Thursday, October 2, 2014

Stanley Bedrock 604, part 3

After the glue had dried I sawed of the majority of the excess of the small piece of oak.
I then used a file for further shaping of the damaged piece of the handle. When I was satisfied with the rough shape, I found some sand paper and spent a long time sanding the tote. I didn't want it to be possible to feel any transition between the two species of wood.
I ended up sanding to grit 280 which is the finest grit of emery cloth we have out here.
The contrast between the oak and the rosewood looks OK to me. It is an honest repair job that I haven't done anything to hide.

For some strange reason we have some varnish on board that is actual wood varnish. Sadly the lid doesn't fit very well, so most of the thinner has evaporated. The consistence is a bit like maple syrup.
I decided hat it was probably still better than electrical insulation varnish, so I added some to the knob and the tote using a small piece of soft foam that I took from a spare piece that once protected some electronic prints.
The varnish being so thick resulted in a very fast drying time and subsequent less than ideal flowing of the surface.
3 coats looks nice, and I don't mind that I can see the "brush" lines from my small piece of foam.
There are a few nibs on the front knob, but I guess they'll wear off when I start using the plane.
Otherwise I'll rub it a little using a scotch brite pad or some steel wool.

I made a new screw for the front knob using the old stud. I didn't have any taps and dies so I could make one from scratch, so I just turned a new brass head on the lathe and silver soldered it to the stud. Later when it had cooled down I sawed a slot using a hack saw.

The rear tote moved slightly even after I had tightened it. I remembered seeing a trick by Paul Sellers, where he is adding a small patch of anti skid mat (probably not the correct name) between the bottom and the tote.
Anti skid mat is something that we have plenty of out here. In Danish it is called "slingredug" meaning a tablecloth for when there is rolling and pitching.
Anyway, I cut out a small piece and put it under the rear tote - That really made a huge difference! The rear tote feels rock solid and since our anti skid mat is blue, it doesn't show too much.

Finally I sharpened the blade using some emery cloth instead of coarse grit stones, and finished of using my old fine grained oil stone (I have no idea of the grit of that one).

I made a few test swipes on a piece of spruce, and it works just fine. I am already longing to try it out at home on a decent workbench.

Conclusion to the rehab:
The most work was on the broken rear tote, but taking my time I managed to glue the parts together and to make a nice fitting patch.
Apart from that it was mainly cleaning of the parts.
It is a job that can be done at sea without too much trouble. Most planes aren't too big to fit in a suitcase. The size and weight might be an issue if you move beyond No 5's
A set of taps and dies for the threads on the plane would have helped, I might have to purchase a set if I set out to fix another plane sometime.
The plane could have been polished a little more, but I kind of like to be able to see that it is approximately 100 years old.

Stanley Bedrock 604, type 6.

Repaired rear tote.


8 comments:

  1. The plane looks good. I also like the look of the repair as it shows the tool is more important then how it looks.
    Stanley used non standard screw threads but I can't find where I found the the sizes at. Once I do I'll post them.

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    1. Hi Ralph.

      Thanks.
      I thought that the threads looked very coarse, but I never expected them to be non standard. That might explain why the small nut that was fixed for the front knob never really did fit.
      I wonder if it is still possible to get a tap and a die for the thread - and if so at a reasonable cost.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  2. It looks really great! It honestly improves the look of the tote rather than distract from it.

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    1. Thanks Bill,
      I was afraid that oak might look like some bad tinted rose wood, but it proved to be lighter than I expected which is good. That was the reason I had considered using spruce.
      I might have to try to make a project at home where I use varnish as a finish. I kind of like the look of it.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  3. Nicely done! Rough edges smoothed, scars patched and the blade sharpened. The plane looks like it wants to get back to work doing what it was meant to do. Not some trophy to collect dust on a shelf, but a hard working hunk of iron that is tired of sitting idle.

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    1. Hi Greg.

      You captured the idea of the rehab completely :-)
      I need to find a project at home that requires some smoothing. My fingers are really itching to plane something with it.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  4. Very nice! I like the natural color of the repair. It adds character.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, it actually came out better than I imagined.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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