Stanley 9 1/2 has a sore throat. What do I do?

[Jim C Bradley]

Stanley No. 9 ½ Adjustable throat, won’t.

I have a Stanley No. 9 ½ which I purchased new for approximately $7.00. This was after 1951 and before 1959. It has been used almost not-at-all. (Yes I know that isn’t what I was taught about the English language.)

It is in very good shape except for two things. One: Years ago a guy with no sharpening gene (me) tried to sharpen the blade. Two: The throat is stuck. I didn’t have a clue about why it was adjustable so it was never adjusted. I don’t want to mess it up while trying to get it to moveable. How do I un-stick this with no harm to the plane?

Thanks again to you guys and gal who got my Stanley jack plane working nicely.

Enjoy,

Jim

[Mike Henderson]

Hi neighbor.

I'd soak the front part of the plane in WD-40 or something like that, or really put a lot of the same thing on the front where the adjustable plate is.

After it soaked, I'd loosen the front knob a few turns and then tap on the knob with a soft mallet (like wood or plastic) to see if that would break it free. If it does, then you need to clean the metal on both the body and the sliding throat plate.

About all I can think of.

Mike

[Norman Hitt]

Jim, the first thing I would try is to loosen or remove the fastener that tightens the throat in place and then spray the whole area of the edges of the throat with WD-40 or other good pentetrating oil and let it soak for a while, reapplying the WD-40 or other a few times. Next, I would take a wooden mallet and tap lightly all around it, trying to jar it free. Whenyou get it free, then use more WD-40 on the areas of contact between the throat plate and plane body, and use a brass bristle brush to clean any gunk or rust from the contact areas. If there is any roughness, use some 220 grit sandpaper and very lightly polish all the contact surfaces, then lube it with more WD-40 and reinstall the throat plate and slide it back and forth until it moves freely, then wipe it clean of all oil and foreign matter before final assembly. The position of the throat plate in combination wit6h the depth of the blade is to fine tune the thickness of the shavings. (hope I explained this right).

Others with more Plane savvy may have a better solution, but that is what I would try first, because unless it has been dropped and slightly bent something, it is most likely just stuck from accumulated gunk and/or corrosion.

Did you ever get something working to help you move your Drill Press Table up and down?

[Michael Hinkel]

I was just reading about this last night. Go here, Patrick Leech talks about unsticking the plane.

[Jim C Bradley]

Hi to all of you wonderful helpers,

I tapped the brass knob a couple times. Nothing happened. I took a piece of approx. ½” x ½” x 9” oak and from the inside of the plane did a gentle tap on the back of the moveable piece. It came loose instantly.

There was one speck of rust. It was about 1/16” x 1/8” plus. Otherwise everything was clean (except for some dust). I will polish the edges, remove the rust and re-assemble.

That plane may be 50 years old, however I doubt if it has had an honest hour of actual work. I did put the iron in my WorkSharp 3000 to true up my lousy sharpening of 15 or 20 years ago. I am going to gently clean the tool and check the sole for trueness (is that a real word?). Then I should have a real, useable, block plane.

Thanks again for the help.

Enjoy,

Jim

I really can’t seem to reciprocate to FWW for all of the help I have received. I am too new at woodworking to be helpful. On the other hand if anyone wants to know anything about eyes, safety glasses, or if you have problems at any specific working distance I am your man. I am too old at eyes vs too new at woodworking.

The lead that Michael gave me really went into detail about specific models of planes. That was a fun read.

[Jim C Bradley]

Hi All,

That 9 1/2 really is sweet. I can run a long, very thin shaving and can plane the fuzz off of a surface.

I did a whole bunch of stuff with my WorkSharp 3000 and wore out the finest grit. That grit was not available to me so the blade isn't even as sharp as it can be.

The bed is 20* and I put a 25* bevel on the iron. I have not added an edge bevel. The plane is working great. However, I wonder if I shouldn't have done a 20* bevel with a 25* edge bevel.

Anyway, thanks a million for the help. There is no book written that is good as help from the FAMOUS Family Woodworking Group.

Enjoy,

Jim