Stanley #7 Type 13, Sweetheart Jointer Plane Est. 1925, Rest
tmbridge Jul 28, 2016
Definitely not the worst shape of all the planes I've restored but it was a bit of a challenge -- especially that lever cap. I originally thought I was going to need to get a replacement for that as it seemed too pitted to bring back to life. However, all went well and it's now one of my favorite planes. We've used it in many projects, especially restoration projects using it to quickly remove old finishes from various pieces of furniture.
These are the tools and materials I used in the restoration:
- 220grit wet/dry, 150grit wet-dry, 8000 wet/dry
- A full kit of grits for blade sharpening down to .1 micron). TheSample Pack -- either 1 or 2 sheets of eachis what I use.
- Granite slabs
- Metal File
- Evaporust- (this stuff is amazing, you can see the results in the albums below)
- Brushes (plastic, brass, steel bristle)
- Dupli-Color semigloss black engine enamel (Dupli-Color # DE-1635)
- Spray Adhesive
- Sharpening/Honing Guide- I got the Irwin model from Amazon
- Rags
- Murphy's Wood Soap
- Olde English Wood Restorer
Here is a quick run-down of the restoration steps I took. I plan to embellish and elaborate more on them when everything is 100% complete in a full post to this subreddit:
- Took apart and cleaned all parts with soapy water and a plastic bristle brush
- Soaked in Evaporust for 24-hours
- Cleaned all parts with plastic, brass, and steel bristle brushes while in Evaporust
- Cleaned all parts with soapy water
- Dried all parts completely and then wiped with mineral spirits to get any remaining H20.
- Coated all parts in 3-in-1 oil
- Repainted bed if necessary.
- Reassembled
- Using Sharpie to mark bed and wings, flatten all sides with sandpaper on a granite slab. Used 150 grit and 220 grit wet/dry.
- Flatten lever cap contact point and front edge with and 220 grit sandpaper, ensuring no burr exists on opposite face
- Flatten chip-breaker (cap iron) contact point with and sandpaper, ensuring no burr exists on opposite face.
- Adjust frog positioning for desired plane task (paper thin for smoothing No.4's, wider for No.5's)
- Restore knob and tote. Cleaned with Murphy's Wood Soap and polished with Olde English Dark Wood Restorer. (I wanted to keep the patina on these parts instead of sanding them down to bare wood and re-finishing. They are old tools and I want that to be reflected somewhere that wouldn't affect performance.)
- Sharpen blade with Scary Sharp method ( sand paper, Japanese Super Stone, 40 micron, 15 micron, 5 micron, .3 micron, and .1 micron grit progression). Cambered the blades of the No.5 I plan to keep but left all others 100% square so new users can adjust to their preference.
- Test!
I decided not to refinish the wooden bits on the planes and instead just clean them up because I wanted to keep some of the age look to the planes. I re-painted the bed and sides of the frog with black enamel spray paint.
