Art,

I don't think of myself as the level of expert as some but on the porch, but
I'd like to share a couple of ideas.  But of course please read all other
opinions before taking any actions.  

I'd let the deformed plane sit for a long while in a warm, reasonably
humidified environment to see what mother nature would do to the wood.
Perhaps it would return to a better configuration closer to the conditions
that occurred when it was originally made.  If that doesn't work then I
WONDER if counter force via steam treatment might not bring the wood back
closer to where it was on being made.  Another hundred years, it might be
necessary for one of your descendents to have to repeat the process, unless
the environment it experienced in that time was more favorable than the one
it had getting to you.

But as I mentioned at the beginning, I'd listen to what the real experts
tell you as I wouldn't suggest taking any wood off of the parts to get them
to fit better.  Woods dynamic and the extra years of being left alone might
have allowed the wood to seek its equilibrium on where it really wanted to
be.  Attic or not it might have gotten there anyway over that length of
time.

The screws...well it's a little like having bolts snap on the manifold of an
engineer after years of repeated heating & cooling cycles.  Again I'd listen
to the experts.  But my thoughts are to carefully drill out the broken parts
using the safest methods possible and re-secure with new screws of the same
size or at worst, one size larger.

I'll be interested to see what others think.....

Herb Lapp
Mechanicsburg, PA

    Recently, I rescued about 20 wooden planes of various kinds from my
dad's 
shop attic, where they had sat for 40 years. They are about 140 years old, 
and once belonged to my great-great grandfather. I feel very fortunate to 
have them. Unfortunately, some didn't weather the last century so well. One 
of the arms on a plow plane I'm cleaning up has the slightest bow in it, 
which prevents the body of the plane from sliding further than an inch or
two 
before it binds. Is there a way to straighten out the arm without doing harm

or removing material? 

   Also, I'm sorry to say that I've broken some screws in trying to remove 
them. What are some ways to free severely rusty screws from wood without 
breaking them in the first place, and how should I go about extracting the 
remaining bit of screw? In most cases, it was the very tip that let go, so 
maybe there's enough screw to hold.Believe me, I was as careful as I could
be 
trying to remove these things- I worked them back and forth gently, and 
heated them using a soldering iron hoping the expanding metal would break 
them free. Thanks!


Art Bailey