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Forgotten Times and Tools...

Anyone that knows me to almost any degree, knows that I also like to putter around restoring old(er) tools and stuff. Not sure how all that happened, as virtually all of the stuff I work on is far older than I am. LOL!

Anyway, I think I do a passible job at these restorations and wanted to share a few of my little projects. Absolutely nothing about knives in any of these projects, but perhaps this is an acceptable place to do some talking and sharing about stuff you don't see everyday anymore.

I think I made my first attempt at a restoration of any type was back when my dad passed away back in 2012. My sister and I starting poking around and I found a couple of older (1940s and 50s) hand planes.

I started some pretty in depth research on Stanley Bailey hand planes and then got to work seeing what mess I could make of the one I had chosen to be mine. Since I didn't know anything about either one, I just picked one for me and one for my sister. I figured I could learn from the mistakes I made on mine, and do a better job on my sister's Capewell plane.

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No 'before' pics for mine... I didn't think of anything like that until after it was finished.

Here is my very first hand plane restoration. A No. 4 Stanley Bailey hand plane Type 19. Considering what I had to work with, I thought it turned out pretty decent. Thankfully the wood was all intact. All of the metal parts (iron) was pretty rusty though. The brass was almost black. LOL!

All of the parts are correct from everything I have learned, and original as far as I know.

I do hope you enjoy.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on July 13, 2025 at 12:35

After finishing up the Bailey #4, I started work on the Capewell for my sister. All of a sudden I learned that this was not a 'typical' sole color! A whole lot of research later, I finally learned that the Capewells sought to differentiate themselves from the Stanleys by making it obvious the colors were a lot different. The original color on hers was obsolete now-a-days, but I finally found a close approximation. I had to use 'paint' on hers as opposed to re-doing the Japanning like on mine.

I did have the forethought to obtain some 'before' pics on hers... Seems that is far more rare than it should be! :P

Overall, the condition of hers was a little better initially, but I quickly learned that the main tote (rear handle) had a pretty severe crack in it. Drawing from my past experiences in woodworking, I devised a way to repair and strengthen the cracked tote.

Once again, all of the parts are correct and original as far as I can tell.

I do hope you enjoy.

Permalink Reply by Lars on July 13, 2025 at 12:49

Oh these are so cool....and well done! Excellent new thread too - nice place to park it.

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on July 13, 2025 at 13:29

How about a simple project?

A 12" Stanley T-bevel. Brass and Rosewood.

I cleaned things up, removed the rust, but left the 'patina' on the steel blade. This is a lot bigger than those that I have seen for sale in modern times...

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on July 13, 2025 at 13:49

One of those projects that just seems to drag on and on...

A 1937 Delta 24" scroll saw.

My sister and I were cleaning out the upstairs of a barn, and she was looking for 'scrap metal' to take to the scrap yard for some cash. "Hey, this thing is heavy! this will be good to take..." "Oh no it won't. I want that."

And so it began. You can see from the 'before' pics that it was not in great condition. The integrated air pump was on the wrong side, the air hose was gone, main pipes were rusted up, and the decals... lets say they were unacceptable.

Doing the metal work was the easy part! I recreated the decals almost pixel by pixel in order to emulate the correct font. I am certain there are better ways of doing that, but I worked with what I had available. Good ole 'paint'. lol.

A long road on this one, but I am happy with how it turned out. And it cycles so nicely!

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