Refurbed Bdrock 605 1/2 & 606

Hi gang,
Here are some before and after shots of (2) Bedrock planes I refurbed this weekend.

One is an early "round sided" Bedrock 605 1/2 and the other is a Bedrock 606. As you can see, both were in somewhat rusty condition when I got them.

Bedrock 605 1/2: BEFORE




Bedrock 606: BEFORE




I soaked them in Evaporust for 24 hours. This is the first time I used that stuff and I have to say that it did make the clean up job easier. I still needed to hit a couple pieces with a brass wheel brush. But that was only because they were REALLY rusty. I will definitely use it again.

Evaporust bath:


After they were removed from the Evaporust, I washed them off with some mineral spirits. After they dried I buffed all the parts with a medium brass wire wheel brush. After that I gave all the parts a coat of 3-in-1 oil and allowed them to sit overnight. The next day (today) I ground a new bevel, flattened the back of the blade, and honed them. I also worked on the chip breakers. These were in Ok condition but needed to have the mating surfaces ground flat and the tops sanded smooth and buffed.

One side note here: Someone here suggested wiping down your stropping surface with mineral oil to help green honing compound adhere. Well, that worked GREAT and I have the cut up fingers to prove it! Man these blades are SHARP!

I tested them both out by squaring up a Cherry 4x4. While I like the way the 605 1/2 performed, I was most impressed with the 606. The mass of this fore plane really makes powering through tough job a breeze.

Bedrock 605 1/2: AFTER






Bedrock 606: AFTER






Thanks for viewing!

They turned out great. Did you also wire buff the soles? How do you set up your blade edges, straight or curved? How do you see using these two planes? The reason I ask is that I have a jack and a joiner and am trying to see how these planes would fit into how I use what I have.

Dom,

Great job on the planes. What a wonderful resource renewed.

Wow, I'd recently heard about Evaporust but hadn't bought or used any. Glad to see it helped your process. I've got a number of older planes I've picked up cheaply and restored. I may just have to buy some of the Evaporust to use on the next one. Do you have any photos of the plane bodies after the Evaporust but before any other steps? I'd love to see just how far that got you in the overall process.

Regards,

Hi Bill

Bill Satko said:

They turned out great. Did you also wire buff the soles? How do you set up your blade edges, straight or curved? How do you see using these two planes? The reason I ask is that I have a jack and a joiner and am trying to see how these planes would fit into how I use what I have.

Click to expand...

Bill,
Thanks for the compliments! I did wire buff the sole as well. But not half as much as I had to do on planes where I didn't use Evaporust.

I have another No6 and 5 1/2 that have cambered blades. Both of these Bedrock's blades are set with no camber although the corners are eased somewhat.

I'll use both of these like a small jointer and to finish panels before smoothing. With cambered blades, I'd use them for cutting at 45 deg to the grain and removing a lot more wood at a pass.

Hi Lee

Lee,
Sorry but I don't happen to have any photos of the planes after I removed them from the Evaporust.

I will tell you this, they don't come out all neat and shiny like that penny in the old Tarnex commercial. The surface of the steel looked "gray". But one I cleaned off the residue and then buffed, well you see the results.

BTW, if you have a Harbor Freight store near you they sell Evaporust.

Great work, Dominic!

I'm sold on Evaporust too. I won't be using electrolysis again unless it's for something really big.

Lee, my description of what the steel/iron looks like straight out of the soup is matte grey. About the same shade and texture as a file, or the back of a lapped A2 plane iron from Lee Valley. It looks pretty dull in other words.

Dom & Ian,

Thanks for the extra input on what to expect using the Evaporust. The more I hear about the product the better I'm liking it. Is anything required to turn off the Evaporust process, when you've finished?

Glad to hear Harbor Freight carries it. I've got a Harbor Freight within five miles so I'll be sure to pick up a bottle (or whatever container is appropriate).

Regards,

Just wash

Lee Laird said:

Dom & Ian,
Is anything required to turn off the Evaporust process, when you've finished?

Click to expand...

Nope! Just wash the parts off. From what I understand and read from the product label, Evaporust is environmentally safe and harmless.

However, I found that the parts were rather "slimey" when they come out of the Evaporust bath. Washing with mineral spirits and an old scotch brite pad will get rid of that. After you clean them with a brass brush or wire wheel (if you do elect to go that route) just be sure to give all the steel parts a healthy coat of 3-in-1 oil. Otherwise they will rust instantly! I let them sit overnight and wiped them off the next day. After that they got a nice coat of wax.

One last thing, I only dunked the STEEL parts in Evaporust. The brass stuff I cleaned up the old fashioned way. With a dremel and a wire wheel brush.

Hi

Yeah, you can rinse in water, but on the label of the Evaporust (let's call it EVR for short) bottle it says to dip the piece back in the EVR after scrubbing the surface and leave to air dry. This is a big advantage, I think. No worries about flash rusting, no need to to dry in all the nooks and crannies.

Yes, Dom, it's a bit sticky when it dries, but I just wipe a bit of light mineral oil on, then wipe it off. Now, none of the pieces I've done in it needed painting. I guess I'd use lacquer thinner or mineral spirits instead of oil if I was going that route.

I picked up a drywall mud pan from HD -- the red or yellow plastic ones that are shaped like a loaf pan. You can submerge up to a #5 1/2 round-sided body, and fill it with less than half a gallon. You can tuck the other bits in the pan at the same time. It's easy to empty if you use a funnel to get it back into the bottle.

I think this is an amazing product -- I wish I'd had it a few years ago when I was at the peak of my rust buying. And no, I don't own shares in the company. I just wish I did

Good to know!

Ian Gillis said:

...but on the label of the Evaporust (let's call it EVR for short) bottle it says to dip the piece back in the EVR after scrubbing the surface and leave to air dry. This is a big advantage, I think. No worries about flash rusting, no need to to dry in all the nooks and crannies.

Click to expand...

Wow! I didn't see THAT on the label! And it sounds like a logical practice as well! I should try that next time. I've got a 607 and 608 to restore and they are in the same shape as these two.

605 1/2 , 606 and now a 607 and a 608. Gee Dominic, there sounds like there is a post on how you scored all these planes.

bill yu gotta know dominic,, he gets around and is a lucky fellar,, i know of a DJ-20 he got real cheap but he deserved it. i tried to get the owner to sell it to me but he wouldnt skip out on dominic,, who is another stand up guy like dominic. yup dom i am like a elephant

so can you reuse the stuff or is it done after one use? straight outa the jug or dilute it?

You know Bill?

larry merlau said:

bill yu gotta know dominic,, he gets around and is a lucky fellar,, i know of a DJ-20 he got real cheap but he deserved it. i tried to get the owner to sell it to me but he wouldnt skip out on dominic,, who is another stand up guy like dominic. yup dom i am like a elephant

so can you reuse the stuff or is it done after one use? straight outa the jug or dilute it?

Click to expand...

Larry,
You DO have a memory like an Elephant! I got that old 8" Delta jointer from Bill Grumbine about 4 or 5 years ago. It sure has come in handy!

From what I understand, you just filter it (using a coffee filter) and you can re-use the stuff a couple more times. Basically you use it until it looses it's "omph".

But I just read that you can add Citric Acid to it to restore some of it's ability to remove rust. This leads me to believe that it's got some kind of mild acid in it. It DOES smell a little like vinegar.

No real story

Bill Satko said:

605 1/2 , 606 and now a 607 and a 608. Gee Dominic, there sounds like there is a post on how you scored all these planes.

Click to expand...

Bill,
The 607 I got from Jim Reed. It's an early "round backed" model like the 605 1/2. It's in decent shape but needs to be cleaned up. I paid a fair market price for it.

The 608C however is one of my more "gloatable" grabs. I got that from Ebay for the unheard amount of $89! I STILL don't know how I managed that one!

To be truthful, I'm looking forward to cleaning these two up about as much as I look forward to root canal! Big planes are a LOT of work!

Dominic Greco said:

The 608C however is one of my more "gloatable" grabs. I got that from Ebay for the unheard amount of $89! I STILL don't know how I managed that one!

To be truthful, I'm looking forward to cleaning these two up about as much as I look forward to root canal! Big planes are a LOT of work!

Click to expand...

You know the price of steel has plummeted dramatically, so you probably paid way to much. I am sure there are a couple of us that would help you out by paying you what you paid....

Nice job on the planes Dominic.
The remind me of an old girlfriend; Sure cleaned up nice.