Cracked No 7 Stanley Hand Plane........ Repair?

Wet after the second coat.

I scraped all the excess epoxy off the top, gave it a very light sanding then put a total so far, of two coats of an oil based clear urethane that is for floors on the bench. I sand to #240 between coats, to knock off the high spots. I've thinned the urethane a fair bit to get it to flow, so far it is working well. I want to put another 2 coats on to be sure it has a good protective film.

I've done the BLO finish, several coats rubbed in, this looked nice, but soon was stained by my use of the bench, I next tried Watco Danish oil, this was 3 or 4 coats, rubbed in and again, it just did not hold up. I finally tried the Formby's Tung oil, but again, but it ended up not lasting. Things like lapping the bottom of a hand plane, the iron dust caused by this would stain the bench top, because there was no film cover on the wood. I've been against the urethane in the past, thinking it would be too slick, but now I'm at the point where I just want my bench top to be a bit more user friendly, and not look shabby in a short time. I guess we shall see!

Looking good Stu!

Stuart Ablett said:

Things like lapping the bottom of a hand plane, the iron dust caused by this would stain the bench top, because there was no film cover on the wood.

Click to expand...

Yikes! As you know iron dust and woodworking don't mix too well. I have a dedicated sharpening station, but have used my wood bench to file my scraper and not too happy about that. I need to add a metal vise and a metal working bench to my shop to avoid contaminating my wood bench. I realize, in the Dungeon, everything has to be multi-functional. Here is a blog link to an American version of you, but with a much bigger shop and toys, both metal and woodworking. He really does remind me of you, willing to tackle anything and able to pull it off. It is a link to him building a sharpening station.

I have several planes that look like the one you have. Want to know what I did? I took all the parts I could off and put body in a box along with the others and when I gt enough I take them to the junk yeard. I weld up corner, and I can weldup the crack and you would never see it but it would never be right. If you want a really good #7 I have several.

Tom