Old Stanley No 4 - Restored

strat84

I recently had a rummage through my Grandad's shed and came across an old plane. I was close to binning it as it looked a bit of a mess but I'd seen one of Paul Sellers' YouTube vids where he restores an old Stanley No 4 so thought I'd try and do the same.

Turns out that's exactly what it is. Not only that but after taking it apart and dating it with the patent numbers it looks like it's a type 10 from 1907-1909. Im sure these are pretty common but I'm really glad I thought twice about throwing it away. Looking forward to restoring this and hopefully using it for years to come! 

WezV

That will clean up just fine, we'll worth it for the old steel

Corvus

My one is the same era. Older irons definitely keep the edge better than later stuff. 

A quick/cheap/safe de-rusting way is get a plastic tub, put hot water in it. Throw in a handful of citric acid (approx tenner kilo delivered). Lob the steel/iron parts in (not sure about brass but safer not to). Put a lid on, scrap wood, anything - not to seal it, but keeps it hot for ages.
After an hour or two scrub the parts. Rust should be either gone or converted to a soft grey sludge that wipes away easily.

Dry bits fast, flash rust might form otherwise but it's super light dust and wipes away.

Citrics very safe, its in food and bath bombs, cleaning agents etc etc.

LastMantra

Nice.

I never like to see a plane put down on it's blade though 

strat84

Cheers chaps! 

Sounds like an easier way than going at it with some 120 grit @Corvus ;

I'll certainly not rest it on the blade once sharpened 

elstoof

Safest way to leave it is blade down

ICBM

You should rest it on its side if you’re putting it down in the middle of a job, and wind the blade back a bit so it’s not exposed before you put it away when you’ve finished.

- my first woodwork teacher c.1975

I hadn’t realised that ‘modern’ Stanley design went back that far - without really thinking about it I assumed it was post-WWII. I’ll have to get mine out and check the dates, I’ve got one that size and a longer one, can’t remember the model numbers.

strat84

@ICBM I was suprised as well, thought this would have been from the 60s. It could well have been my Great Grandad's. 

Here's the chart I used to date it. The patent numbers on this were behind the frog but I think each 'type' is different. 

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/fG1J2VWe18pV

enjo

ICBM said:

You should rest it on its side if you’re putting it down in the middle of a job, and wind the blade back a bit so it’s not exposed before you put it away when you’ve finished.

- my first woodwork teacher c.1975

I hadn’t realised that ‘modern’ Stanley design went back that far - without really thinking about it I assumed it was post-WWII. I’ll have to get mine out and check the dates, I’ve got one that size and a longer one, can’t remember the model numbers.

The aforementioned Paul Sellers says best practice is to place it on the sole (on a wooden work bench).
According to him any professionals he has known believe laying it on the side invites knocking the blade out of centre and keeping the sharp bit out of the way is much better - a wooden work bench isn't going to dull the blade.
The important part is probably having a wooden workbench that you are not precious about! 

PhilKing

My dad's old bench used to have a 1/2" strip of wood at the back to rest one end of the planes on, so that the blade would be lifted off the bench when you put it down.  It was about a foot long, so you could have a few planes out (this is back from when all the work was being done with hand tools).  He was a joiner from doing his apprenticeship at 15, so I did get quite a few of his hand tools to use for myself when he passed away.

strat84

I remembered that my mate's dad has a sand blasting machine. He assured me it wasn't aggressive at all, can even be used on wood. 45 minutes later - 

LordOxygen

Thats a great foundation to build upon. Get some decent paint on there, it'll look a million dollars.  

strat84

Cheers @LordOxygen, that's the plan 

ICBM

strat84 said:

Here's the chart I used to date it. The patent numbers on this were behind the frog but I think each 'type' is different. 

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/fG1J2VWe18pV

Thanks for that. So, I have a No.4 and a No.5, and unsurprisingly they're fairly modern - although still a little older than I expected - both Type 19, 1948-1961.

strat84

ICBM said:

strat84 said:

Here's the chart I used to date it. The patent numbers on this were behind the frog but I think each 'type' is different. 

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/fG1J2VWe18pV

Thanks for that. So, I have a No.4 and a No.5, and unsurprisingly they're fairly modern - although still a little older than I expected - both Type 19, 1948-1961.

No problem. Ah great stuff, are they in good nick? 

ICBM

strat84 said:

No problem. Ah great stuff, are they in good nick? 

More or less, although the rear handles have been broken and glued on both of them - it's very common, since the short grain runs across the handle, which is bad woodwork practice really!

elstoof

Replace it with a Gibson headstock

strat84

All bolt heads, brass and blade irons have had a further sand and polish - 

ElectricXII

Great job so far. You've inspired me to have a go at refurbishing some old hand tools I've inherited.

strat84

Thanks! I'm glad to hear that 

strat84

A fine day for some painting