lance

Hi,
I'm new to the forum. I just inherited 3 wooden planes. One is a hybrid "Ohio Tool Co. No. 033, Auburn, NY USA", 28", second is an "H.? Nutter", 22" and last is an "L. DeForest" 27". They are all very! dry. They have been under a house in Wyoming for decades.

Please, what would be the best way to revive these planes?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Lance

old toymaker

Congrats on the inheritance. My advise is :do nothing until you know what you want to do with them, that decision will determine what you should do to them. I own several old planes and I put them to use when I can, others are for display only. At this time do not try to add oil or moisture to them, this could destroy them for your intended use.

It is OK to clean with a mild soap and water to remove surface dirt, but do not try remove the ground in dirt and oil that is into the wood. This will greatly reduce its value to any collector. Do not soak in water or get it really wet. this could damage it more.

There are several web sites specific to old tools and hand planes specifically. Try these sites: The Superior Works - Patrick's Blood & Gore: Preface,: &
Home of fine old tools :
Also do a search for each of you tools, you will find lots of info.
Let us know what you decide to do.

lance

My hope is to use them. I have done nothing to them except ship them to Oregon. My plan is to separate the metal parts from each other (gently) and then bead blast or wire wheel and sharpen. The bottom of the planes are not flat (but close). Can I run them over my jointer (again, gently) to true them up? There are some cracks in the bodies so maybe it is not worth doing anything but they seem solid.

Whadda ya think?

Thanks
Lance

Julian the woodnut

To true up the bottom I would just put some sandpaper on a flat surface( your jointer outfeed for example) and run the plane back and forth until it's true. This way you won't have to worry about the chance of ruining the planes sole due to tearout. To clean the metal parts try using evaporust. It's available at most auto parts stores and hardware stores. It's easy to use and won't destroy the plating on the metal.

John in Tennessee

Collectors want it untouched. They call the lite rust patina...

lance

Thanks for the continued help! I will try sanding the soles. I'm not too worried about the collectors. These planes belonged to my Great Grandmother's brother and I really want to use them. I gather that the big jointer planes aren't that valuable to collectors anyway. I guess I could just sharpen them while leaving them rusty.
Thanks again.

old toymaker

Now that you have decided what to do with them, clean them to your satisfaction. If they were mine I would clean with boiled linseed oil and OOO steel wool. The linseed oil will act as a cleaner and pick up some of the dirt that was laid on the surface of the tools. This will act as a sealer & cleaner and leave a finish on the wood. The steel wool will take off the fuzz that will probably be there for years of storage and moisture that it was exposed to. Applying linseed oil will be a process that cannot be reversed once it is applied and has set.
An alternative to linseed oil that will also protect the wood, add color and depth to it, and that can re reversed is to apply several coats of 2# cut shellac. It can be sanded out and waxed after it has cured for a very durable finish.

Julian the woodnut

I vote for cleaning them all up and making them look pristine since you will be using them. I could care less about some bodys perceived value of a rusty unused tool. Tools were built to be used. Here's a pic of an old stanley sweetheart I cleaned up and made a new tote and handle for. I love to use it and knowing that this will be around for a long time gives me satisfaction every time I use it. Old tools are affordable and have history.

Old Skhool

"The term restoration invokes some thoughtful arguments concerning antiques, or in our case - tools. There are some who believe that a tool should never be changed in any way, as that will destroy its integrity. There are others who feel that any change is OK as long as it makes the tool useable. I like to think that somewhere in the middle, where all the variables are taken into account, is the best place to be. What are these variables? Not more than what common sense would dictate.
Antique tools should be in the same condition today as they were a hundred or more years ago in the hands of a prideful worker."

Julian the woodnut

I like to think of my tools as an old car. I could keep it in it's original condition or make it my own, kind of like a hotrod. If I restore a tool and even make new handles or replace the blade with say a hock blade, then it's not historically correct but it is made to work better than the original. It's all up to you whether you want a collectors item or a shop tool, since they will both work.

lance

nice plane!

Old Skhool

I agree, if I owned a muscle car from the sixties and it had drum brakes, it would be a no brainer to put on disks. I would keep the original parts, but they would not be on the car.

I have a couple of wooden bar clamps from my great grandfather that I believe he made in the mid/late 1800's (He was a tight cooper) I use these somewhat regularly and would not have a problem enhancing their performance for specific applications, but am hesitant to alter and not be able to go back to original, or close. On the other hand, I'd love to have a collection of wooden planes that I could use as is, or alter to suit a job that I was doing to a specific detail, rather than build a wooden plane from scratch. I also liked grinding my own shaper cutters from older ones, or from blanks. (though appreciate the 1 piece 3 wing cutters with carbide) I guess for me the closer the connection to the history, the more restraint I'd feel.