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Plane Restore

Darren Wright

Darren Wright

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Have seen many, many threads on here about using planes in the wood shop, but understood all the glam about it. Well, I was watching one of the Woodsmith shows this week that I recorded and they covered a lot of the common uses and types of planes. It was a pretty good show and got me inspired to get my planes tuned up.

This one is an old Dunlap that I picked up at an antique store years ago when I was doing construction to resize wood doors. Never liked using it as it just didn't cut well and frankly I didn't know much about them, but it's what I had.
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Has a slight skew in the blade that I'll need to get straightened out.
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I decided that I should make it look nice if I'm going to go through the process of tuning it, so I've started sanding down the tote and knob back to bare wood as well. I've got a little more work to do on the sole, but it's just about flat, had some rust pits on one side that may not come out.
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I guess this is a 3A? That's the only numbers I've seen on it.
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Also, Should this type of plane have a crown in the blade? Where the sides are about 1/64" shorter than the center?
 

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If the back of that blade looks as rough as the front does, you're gonna have some work to do in lapping it smooth and shiny.

Sharpen the blade at ~30°, and yes put a very slight (no more than the 1/64" you mentioned) on it. Oughtta make a pretty nice user when you're done.
 
It looks as if has jappaning on the sides as well which I find unusual, what are you going to do with them?

Once you've finished restoring it you'll have a pretty good user IMHO:thumb:
 
Darren Wright said:
oops...not anymore, it got removed last night when I was doing the sole...decided to clean up the sides. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If it came off easily, it wasn't japanning! That stuff really adheres, and it's usually really thick.

I'm not really sure that Dunlap planes were japanned. They were Sears 'homeowner' line (cheaper than 'Craftsman'), and may well have been just painted. Clean, shiny sides are nicer than painted ones anyway...:D
 
Got some time in on the restore tonight. The plane has some pitting on the bottom and one side, but the pits are off to the side. I got a lot of them out on the bottom but still has a long group of them on one side. Going to take a lot more lapping. I've been using 80 grit. Is this rough enough or should I go to 60 or even 40?

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Here is one of my other planes. It belonged to my dad. It's a Baily 5 1/2 with the ribbed bottom.
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Still trying to locate my block plane in the boxes around the shop.
 

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I can't tell, do you have the blade retracted but locked down while you are doing that? I have not flattened any planes, but I have some experience flattening chisel backs and when you are removing a lot of material you can do more harm than good if you are not constantly checking your results.

That is some nasty pitting on the one side!
 
yup, got everything in place and blade retracted. I'm not sure it's worth trying to get the pitting out. I'm tempted just to smooth out what I've done and call it good with a coat of wax on it. At least the pitting is to one side and behind the blade.
 
The pitting won't effect performance at all. A testament to the tool's history. I've done quite a few old planes and do recommend upgrading to a thicker aftermarket cutting iron. I might also be tempted to round out some of the "edges" on the tote where the flat sides meet the curved front / back. Personally, those don't fit my hand well, so i've taken the time to round them out more completely like the better old totes were made (like on your stanley 5-1/2). I don't like getting blisters during long planing sessions, and the fully rounded tote makes a big difference here.

The aftermarket blade and / or chipper go a long way to minimizing chatter, which the original blade on that plane is prone to.

Maybe fix it up with the original blade, put a scary sharp edge on it, and see how it works. If chatter is an issue, maybe think about a better blade.

With a #3, 5-1/2, and a block plane all tuned up, you should be ready for a full range of general tasks.

As far as sharpening goes, the cheapest really effective way to go is with a piece of plate glass and a selection of wet / dry sandpaper. I use that and a white grinding wheel to rough out the shape, and a combination water stone for final honing and lapping the back. Oil stones are good too, I just like my water stone. Whichever way you go, invest in a $15 sharpening gage. The silver ones that clamp the blade on both sides and have a roller wheel on the bottom work great.

To get a good camber on the #3, grind / shape the bevel flat and square, and work the camber while you're honing the blade. You don't want much for a smoothing plane, so the couple of thousandths you put on it while honing will work perfectly. It's not a scrub plane or a tool you'll use to flatten lumber. The #3 is for edge and final surface preparation.

Go to town with it - don't worry about screwing it up - that's really really hard to do.

Have fun with it - it's addictive.
 
Any updates on the plane restoration? Re-reading the thread, i had another thought. When cleaning up the sole, the pits from the rust won't effect performance as long as the surface registers pretty flat. If you ever plan on shooting miters with the plane, check that the sole is square to the sides of the plane as you work on it. Lastly, a lot of lapping will open up the throat. Depending on how the frog is seated to the main casting and its range of adjustment, a wide open throat will make the plane a bit more prone to tear out with difficult grain.

Can you give us an update?

paulh
 
Well, I got side tracked with a bunch of other projects, mostly the kitchen. I've got one cabinet door to install and a couple of electrical outlets and it's (technically) done...we'll see what my wife says. ;)
 
Think of how much we could get done if we didn't have jobs and other oblications to consume our time.
Of course, food, shelter, heat, and fun money may be a bit harder to come by.
paulh
 
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