Little woodie

Well, this one has been on the workbench for about a month now. Before that it was on the shelf for a while. I don't really know the last time this plane actually saw any use.

Here is how I got it. Honestly it doesn't look too bad.

But initial looks are a bit deceiving. Iron and cap were a bit rusted. The plane sole had a couple cracks and the wedge was anything but flat.

The wood got sanded down. I used titebond3 to seal and bond the cracks. Then it got a couple coats of 2lb cut shellac. Finished it off with a rub down and paste wax.

The blade has given me a bit of trouble. Not only was it rusted, but it had been beat pretty good. Fortunately no pitting. Once the rust was resolved I went at flattening the back. This turned into a 2 week process. A previous owner had dubbed over one corner badly (probably the same guy who hammered the tar out of the blade). With a combination of coarse paper and grinding the bevel back this is just about remedied. But it was a lot of work. In retrospect it would have been better to take it to the belt sander and forget about preserving the Sandusky logo. Oh well, live and learn.

Well, initial results are in.








a bit slack jawed...


It does cut a nice shaving, but the mouth opening leaves something to be desired if it is ever going to be a smoother. Either I need to re-sole it or camber the blade and make it a scrub. Jury still out on that.