I found an old Stanley Bedrock 603 in my dad’s workbench (my dad died many years ago. He wasn’t a woodworker, but was a packrat).
Its very rusted, but I was quite excited by the find. UNTIL I noticed that a large piece of one side was cracked off and missing. What a bummer. Must have been dropped long ago and wasn’t repaired…
Replies
You might find another body on e-bay or you could part it out and sell it the parts on e-bay. To bad though.
Troy
A common problem on cast iron planes. If the damage is only on the side and it hasn't taken a chunk out of the sole, and it isn't also cracked at the mouth, the plane is still perfectly useable.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
I don't think there's a crack in the mouth... Unfortunately there is a lot of rust on it. I'll have to clean it up then and see how well it works.
I think Bedrocks are overrated anyway. The only main benefit I see is the ability to move the blade tighter in the opening of the mouth without removing the blade. Not a real big deal in my book.
I'm not going to argue that you are right or wrong, however there is a *small* amount of sentimental value to restoring this plane, once owned by my dad.
you're absolutely right....
Frank,
You need no justification, do it. Even if you end up not being able to use it, you will have gained experience in the restoration process, not to mention that you will have restored your dads plane.
It can always be displayed as a remembrence.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 2/15/2007 2:31 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Good point. I am *not*, however, looking forward to the rust removal! i don't really want to make an electrolysis device so I think I'll try navel jelly....
Naval Jelly will damage the black paint and the finish on the handles, it is also unpleasant to work with.
Fine sandpaper or Scotchbrite pads lubricated with a penetrating oil will work just fine for the large surfaces, and a wire wheel on a grinder is great for cleaning off smaller hardware. That is all I have ever used to clean up tools. The chemicals and electrical methods, while they work, are all overkill.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Edited 2/15/2007 5:39 pm ET by JohnWW
Good to know! Thanks for the advice.
John,
Some of the 'market' sellers around here use the wire wheel process to make tools look pretty for sale. A couple of years ago I passed up an otherwise good condition Carriage Rebate that had the frog completly ruined by a wire wheel. It was round so that the Iron would no sit flat without extensive fetling.
Not to say a wire wheel doesnt work - just be careful.
dave
Citric acid works very well and is cheap. Google "removing rust with citric acid" and you'll see what you need. Basically, a plastic container, the citric acid and some warm water. Leave it in the solution overnight, disassembled, with no pieces in contact with others. I usually use about a half cup:1 gal of warm water. Get some grey Scotch Brite, rubber gloves and a plastic scrub brush to remove the residue. Rinse it in warm water and dry each piece immediately, not setting them out in the air. They will rust very quickly, so remove one piece at a time. The threads will be clean but no good metal will be removed. It's a very gentle way to clean rusty iron and steel but it does have an odor. I bought my citric acid from a place that sell home brew and wine making supplies- they use it for cleaning their equipment and I think it was about $5 for a pound.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Sounding like a broken record, but get some EvapoRust at an auto store (AutoZone) or online. I've used it several times, and it's very gentle (even OK to get on your hands), doesn't even hurt plastic or wood. I recently soaked the blade and frog of a Bedrock 605 and cleaned them up. They looked great. Much less work and quicker than scrubbing (though scraping off the loose stuff speeds the process). I'll have to talk John into trying some. ;-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Awesome! Thanks forestgirl!
You're welcome. BTW, you can reuse the stuff. I just keep using it until it doesn't seem to work very well. If the plane is really, really rusty, brush it off with a brass brush, scrape a little, soak it for a few hours, take it out and brush again, resoak if necessary (probably will be if it's as bad as it sounds).
It works great on stuff with threads -- makes it real easy to get them clean.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I'm going to go to Autozone and get some and try it on hand saws. I've got one that's really rusty but I think is going to be a gem. It's got 19th century written all over it. I think it cost $7 at a flea.
Hope it works well for you, Ed. Get yourself some #0 steel wool to work it over between a couple soakings. Leave it maybe an hour to 1.5 hr the first time, scrub off what's easy, then put it back in for a couple hours.
I was lucky yesterday, I found the perfect container to hold the #5 plane I was working on -- it was a plastic carry-thing for a set of highway warning triangles. Took them out, took off the top, and poured in the EvapoRust. The container even had three little ridges in the bottom that held the plane body up for circulation, LOL.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
BigFrank
I have a similar story. I found a 605 that was my grandfather's--he was a handyman for Gulf Oil. My heart leaped and then sank as I saw the condition of the plane--one side has a large chunk busted out. The lever cap was broken off; the knob is broken in two pieces, the tote in three; the toe has a chunk broken out of it. The frog, blade and cap iron were the only good parts on it. I gave those to a fellow woodworker and set the base on the ledge in front of my bench, and think of Bampa every time I see it. Tom
Wow. Mine's not that bad!
Yeah, it's pretty bad. I'm sure that it spent at least 60 years or so being knocked around in a tool box, and then sat for another 25 years or so. My grandfather died in 1985 and was 96 years old. He wasn't a woodworker, just a guy who could fix anything broken. I do have a generic #4 smoother in decent shape--just a broken tote. It would be nice to have these old tools of our loved ones in great shape, but as it is, it's nice to have the reminder of them around. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I have a friend who has his granddad's axe. The handle broke and his granddad replaced it. While his dad was using it, the head hit a spike in a tree and broke off a huge chunk of the cutting edge. So, his dad replaced the head.
But, to my friend, it's still his granddad's axe.
All that to say, you might find a good plane body to replace the one you have. Then transfer the handle, tote, frog, blade, etc.
Regardless of what you do, electrolysis is easy. All you need is a battery charger and a piece of junk steel.
Alan - planesaw
I was just reading about rust removal and came across an interesting series of "articles" on rust removal. Two of the most interesting talk about 1) using molasses and 2) using Phosphoric Acid (active ingredent in Boeshield Rust Remover).
http://www.lametalsmiths.org/news/page9.htm
Thats too bad about the plane.
KB
Frank, I just got off the phone talking to a friend in California. He has a friend to actually fixes broken plane bodies, to keep them as users, not as "restoration." Evidently, it can be done and done quite well! He'll even melt down old broken bodies to get the steel to fix other ones with. Sounds like fun.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
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