OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

80940 Charles Rodgers charlesrodgers@e... 2000‑07‑13 Re: Cleaning and refinishing wooden planes
Galoots:
  A couple-three years ago, I posed the same question to the porch (how
do I clean
and refinish a somewhat grungy wooden plane).  The plane I asked about
is an I. Cox
complex molder made circa 1820, according to the fellow PATINA member who
sold it to me at a PATINA get together.  (It was at Mount Vernon, not
one of the
more famous auctions.)
  After several (very similar) replies, I ranked them from least to most intrusi
ve.
They were:
1.  Clean with mineral spirits and wax with a good paste wax.
2.  Clean with mineral spirits and wax with brown shoe polish - the
wax-based kind,
not the liquid.
3.  Clean and apply Tony Seo's formula.
  I decided to start at #1 and work up until I got the results I wanted.
 #1 looked
good to me so I stopped.  I wax it once or twice a year and am still
happy with
the way it looks, and even happier with how it works.  This is what I
use on the
ever-increasing assortment of users, including a C&W smoother and C&W jack.
  To take a short detour from the subject of this post, thanks to all of
the galoots
who gave me advice on how to sharpen and set it.  This hobby would have died
a frustrated death if it hadn't been for all of the wisdom so freely
shared here - both
then and now.
  BTW, #1 was offered up by someone who I suspect knows a thing or two about
old tools - MofA.  That's the Merchant of Ashby, aka the Leachmeister
for some of
our newer porch-sitters.  Yes, at one time he really did sit and chat on
the porch;-)
Charlie Rodgers
Clinton, Maryland...Who has no idea whether or not the plane is worth
what I paid
for it ($45) - jimbono asked for data points and I don't mind saying,
but I'm still
happy with the deal.



Recent Bios FAQ