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Need help restoring old plane

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  gornarak 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi! First time poster here.

So I'm pretty new to woodworking in general and have been acquiring all my tools for cheap on Ebay and Craigslist and the such restoring pieces as I go. Well I was looking at the old transitional planes and thought they looked pretty neat so I thought I would give one a try.

I bought this Sargent 3420 for a steal, and besides the fact that they painted over the metal with silver paint (who knows why?) its in really great condition actually. The bottom is still smooth and well maintained. The blade is original and with the exception of minor surface rust, its still sharp from the previous owner. Everything seems almost too good to be true. Except for one thing.

Its missing its adjuster thread and bolt for the blade. I have a spare frog (I picked up to fix this one) off another plane that was destroyed but it still has the thread and bolt. I just figured I would take it off and put it on the Sargent. One tiny problem though is I don't know how to get it off and the internet as a whole seems to have nothing on ever on removing them. So how do I get it off without damaging it?

Also if anyone knows how to get the paint off that would be great. I don't really mind it too much as its going to be a tool I'm using but I would like to get it back into the original condition as much as possible.
 

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#3 ·
For the paint, get you some citrustrip. It's a crap paint stripper, but it's gentle enough to only take off the spray pain without harming the original finish (probably).

To get the threaded stud out of the old from, get you 2 nuts that fit the thread on the stud. Screw in the first nut, then the second, then tighten the 2 nuts against each other, then use the nuts to unscrew the thread. Do the same to install the atud in the new planes frog
 
#7 ·
So update. I forgot to take any before pictures so I wont bother at the moment with any after pictures.

I spent 2 hours grinding the blade smooth and removing all the rust by hand. Then sharpened to a razor sheen. The cap iron I was able to smooth out in about 20 minutes. Both were a lot worse than I originally thought but on the bright side, I got a lot of exercise! (arms and abs are burning like crazy)

I was able to get the adjuster thread off and get it replaced. So thank you for telling me how to do that! Smoothing the bottom of the plane took only 4-5 minutes.

It took me another 20 minutes to get it adjusted so it would actually shave the wood but after all was said and done my new (to me) plane makes lovely little wispy and long shavings.

By the way, this is also my first plane ever as I am just starting out. I bought this one because it was so dirt cheap and I couldn't pass on it, even though a fore plane isn't really what you need to get started (Everyone I talked to told me to get a #5 first) I'm very proud of it and the work I put in.

My next goal is to find a #4. I had so much fun fixing this one that I think one of my early projects is going to see if I can build one myself. I'm going to be focusing on using exclusively hand tools to start with and getting a table saw later on.

I haven't even started actually woodworking yet and I'm already having a blast and getting excited. My first project is building some stairs for the basement. Nothing fancy, just desperately need new stairs so its more of a priority than it is something I want to do. The current ones stringers are eaten up real bad by carpenter ants. Don't worry though. The ants are gone and there is minimal damage to the rest of the house so nothing that needs fixing except the stairs.
 
#9 ·
By the way, this is also my first plane ever as I am just starting out. I bought this one because it was so dirt cheap and I couldn't pass on it, even though a fore plane isn't really what you need to get started (Everyone I talked to told me to get a #5 first) I'm very proud of it and the work I put in.

My next goal is to find a #4. I had so much fun fixing this one that I think one of my early projects is going to see if I can build one myself. I'm going to be focusing on using exclusively hand tools to start with and getting a table saw later on.

I haven't even started actually woodworking yet and I'm already having a blast and getting excited. My first project is building some stairs for the basement. Nothing fancy, just desperately need new stairs so its more of a priority than it is something I want to do. The current ones stringers are eaten up real bad by carpenter ants. Don't worry though. The ants are gone and there is minimal damage to the rest of the house so nothing that needs fixing except the stairs.
I actually think a long plane is the place to start. Smoothing planes can be finicky, and sanding is easy. A try plane, on the other hand, is relatively simple to learn to use, and is a lot cheaper than an electric jointer. If the plane you have is 20", you should be able to joint a 3' board pretty quickly after some practice.

A smoother is a nice next plane to have, though.
 
#8 ·
If you really wanna have a blast with hand planes, dont buy one to restore, make one. A wood bodied hand plane is surprisingly easy to make, the only real difficulty is sourcing a blade, and even that isnt that hard. Theres also an indescribably fantastic feeling that comes from using a tool that you made yourself.

If you do decide to make your own, and you really really should because its a fun project, and have an issue sourcing a blade, Hock Tools is known for making good plane blades. Alternately, feel free to hit me up. Ive got some steel hanging around, id be happy to cut out a plane blade for you with the next batch of knives i make
 
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