In the February/March Issue #39 of Woodcraft Magazine, a special feature on “Hand Plane Rehab” was written by Joe Hurst-Wajszczuk, one of the editors of the magazine. In this article Joe talks about, not only the revival of old planes, but the fine-tuning of new ones that may not be working up to their full potential.
Beginning with a cleaning process will enable you to learn the parts of a plane, and allow you to check out your plane for imperfections, cracks and missing parts. If you find minimal rust, you may remove it with mineral spirits and steel wool, or a sandflex block.
If your plane is heavily rusted, an inexpensive process called “electrolysis”, was named in the magazine issue to bring it back to life.
Here are the components that you will need to “conduct” the electrolysis process:
-Battery charger with cables
-Plastic pan or tray
-Water
-Washing soda
-Oil or wax
-Rusted hand plane
Begin with the battery charger unplugged as we follow Joe’s plane revival instructions:
At this point we are ready for the second step, sharpening the plane blade. In this case we are demoing the Pinnacle IBC matched Chip Breaker and Blade Set, 2″ W for #4 and #5 Stanley Handplanes, Item #150813. After sharpening and assembly, the plane is ready for action:
Check out all the woodworking knowledge in the Feb/Mar Issue #39 of the Woodcraft Magazine, now available at your local Woodcraft store, or on-line.
Auf wiedersehen…Frank
