Reviving an old plane

Bill Lantry

Member
Messages
2,663
Location
Inside the Beltway
Hey, folks,

A few years ago I picked up an old plane at a tool shop in Connecticut. And by old, I mean old. I think I remember there's a date stamp of 1848 on the plane body, but maybe it was earlier than that?

At the time, I made a few inquiries to see if it was worth anything (I paid like 12 bucks for it). The answer came back "no", so it's a user. The problem was that the blade is so big I had no way to sharpen it.

Well, I didn't, until I saw Glenn's cool worksharp station and figured I should make one of my own. I was thinking about how to make the riser he made for his, when I figured I'd better look in the box and see what all I had. Low and behold, in the bottom of the box, there was a wide blade attachment! Well, well!

As you can see, I'd been playing with my worksharp. That's a jointer I sharpened, and then I just had to flatten my bench a little.

one.jpg

.
So, here's the user, pretty much in pieces:
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one2.jpg

I got all the rust off the blade


one3.jpg

And had to make a new disk out of some 60 grit I had around.

one4.jpg

Worked like a dream, but took a while.


one5.jpg

Half an hour (and several grits later) curlies!

one6.jpg

Et Voila, a "new" user!

one7.jpg

Thanks,

Bill
 
Sweet!

So another vote for the worksharp? Once I get some more drawers built I'll have to unbox mine and play around with it and make a jig like that. :thumb: :thumb:
 
Well done, Bill. :thumb:

I wonder if the gentleman who made that plane in New England in the mid-1800s -- the guy who wore a tie in the shop every day, along with his apron and cap -- ever imagined his tool would still be making curlies a century and a half later. Or if he could picture it being admired by hundreds, if not thousands of people, instantly sharing photographs and comments worldwide over telegraph wires. :rolleyes: Nah. :)

But I'll bet he would have loved to use a Worksharp, though. :D
 
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