# Restored an old Stanley hand plane



## Hendo446

I found this hand plane in my grandfathers tool box after he passed on. I took it home and started fixing it up. Now,,,I started this process before I knew ANYTHING about hand planes. I didn't even know that they were collectable at that time. I have since learned a whole lot about hand planes and have come to love them. In my "restoration" efforts I may have destroyed some of the value of this plane if there was even any value to begin with. I am still researching the plane to find out exactly which one it is. Either way, I don't really care about the monetary value. It was my grandfathers and that makes it priceless to me. 

I just wanted to put some before and after pictures of it up. If yall see any problems (prob hard to tell just from pics) with what I did to it please let me know. When I got it, it was covered with a decade or three of grit and rust. I cleaned it up, probably took too much rust off of it (along with some japanning that was flaking off), lapped the sole and sides, made a new handle, re-beveled / sharpened the iron, and tuned it up best I could. Now it cuts wood shavings like butter.


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## midcent' dave

I think you did a great job. Rescuing it from a certain rusty demise surpases any monetary value IMO. And if it shabes that well, then you hit a homerun.:thumbsup:


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## BWSmith

Very nice,am sure its a wonderful feeling usin it and a connection with family.BW


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## firehawkmph

Hendo,
Nice job on keeping the old tools alive. Try a few coats of tung oil on the wooden parts to bring back the beauty of the wood. The tung oil will soak in the first couple of coats and then finally dry with a slight bit of shine to it. 
Mike Hawkins


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## knotscott

You did a bang up job...does my heart good to see these old precision tools get new life. Excellent! :thumbsup:


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## Texas Sawduster

*Nice job*

I too have been given old planes and have not touched them as of yet.
One of them was my great grandfathers all Birch Jack Plane.
I will have to get pics and post them.
I believe that it is still flat enough to use.


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## glh17

Nice job!


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## Gene Howe

Really nice restoration job. The new handle is exquisite.
In your research, were you able to identify your plane?


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## Mizer

Nice job! great looking handle too. If you are interested in dating it you could post a pic of the logo on the top of the iron. I do know that it is older than newer because it does not have the reinforcing ring under the front knob. I have a a Stanley book at home that has all the info. about dating any Stanley tool.


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## Hendo446

Thanks for all the nice comments guys! It means alot to me. 

Mike, when I took that pic I had one coat of a tung oil finish on the handle. I plan on putting a few more coats on here in the near future. 

Also, when I get home I'll post a pic of the logo as suggested. I haven't done too much research yet. I found a link somewhere here on this site awhile back to a website that had everything you ever wanted to know about Stanley's on it. It's a long read and I have a short attention span, so I find myself wandering off to the garage after a few paragraphs. I'll buckle down and get to researching it this weekend though and try to get yall an answer. 

I asked my dad about it, but he was never into woodworking so he didn't remember where my grandfather got it. 

Thanks again guys.
Hendo


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## jamesicus

Nice job -- congratulations!

Two excellent, comprehensive online Stanley plane research/identification/dating facilities are at:

http://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/typing/typing.htm

http://hansbrunnertools.gil.com.au/Stanley by numbers/Stanley 1.htm

James


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## Brink

Looks like a #3-C from before 1910 I think. Beautiful plane, great job and so useable.


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## Webster

Great job on restoration job Hendo.
That one is a beauty, and it can be a pleasure bringing them back to life.

As with Brink says, late 18 early 1900's.

You're entering into a highly addictive area there my friend :thumbsup:

I fell into that trap a while ago, and can't seem to walk past one without at least inspecting it inside and out ...... more likely than not, that plane will be coming home with me if it's old and the price is right........I've picked them up for as little as $5.00! They can really add up after a while :laughing:

Hang on to the old handle. They can be repaired to like new.

You may, or may not, have lost some of the $$$ value, but the sentimental value is worth a lot more, I'm sure.

Keep us informed on the information about it.

Rick


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## Hendo446

*Think I got it figured out*

Brink and Webster - good eyes. From what I can tell it is a #2C and was made anywhere between 1898 to 1918. And thanks for those websites James. I used those two and the one I talked about earlier: http://www.supertool.com/stanleyBG/stan1.htm. I think it is a #2C rather than a #3C because of the measurements. It is 7" long with a 1 5/8" iron. Other than the slight difference in size, the #2 and #3 are almost identical. As far as when it was made, it has all the features of a plane made before 1902, but the markings are from 1910 to 1918. I had a hard time figuring out the discrepancy between the feature dates and the marking dates till I came across this quote from the website I listed above: 

"And for those of you who follow the type studies religiously (keep in mind that Stanley never knew about the type studies when they were making their stuff), this plane doesn't follow the study very well. It seems as if the Stanley employees, given the task of making *#2*'s, were off in their happy, little *#2*-land, oblivious to the changes made to the plane's larger brothers." 

So that would explain why it has features from both older and later planes. Either way, here are a few pictures of the only two markings on the plane. Thanks for all the help and encouragement guys!
Hendo


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## Brink

Yup, its a 2-C. A 3 is an inch longer, and 1 3/4" blade. Once you get started with an old plane, you gotta get more.


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## akhenaton22

Looks good. I myself new very little about plans until i bought an old one for 10 bucks. Now I have 3 old ones and am in the process of restoring them. I discovered using electrolysis, which has helped greatly with the rust. Hope to get them sharp soon so i can take some shavings and see how my work turned out.


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## Fishbucket

akhenaton22 said:


> I discovered using electrolysis, which has helped greatly with the rust.


 Do you mind expanding on this a little? :yes:


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## akhenaton22

Electrolysis is much like electroplating but in the reverse order. The articles below can tell you far more then i can. However one thing to note is that it is not recommended to use stainless steel anymore. Stainless steel breaks down and creates hexachromates that are very toxic to humans. I used regular carbon steel as my anode and instead of a 12 volt battery i stripped and attached alligator clips to the ends of a cell phone charger. I probably should have used something stronger, like a 12v battery or a battery trickle charger, but i wanted to be able to set it up and walk away for a day or two. After mine was finished it had a black film on it that could be removed by polishing, much easier then the rust was to remove. 

http://lumberjocks.com/David/blog/2191

http://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/electrolysis/electrolysis.htm


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## apprentice

Nice restoration job! I just bought an old craftsman low angle plane from ebay which i'll be restoring. I'll post it on a new thread.:thumbsup:


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## toolemera

*Nice Job*

Very nice restoration job on the plane. Here is a link to a lot of information on Stanley planes:

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

Even in fairly used condition, a 2C is worth a good amount of cash. Easily $100-$150 in it's present rehabbed condition. 

But what's more important is it belonged to your g'father. Use it and enjoy.

Gary


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## Rick C.

I've restored 2 Acme planes that once belonged to my FIL. They are Acme planes, not sure of original quality. 
This is very nice work you've done, I hope you use them often. I do mine.


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## IllPope

Yep, I was gonna guess an early 1900's 3C myself, looks like the typing enthusiasts helped you out a little more on that one. Looks like you did a bang up job indeed, did you re-japan? +2 on keeping the old handle. A little glue and maintenance, and it'll look brand new.
- Rich


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## Hendo446

Thanks again for all the encouragement guys. I'm so encouraged that I just got an old rabbet plane off e-bay and now I'm looking for a joiner plane to round off my collection. 

Illpope - No, I didn't re-jappan it. Had no idea how to go about that or if I should. You answered my question about re-japanning in one of your posts so now I'm thiking about going back and doing it. It doesn't sound nearly as complicated as I had imagined it to be. I might wait and try it out on another old plane I aquire along the way though just to be sure. Thanks for the info.

Oh, and yes I still have the old handle. All it needs is a little glue. I mostly made the new one just for the sake of trying something new in the shop. 

Hendo


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## cjstein125

*Restoring Hand Planes*

Hello,

Due to being in that Army (wasting time standing in formations) I have little time, or no space to work on projects. I do have some stanley hand planes in dire need of restoration. Its crazy, when I was younger, I thought to my self, "who would ever use these old things" and now that I am older and more mature...I understand how important they are.

I am just wondering if anyone knows where I can send these planes to be restored...or if anyone does such a thing.

Thanks!

Chris


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## Greg in Maryland

Hey Chris,

Depending on what you have and how soon you need them, I would be glad to work on your planes. If you start a new thread and post pictures we (and the entire forum) could take a look at them and let you know what a good approach would be.

Without knowing what you have and the condition,my thoughts are a bath in Evapo-rust or electrolysis for all the parts, followed by scrubbing with a brass brush and a coating of WD-40 to prevent further rusting. I would then use various grits of sandpaper to flatten and polish up the bottom and possibly sides. I really don't have the capacity (or interest, frankly) to repaint the plane. I would leave the Japanning as is. I could also work on flattening the blade and sharpening it. It would be to the best of my abilities, not the pinnacle of perfection. 

Depending on the condition of the tote and knob there might be epoxy glue in its future, or just stripping, sanding and refinishing. Alternatively, there are knobs and totes available on ebay that can be purchased if the current knobs are beyond repair. These ebay items are for the common Stanley bench planes -- 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8. I don't think that there are knobs and totes for the more specialized planes. I don't have the capacity to make knobs (no lathe) and would rather not make a handle.

I'm not a complete 100% verified expert in restoring. I would say that that I am a novice and there would be some risk in trusting me with your tools. However, I can tell you that a) I wouldn't ruin them, b) I would treat them as my own and c) I wouldn't suddenly "lose" or otherwise "misplace" any of the planes or parts. I could do as much or as little with them, as you like.

Lastly, depending on what you have and how many you have, all you would have to do is send them to me. I can mail them back for you (to the states, not Afghanistan  for no cost.

I am glad to help, so just let me know if you have any interest. "Thank you, but no" is an acceptable answer and one that would not cause any insult or hurt feelings.

Take care and stay safe,

Greg

PS for the ultimate flattening, check out Tablesaw Tom's service: http://www.tablesawtom.com/plane.htm I haven't used him yet, but I intend to send him one of my number 4's as a test when I have a few extra bucks.


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## eagle49

I checked in my Stanley book and the logo on the blade was used from about 1919 to 1920. I've had the stanley addiction since the 70's made alot of easy from um! Too bad they aren't worth as much as they unsed to be. Have fun


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## Layne Zuelke

*Restored Planes*

Stop by the site to see some great restorations. I love bringing these old workhorses back to life. I like these tools so much I decided to turn it into a full time job. I love my job!
Layne Z.
www.cajunhandplanes.com


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