Handplane Restoration Stanley #5C Sweetheart -Finished-

Thanks Bob, it was a fun project, that I hope to use for a very long time to come

Stuart Ablett said:

BTW, I found >> THIS << online about the laminated blade...

Click to expand...

Thanks for this Stu. My recent acquisition of a Sweetheart jointer plane and my refurb of my Dads handed down smoother plane turned up the same blade. I looked at it and thought mmmmh Rob you just seeing things and its probably the way you ground it. Not granting myself any credit I suspected it was laminated but thought naah if it was I would have heard all about it on the forum at some stage. Silly me.

And to think I had in mind to buy a replacement blade before the plane even arrived. Thanks to Larry for bringing me to my senses on that one.

Now your tote and knob are gorgeous. That wood you used looks marvelous. Sorta has a birch bark look. What type of wood is that Stu?

Definitely a keeper this one.

Rob Keeble said:

Thanks for this Stu. My recent acquisition of a Sweetheart jointer plane and my refurb of my Dads handed down smoother plane turned up the same blade. I looked at it and thought mmmmh Rob you just seeing things and its probably the way you ground it. Not granting myself any credit I suspected it was laminated but thought naah if it was I would have heard all about it on the forum at some stage. Silly me.

And to think I had in mind to buy a replacement blade before the plane even arrived. Thanks to Larry for bringing me to my senses on that one.

Now your tote and knob are gorgeous. That wood you used looks marvelous. Sorta has a birch bark look. What type of wood is that Stu?

Definitely a keeper this one.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rob

Larry has a knack for setting people straight

The wood is Japanese Evergreen Oak (Quercus Acuta), this is part of the wood that I harvested myself back in 2006 from a demolition site very near my house. It is a common tree here in Tokyo, as it is an evergreen, it looks good all year, and it stands up to the pollution in the city well. The brown colors are because the tree was sick. The wood is not as hard as regular Oak, but I think it will do for this application, besides, if I'm wrong, I've got lots more wood here to use.

Cheers!

Stu,
If you've got a laminated blade, you'd be hard pressed to get a new one that will hold an edge much better than what you've already got. The laminated blades perform quite well and are easy to hone. They're a quantum leap above the non laminated Stanley blades.
A new A2 or O1 blade probably isn't worth the money. The new aftermarket blades are thicker and will go a long way toward reducing chatter, but they won't really cut any better. What may be your best bet if you want to retard any chatter would be to replace the chip breaker with a thick aftermarket version.
Dig out that piece of wood that generally gives you fits - hard, difficult grain - a generally ornery specimen. If it gives you fits with your well tuned plane, try a thicker chip breaker. It really does make a noticable difference.
Nice job on the tote. I've got a block of osage orange earmarked for my #7C jointer. Now, if only i had some time. (I've got 54 square feet of window pulled out of my dining room right now, and it's getting colder outside in a hurry - first things first.)
Thanks for sharing the tune up with us. I really think it's the best way to go when getting into hand planes. First of all, you get much better quality planes for the money than if you spent $50 on a new one. Second, you really develop a good understanding of how the tool functions and is adjusted before you really put it to use. That eliminates any intimidation or fear factor - the confidence level is already there when you start using it. Fourth and final, it just makes good sense to recycle perfectly good old tools.
Have fun with it. Any room in the dungeon for any more? I keep waiting for a small article on page 12 of the international news about a small shop in Japan unexpectedly bursting at the seems - iron projectiles and shrapnel taking out 3 city blocks.
paulh

Thanks for bringing this up to the top for me Stu. I was about to PM you for the details of your resto on this. If you don't mind I still might send a couple PM's along the way.

Send PMs if you like, but you would be much better off asking in the open forum, as you can see the wealth of knowledge here is great!

Look forward to your restoration!

Just might throw it out to the masses. Need to get started soon. Thanks Stu.