To Refinish a Sweetheart No 4, Opinions?
Hey All,
Found a treasure at a junk store yesterday morning, bought two rusted Planes for $5(for-both, also got a nice No 29 transitional for $15). The first was a no-name(literally) low-angle block plane, The second was a Stanley No. 4 with a corrugated bottom, after cleaning off most of the rust and dust, I realized that it is actually a Sweetheart type 15(1931-1932) and in pretty good shape other than a broken rosewood tote(very fixable).
Anyhow, I need a project while I’m off next week, and my fiance doesn’t want me to make a bunch of dust in my garage before everyone comes over for a Christmas Party, so I was thinking of sandblasting, repainting, polishing, and sharpening the No. 4 back into a pretty user…
So would I be de-facing a classic, or are the No. 4’s so common that it really doesn’t matter?
Replies
Clean it up and use it. They were made by the millions and they were made to be used.
Go for it. I just cleaned up a #3 of same vintage, make it pretty and use it. Lap the frog into its bed, hone the surface where the blade sets on the frog and enjoy a user. Keep an eye open for more of the same. For $5 parts are nice to have. I have a drawer full! And spare blades are great to have sharp and ready.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Thanks guys,
Just wanted to make sure I wasn't making a bad move...
-Blake
and my fiance doesn't want me to make a bunch of dust in my garage before everyone comes over for a Christmas Party, so I was thinking of sandblasting, repainting, polishing, and sharpening
If you love her put it off untill after the New Years party!
Just me... I had a wonderful wife and put up with almost anything I did.. I learned to NEVER mess with her parties!
It may be a very common plane but DON'T sand blast. Chemically clean ,derust and re japan or even paint it. Sand blasting is a crude process and quite unnecessary on that plane.Read up first and do something worthwhile to it
Hi,
I would also recommend NOT sandblasting! I have two that were glass beaded but even that is unnecessary. Invest in some Evap-O-Rust. Great stuff! Clean off the crud with a stiff bristle brush and paint thinner, soak in Evap-O-Rust, pull it out and oil it up.
You don't have a collectible there so tune it up for a user!
Happy Holidays!
Mack
"Close enough for government work=measured with a micrometer, marked with chalk and cut with an axe"
Hey Mack,Where would I find this evap-O-rust, I used Jellied rust remover and it only removed part of the rust.-Balke
Try AutoZone (auto parts place) for the EvapoRust.
Alan - planesaw
Oooo, "that jellied stuff" -- nasty. As mentioned above, EvapoRust is now sold at AutoZone. You can get it in gallon jugs at Harbor Freight. It will remove all rust, but if there's any pitting, obviously can't cure that. Click here for a rundown for more details on using it.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 12/16/2008 12:26 pm by forestgirl
You can also do the acid wash with a bit of citric acid from a home brew supplier. Does not smell as bad and if you allow it to sit overnight it will take the rust off. You will have to polish afterwards, but you will have to do that anyway to lap and set the parts.Dan Carroll
Yeah it is amazing what cirtic will take off. Even simple OJ will take (if given time) the finish off of the metalic coated tiles peaple like to use in kitchens.
Doug M
Blake,
Yeah! What they said. I Googled it, found a supplier and ordered 2 1/2 gal sealed in a 5 gal. bucket. You can use it over and over till it quits working.
Best of luck!
Mack"Close enough for government work=measured with a micrometer, marked with chalk and cut with an axe"
I'm gonna go and see if I can locate some of that stuff tomorrow,Anyone have suggestions on paint stripper, I've used some spray clean strip and and some stuff called strip-eze... but it's not doing much-Blake
Hi Blake,
Just a FYI. If you do strip and repaint the plane then you will hurt the resale value of the tool. Now, it is your plane and you can do whatever you want with it. That and the fact that your plane is not really considered a collectible tool anyway (Stanley No 4's are a dime a dozen and millions of them were made). However, just keep it in mind if you ever end up owning a really rare old tool that's worth some bucks, leave the japanning alone.
Mike
Tune it up and get it back to work. That era plane is a fair user, and it's designed to smooth table tops, not sit on a shelf. I hear that evapo-rust stuff works great, but I haven't used it personally.
Jeff
When you're done cleaning it up, it'll probably look like this. Buy Evaporust at a local auto supply store or order it off the interent. Works great. Put the plane back to work!
View Image
Just something I found you may want to look at.
http://www.antiqueautoranch.com/montana500/adrian/rust.html
"I had a tip a while back about rust removal...put it in a molasses and water mixture, and VOILA, no rust. I didn't believe it. " read on...
I have never tried the molasses but Citric Acid works!
Edited 12/17/2008 11:40 am by WillGeorge
Thanks Will,I mixed up some of the molasses mixture when I came home for lunch, It removed all the surface rust on my tester(the no-name plane-which turned out to be a Lakeside) in a matter of minutes... the other parts have be soaking since lunch, I guess I'll see how it did when I take it out tonight, Do you think lemon juice would work like citric acid, I have a gal of lemon juice I bought at Sam's for some reason I don't remember.
I didn't steal your, honest. Mine looks just like yours, toke broken in the same place and all. Actually, I replaced the tote some years ago. My grandfather probably picked it up towards the last of the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. I use it some but really don't know much how to use planes. I hope to learn more.
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