Tool Restoration

I have had a number of hand tools in the attic that are in need of restoration. Many of these came from the Reese's Pieces collection. They were used hard by Mr. Reese and many have aged poorly in the attic. This picture shows some of the types of tools that are I am restoring...hand planes, chisels, draw blades, saws, and augers.
Plane Restoration Process
Step 1: lapping the sole
The sole of the plane must be cleaned, lapped so that it is level, and waxed to prevent oxidation. A unit may be badly rusted as long as it is not pitted. The plane shown here is a Stanley #4 smoothing plane that is in pretty rough shape. However, there appears to be no pitting. It is missing some key parts that would have to found before a resoration can occur.
On some units the preliminary lapping was done on the belt sander through a 80x, 100x, 22x progression.
Here are the soles of a number of planes going through "rehab". Included are: a couple of inexpensive Stanley "Handyman Series" block planes, an inexpensive Groz block and #4 bench, and an old Stanley #5AN aluminum (WWII era) bench plane.
After preliminary prep on the sander, the units are lapped on a ...

Step 2: Cleaning and Restoring


Step 3: Blade Replacement and Sharpening
On some planes the blade and the chip breaker are replaced. The Hock O2 set is our preferred replacement set.
Our blades are sharpened and honed using our own S4P method which is a variant of the Scary Sharp method.
Step 4: Tune Up and Testing

Stanley #4 Restoration
James bought a Stanley #4 Bailey plane on eBay.
After considerable sanding on abrasive strips adhered to a 1/2 sheet of glass, he managed to make the lapped sole flat and polished.
Most of the parts were in pretty good shape. He had to make a repair on the wooden handle. The wood was sanded and refinished, the rough metal areas were cleaned and painted.
All parts were polished and tuned up. A new Hock O2 blade and chip breaker were purchased and installed after going through the S4P sharpening process.
After everything was tuned up...James now had a good looking and very functional smoothing plane.

Stanley #A5 Restoration
This is a WWII era #5 plane that had an aluminum body due to the shortage of steel. This model plane was not particularly effective as a bench plane because it was too light. The line was eliminated soon after the war.
Though it might be more valuable to a collector than for use in the shop, I decided to keep it as a "user". It should be fairly easy to work on...the handle has a crack that will need repair. After a tune-up of the unit I will add a Hock blade and I will have to find a replacement lever cap.

Step 1: lapping the sole