How many times have you started a project and had to set it aside to tackle something else only to completely forget about the original project? I was doing some Spring cleaning in my shop this weekend and stumbled across a container filled with vintage plane parts, blades and Evapo-Rust. Suddenly I remembered the old Stanley planes from my mother-in-law’s basement that I started to clean up 6 months ago. Uh oh, these parts have been soaking for 6 months in rust remover! Well apparently, that isn’t a problem and these blades couldn’t be more free of rust. The parts where the rust was the worst have a dark stain to them now but the steel is clean as can be.
Now I just need to work on the larger bodies and make some new totes and handles for the planes. I have 2 blocks planes, a 78 Rabbet plane, #7C, #4, and a 248 Plow plane all begging to be put back into service. I don’t need any of these planes as I have working models already but it really bugs me to have good tools that could be put back to work, rust away in disuse. If nothing else, I will tune the #4 and 7 for some specific task or another and set up the plow and rabbet for a specific operation.
Normally, when I restore tools I clean them up just so they work well, but since these planes belonged to my wife’s grandfather and hold some sentimental value I think I will try to restore them to pristine condition…now I just need to find the time for that. I do have a friend with a sandblaster…
How far do you guys go when restoring an old tool? Barely workable or shiny and new?
While we are on the topic of shiny and new, I just spent a whopping $10 on this complete set of Auger bits in sizes 4-16 complete with case. The bits are shiny as if never used (which they probably weren’t based on the cutting edges). That just breaks my heart and I think I need to design a project that requires many different sized holes just so I can lets these beauties taste some wood.
If a tool was used by another craftsman, I think there is a degree of respect in maintaining the apparent use of the tool. If you restore a tool to shiny and new, to some degree you are erasing the history and the traces of the work that the tool has done. I would not sacrifice the function of a tool I intend to use, as I think the greatest respect to the people who made and used these old tools is that they be clean, sharp, and tuned.
I keep all possible traces of the history of the tool. Evidence of use and age stay. Evidence of neglect or misuse are corrected. This is all seasoned by my tastes and preferences, so it becomes my tool. This is similar to how I approach the craft as a whole.
Depends on whether someone considers a certain plane a collector that has some value in which someone is willing to pay for. I like to keep those as in the condition in which I found them. I have planes not considered collectors I like to make look shiny and new. I would prefer shiney and new looking because buying and rehabbing planes is a secondary hobby. I don’t really plan on making money on them so I am unsure why I keep the collectors in original condition. that realization came as part of writing this comment so I might be going home and rehabbing them all to look the way I wish.