# First Old Hand plane



## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

Well the days of borrowing a plane are over for me.. Well I was borrowing a No. 4 at times when I needed. And simply put I need my own.. So I picked up this Shelton No. 14 last night for $13. I feel for the $$ FOr its size it will do me well. no it is not a Stanley #5 but for the $ and condition i could not pass it up.. 

And I guess you can say "it has begun!"

the japaning meh… from the pictures it may clean up, we shall see. The iron will def need re surface and sharpening. We will see if I do a full restore. As it is not a super rare gem though the Shelton company was not around for long.. I still do not feel that a restore will affect the value. plus I am not looking to avast a collection of rare planes. I plan to use all that I buy and will buy them for that reason.. 

Ok i know y'all want the dadgum pictures. these were the ones provided to me and i will take more once it is in my possession. :thumbsup:


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

That is is good condition for the age. More of a cleanup than a restore.

In all of my restorations the blades have needed work. Most were badly sharpened by hand. Some with large dings.

I am not seeing major rust issues on the blade and it is almost full length so it will be easily sharpened. 

It should not take long to get this into shape to make nice fluffy shavings.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

I am optimistic that it cleans up..

the thing that i am toiling with is do I even touch the finish of the: wood, screws, toe. 

I like shiny and clean. they are easier to maintain. but I also like originality of the patina. And with that said with the condition I am hard pressed to remove that patina that came with age.. 

Sharpen the iron, polish the iron cap, re surface the sole and sides. These are for sure the starting points..



******** Opinions on polish it up or simply a good cleaning and leave the patine… *********


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

There is patina and then there is grime and dirt.

The finish on the knob and tote looks excellent. I would just clean off any dust and grime.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

Dave Paine said:


> There is patina and then there is grime and dirt.
> 
> The finish on the knob and tote looks excellent. I would just clean off any dust and grime.


good point.. 

Now the waiting game begins Delivery said between April 25 Friday and Monday April 28. I want it now!


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

+ With Dave,

Also when cleaning the cap iron, hone the edge so it lays completely flat with your iron.

Nice looking plane, should not take to much to get her to give you some nice shavings.

I am afraid you have been bitten, you wont want to stop at that plane.:thumbsup:


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

acowboy said:


> + With Dave,
> 
> Also when cleaning the cap iron, hone the edge so it lays completely flat with your iron.
> 
> ...


 
agreed. they are like potato chips.


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## john sayles (May 27, 2013)

(unintentionally) funniest line of the week

"plus I am not looking to avast a collection of rare planes ..."

I said something similar, many years (and hundreds of planes) ago.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

So I check the tracking and it sais "out for delivery" yay me. Maybe it will arrive by the time I go home for lunch. I am excited. 

Looking around for a router plane now and a carcass saw.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

So she was sitting on my porch when I got home at lunch. YAY. great packaging YAY condition was better than i had expected YAY knowing that lighting and pictures do not always show everything.. 

OK so here goes the sole has even surface rust with no pitting or gouges wight he worst of the rust being on one side.



The wood is in far better shape than i had thought, with no cracking or major chips. 















The iron edge is fairly new and in decent shape surprisingly. 



The Iron cap seats fairly flush to the iron also with a decent edge. 



The inside of the Cap has the worst rust of the entire plane and it could be gunk i did not try and clean it but looks like some rust.





Previous owner left me some presents.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

part 2

the frog is in great shape



OK so I could not hold my self back at this point. About 1 min into deconstruction and picture taking.. i had to bust out a tooth brush and some citrus cleaner and scrub down the japanning to inspect it.. Well i would say i am happy with its condition and would rate it at 85-90% as some of the shine and luster is gone and it does have a few small chips.. some polish wax should shine it up.. 










now i just need to close up at he office and head home and do a good deep cleaning and get her looking better and headed towards operational use.. 

I am going to toss it back together and make a couple of base line out of the box passes on a scrap of poplar so we can compare.. :thumbsup:


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

Ok opinion time before i dive in tonight.. should the surface rust stay on the upper of the iron or should it get a scotch brite, and their is surface rust on some of the lower adjustments. to what extent do y'all think it should be done. i have the skills and ability to go full mirror polish, BUT! i do not feel that that will do this plane justice.. I will be shooting to save as much of the patina and character as possible while also removing the rust. 

I do not know if an electrologist bath is the answer for the solid covered parts? but amy yield the best results without having to put "scratch" to metal..

OVER and out.


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

Any thing that has rust and no Japanning I'd put in a bath (electrolysis, oxalic acid, lemon juice, vinegar or whatever). If it's got rust and Japanning, I'd use your favorite abrasive on the rust areas. 

I've never actually done a complete restore, I just renovate to good using condition and keep any bare metal waxed.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

The sole jappaning looks really good. Hardly any rust. I would clean and then light oil or wax to keep the rust from getting worse.

For the blade, I normally clean with 400 or 600 grit wet-dry paper and water. The rust is superficial and will easily come off. There may be a stain but nothing to worry about.

I like to clean and hone the areas of the frog which contact the blade and sole. Same for the bearing surfaces on the sole.

For the cap iron I would clean then use something like Brasso or NeverDull.


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

Nice plane...

I have a thread on rust removing,
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f11/rust-removing-60142/
some of the best results where obtained from using lemon juice, the acid (citric acid) turns red rust (Fe2O3) into black rust (Fe3O4) , which is more soluble in clean ups.

And have reused LJ for several applications, mostly used on plane irons, screws lever caps..etc.

A fine sandpaper, fine steel wool, and even a scotch pad can be used to get the black rust off.
Hot water and dish soap for painted parts,

I have even used a fine wire brush in certain areas.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

Ok a few updates.. It is coming along. 

The sole is 90% clean with a few scratches that are dark but I feel it is good to go and start stepping up on the finer paper.





Found the original markings on the Iron.. so that is a plus that the iron is original. 





Iron cap cleaned up nice also





the Lateral adjustment still needs some rust removal.. More pictures tonight after I do more work..


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Looking very good. The metal cleaned up well. :thumbsup:

I would not worry about scratches on the sole, they will not impact performance.

I concentrate on getting the sole flat from the toe to the back side of the mouth. This area affects performance the most.

I also do not go above 150 grit on the sole, but this is personal preference if you want to go to higher grit.


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

+ With Dave,

Anything above 150 grit will make it "shiny", and more susceptible to visible marring by usage. But like Dave said, that is your preference.

Plane is looking very good, great job so far..:thumbsup:


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

you will also find that if you polish the end of the chip breaker were the shavings hit, it helps performance some. I usually go about half way up the curve.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

timetestedtools said:


> you will also find that if you polish the end of the chip breaker were the shavings hit, it helps performance some. I usually go about half way up the curve.


Yea i have heard this from a few people. once i have the Iron cap perfect edge i plan to do 600, 800, 1,200 then a few passes on my polish wheel so it minimizes any resistance applied to the shavings. 


thanks for all the like so far.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

Ok I finished cleaning her up last night and did a few passes with the existing edge that shows light against a straight edge. I have not sharpened it yet. I wanted a baseline. And well.... It is marginal at best. I am making an angle jig with wheel to sharpen the edge and flatten the cap iron. I will work on this over the next couple evenings between a few other projects. 

But for now here ya go. All that I did to the wood was a damp paper towel to wipe down the grime. (Open to any ideas on a treatment to the wood that will not take away from it's originality and patina)

lemon soak on all of the hardware then wire brass brush to not leave any scratches. I love brass brushes for cleaning. 
































































The worst of the japanning is on the nose.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

jdpber said:


> Ok I finished cleaning her up last night and did a few passes with the existing edge that shows light against a straight edge. I have not sharpened it yet. I wanted a baseline. And well.... It is marginal at best.


Looking very good. Thanks for the update. :thumbsup:

Not a surprise. Most of my restorations have blades which are either dull or were so badly sharpened they would never cut.

Some of the worst cases are the blades where the previous owner installed the blade bevel up and then attempted to sharpen to get this to work.

One example had the cap iron set back far enough so that he could have a continuous curve from the cap iron down the blade edge. May have looked pretty to him, but not going to work well on a bench plane with a 45 deg frog bed angle.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

I am going to get a good fresh edge on the iron and set my plank of 4"x18"x4' pre civil war heart pine chucked into a make shift table vice. As I do not have a finishing table i had to do some thinking and this is what i cam up with. 2 2x4s attached to a 2x12 locking the slab in place laterally for planing. Then i can clamp the 2x12 to the saw horses and go to town. I have been staring at the ruff belt sanded slab since February and i want it flat and true and to se what mineral spirits will look like.. it is bothering me to not see the heart show true.. and i think i have decided that it will become a bench as the edge faces have a century and a half of old square body broken off and hammered flat nails so the jointer is out of the question and no way to remove them all.. so i feel a loose sand to leave a semi aged edge.. Basically knock down anything that will grab clothing or skin.. My thoughts are leave the bottom un touched and mortice in a set of legs with a spanner and boom..

I am allowed to tangent within my own thread.


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

Your plane turned out sweet..:thumbsup:

Did one nice job..hope to see more work from you.


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## jdpber (Mar 25, 2014)

Over the weekend I stopped by uncles stone shop and grabbed a cutting board size 3cm of granite. Nice 12x15 chunk of slab. Weighs around 25-30# and stays put under own weight on the work bench. Last night is put a fresh sharpen on the Iron.


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