Refurbed Plane

Jim DeLaney

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
6,917
Location
Austintown, Ohio
Spent the afternoon in the shop, finishing up a refurb on a #4, Type 17 (WWII MODEL) Stanley plane. I really like the Type 17's, mainly for their much heavier castings. Their finish isn't as good as earlier ones - better than post war types, though - but everything else about them is just fine. Not too many 'collectors' are interested in them, so prices still aren't too bad.

Case in point: I recently picked up the #4 I refurbed, plus another #4 and a #3, all for $15.00 at a local flea market.

17.jpg

The one in the center is the one I finished today. It was a real dog to start. It spent overnight in the electrolysis tank, then got a lot of work with Scotchbrite and SOS pads to get it clean and relatively shiny. Interestingly, the sole was virtually dead flat, and only needed a few passes over each grit on the granite block - 120 ~ 400 - to be ready to go.

The wood was completely shot, so I made a new knob and tote from cherry. I like the contour of the tote on my LN 85, so I more or less used that as a pattern for the new one. Finished it with Watco Natural.

Cleaned and sharpened the origina Stanley blade and I was in business, as you can see from the sample shavings.

The other 17's in the picture are: Left - a refurbed #4 I got from Steve Clardy in a trade for some Bedrock parts; and Rear - a #4 and #3 that are original and waiting their turn for refurb.


The other members of the 17 family are: (L ~R)

17 group 2.jpg


The #4 from Steve; a #3 with new Rosewood tote and knob and a Spehar Tool Works prototype blade; the newly refurbed #4; a refurbed #4½ with LN blade and new Rosewood knob and tote, and; in the rear, the as yet unrefurbed #4 and #3.

These bring the total number of planes currently on hand up to somewhere aroung eighty. Yep, that slope sure is slippery!
 
NICE JOB!
I love finishing up a plane rehab and taking those first shavings. I like the type 17's as well, especially when i can find the ones with the metal adjustment wheels and the frog adjustment screw - not real common, but they are around. I've got a #4 that i use regularly. It's got the laminated blade, which i also really like. I'm thinking about picking up a #3 as well.
Nice work on the knob and tote too.
Have fun with it.
Paul Hubbman
 
NICE JOB!
I love finishing up a plane rehab and taking those first shavings. I like the type 17's as well, especially when i can find the ones with the metal adjustment wheels and the frog adjustment screw - not real common, but they are around. I've got a #4 that i use regularly. It's got the laminated blade, which i also really like. I'm thinking about picking up a #3 as well.
Nice work on the knob and tote too.
Have fun with it.
Paul Hubbman

A couple of my 17's have the frog adjustment screw, but I find that I hardly ever use them on any of my planes. I've got enough planes that if I need a widder or narrower mouth, I just pick up another plane and use it. Only three of them have the metal adjuster knobs.

My overall favorite plane is that big 4½ in the second picture. I've got it tuned just the way I want it, and the LN A-2 blade is great. It also has a Clifton two piece chip breaker installed, and I tapped the cheeks for some 8-32 set screws to hold the blade in position laterally. I have two other Type 17 4½'s - one flat soled and one corrugated - but the one in the picture is my favorite.

There's a Type 17 #5 around here somewhere, but I seldom use it. For whatever reason, I hardly ever use a #5. If I need a longer plane than a 4½, I go straight to a 6, 7, or 8. None of those are 17's, though.
 
Those look great Jim.

I've brought to back to life 3 planes that have become very good everyday users at my shop.

As I documented ( although rather randomly) the recovery process I'll post them here, I'm sure that you'll point some hints to improve them.

Give me some time to resize the pics.
 
Nice job Jim!

Jim,
They look great! I really like the cherry tote you made. It looks like it would be very comfortable to use. I have some cherry that I set aside just for making totes. But I need to finish my hand tool cabinet before I even think about that! :>)

I hope to bring along a couple (more) planes that I rehabbed to Bill's BBQ this summer. Do you think you're going to make it this year?

My overall favorite plane is that big 4½ in the second picture. I've got it tuned just the way I want it, and the LN A-2 blade is great. It also has a Clifton two piece chip breaker installed, and I tapped the cheeks for some 8-32 set screws to hold the blade in position laterally. I have two other Type 17 4½'s - one flat soled and one corrugated - but the one in the picture is my favorite.

I was looking for a nice 4 1/2 for a long while there. But I finally found one about two months ago as well as a 5 1/2 last month from Ebay. Both are in fine order as they are. But they need cleaning and sharpening. I believe both are type 17s. But I'll need to check them closer to make sure! :>)


See ya around,
Dominic
 
Jim,
...I hope to bring along a couple (more) planes that I rehabbed to Bill's BBQ this summer. Do you think you're going to make it this year?
...Dominic

Hey Dom!

Welcome to FWW! Glad to see you here.

Mida and I plan to be at Bills for both days again this year. We'll spend a couple days in the Lancaster/Intercourse/Ephrata area prior to that, and make a week long trip out of it.

Bill has been by here twice now, on his way to different gigs, and we sure enjoy having him stop by. We also very much enjoy his annual get-together and make it a major 'destination' each Summer, now that we live close enough to make attending it practical.

See you there!
 
Great news!

Hey Dom!
...Welcome to FWW! Glad to see you here....We also very much enjoy his annual get-together and make it a major 'destination' each Summer, now that we live close enough to make attending it practical.
See you there!


Jim,
That's great news! I look forward to speaking with you again. Hopefully they'll have the "plane contest" this year. I've can use either my Union No7 or a 604 and get some pretty awesome shavings.

I've been lurking about the shadows or a while here at FWW. But I haven' posted all that much. I mean to change that! :>)
See ya around,
Dominic
 
Top