# Craftsman Hand Plane



## Tom-G (Nov 11, 2012)

I just picked up this plane. 

It has a Craftsman decal just behind the knob, and "made in the USA" molded into the base just in front of the handle. 

The frog is red, and the plane iron has "Craftsman made in the USA BL" on it. 

Any idea which company made it for Craftsman and roughly how old it is? 

Also, why does it have BL after USA on the iron?

Thanks


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## Tom-G (Nov 11, 2012)

Here is another picture.


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## Stevebo (Nov 11, 2014)

http://www.brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/graphics/plane id/lateral styles 2.jpg
https://timetestedtools.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/quickly-identify-your-hand-plane/

Looks like Sargent.


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## Tom-G (Nov 11, 2012)

Thanks Steve. Yes it does look like a Sargent. Those links have a lot of good information. It appears to be a Type 6 dating from 1942 - 1950. 

Now I just need to learn the best way to clean it up / restore it to working condition.


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## Dovetails (Jun 8, 2014)

Soak the rusted parts in plain white vinager for a few hours, remove and wipe them down with a degreaser. Immediately coat them in wax or other oil. Sharpen the plane iron by flattening the back, and shaping and honing the bevel. Flatten the cap iron where it meets the blade. Flattening the sole is a good idea, but not terribly essential to get started. Easiest way is 220 sandpaper, spray adhesive and a flat surface, either a piece of glass, or your table saw top.

After this, get after it. Should take you a couple hours to finish, and you'll be making shavings.

And, believe it or not, once you get it running, there is very little difference between it, and the super expensive planes made today. They'll produce nearly the same quality of work. Despite the hype.


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## Tom-G (Nov 11, 2012)

Thank you! I expected much more effort to remove the corrosion. 

When I saw it at an antique shop and picked it up it had a lot of "heft" to it. Solid, no cracks in the wood, relatively good shape, made in the USA, .... I couldn't resist. They had very few tools and just this one plane. This is the first vintage plane I have purchased and looking forward to cleaning it up and using it.


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## Stevebo (Nov 11, 2014)

I did my first (and so far only) plane restore on a Craftsman very similar to your's, albeit by Millers Falls. I didn't realize vinegar could be used to remove rust so I used rust remover of some sort which cleaned it all pretty quickly. The hardest part was grinding the blade down because it had a couple of chips in it.

Before and After:


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## Tom-G (Nov 11, 2012)

Wow, that plane cleaned up nicely. Looks great!


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## Tom-G (Nov 11, 2012)

The use of vinegar to remove the rust was amazing. I never knew it could be used for that. Overall the parts are in good shape. The sole does have two areas with deep pitting, so I'll be addressing that next.


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