free-form. I've remade a couple totes wider than the stock totes and that seems more comfortable to me. Cherry, hard maple, rosewood all make good totes. Heck, any close-grain hardwood would work pretty well. I made one front knob from a sandwich of rosewood-walnut-rosewood to get a thick enough turning blank. Worked fine.

p.s. -- ignore any naysayers about your "ugly" planes. Tune them up and have fun.

I agree with the rosewood idea. That's what I was figuring on using, but rather than turning the front handles, (no lathe) I plan on going octagonal.

Paul
the little guy

Excuse to get a lathe. Just sayin'...

rwyoung said: "excuse to get a lathe"

Donations of cash and room chearfully accepted!

Paul
the little guy

Hmmm, yeah well....

What I did was monitor Ebay for a second hand Turncrafter Pro. A decent benchtop lathe with MT2 spindles so easier to get accessories. Picked one up for right around $150 delivered (something like $40 of it was shipping, freakin' eBay). Only thing wrong was the belt had been installed inside out and so slipped all the time. Once I fixed that (and got some new belts as they original was also nicked from jumping around on the pulleys) it works great.

Built a rolling cart and it gets pushed off to the side. Cart also holds bench grinder. Also holds a bunch of other junk...

You may already be familiar with using a drill press as a lathe. Not the best thing to do to a drill press, hard on the bearings, but it will work. Certainly if you hack the front knob near round to begin with you can chuck it up and finish with an "80 grit gouge" to round it. This is of course if you decide you don't like the octagonal knob.

For a nice protective finish on the metal parts of the plane, try Boeshield which is basically wax disolved in solvents. Never had a tool rust after using it and it does not seem to bother any finishes I use. I use it on all bare metal and machine tables. I have no commercial interest here, just a real happy customer of theirs.

Steve

Thanks for the ideas guys.
I should have thought of the drill press/lathe idea myself, as I used to do that for my model aircraft parts back in the day. Just been so long (over 40 years) I just plum forgot... I may just do it that way and compare with the octagonal one. Not like it's gonna use a ton of rosewood.


Paul
the little guy