[rayking49]

I was recently given this #7 Stanley Bailey. It's pretty much as you see it, a bucket of rust. The sole is quite pitted. The totes front screw is broken off flush with the body. The blade is pretty short, not much past the the chipbreaker.

Sorry for poor pic quality. All I have is my phone. My question is, is it too far gone, too pitted, to be made useful again?

 

[rayking49]

I know I'd have to make a new knob and tote, but its the rest of the plane I was wondering about.

 

[tc65]

I'd probably throw the whole thing in an electrolysis/evapo rust/oxalic acid bath and then see what you have. The sole may not be as bad as you think, but the rest of it looks pretty rough. You never know though, clean it a little and then reassess.

The lateral adjustment lever appear to be missing, the lever is broken on the lever cap, the blade and chip breaker may or may not be salvageable.

It would take a lot of time (rust removal and making new knob/tote) and maybe money (frog, blade/chipbreaker, lever cap). After some cleaning, the only thing left worth salvage may be the body and maybe the depth adjustment knob. Buying new parts could get expensive, your best bet might be salvaging what you can and selling some parts.

It was free however, so I'd at least do some rust removal and see for sure before spending more time/money on it.

 

[Dave Paine]

I think this is well worth salvaging. New know and tote should not be a problem.

As trc65 says, do the rust removal step and things will likely not look as bad.

Pitting will still be present, but likely will not impact eventual performance.

Let me know if you need assistance with the restoration. I do not have spare parts, but I may be needing some for my No. 6 and No. 8 restorations. I will likely be taking a trip to a person in central NJ advertising he has parts for the old planes.

 

[timetestedtools]

I think it can be saved. Its pretty rewarding to turn something like this back into a nice user.

 

[Dave Paine]

Potential replacement frog

Ray,

This frog is similar to you plane. May be easier than trying to replace just the lateral adjustment lever.

I am not the seller, just forwarding the link.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Frog-Stanle...201?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27d2ccda91

 

[rayking49]

Thanks Dave, that's a big help.