May 2011 - Restoration of a Stanley #2C Plane.
Before:
  Stanley #2C with Bronze Weld on both sides. This Plane has "B" casting marks which dates it around 1900 and also indicates the Lever Cap and Iron are not original.
The box of parts (the box of relics and spares under the bench) reveals a "B" Lever and a "Pat.92" Iron which will complete the job nicely. The lever has a chipped tip so will need some cosmetic work with the Torch.
The Bronze will need to be melted out completely, the pieces cleaned and clamped in a jig to align them prior to C.I. Fusion Welding.
First to tackle the Body:
 Melt most of the bronze from the previous repair
Grind the remaining bronze and clean up ready for the new weld
 Weld and grind prior to final trimming and sanding. This one is pretty good, sometime there are imperfections which need to be drilled and filled. Care must be taken during the welding to avoid the molten puddle cooling to solid too quickly. Instead of Grey Cast Iron, small pockets of White Cast Iron can form - Chill Spots. This is difficult to work as it is harder than a file which leaves grinding or Diamond Plates to do the work, grind out the Chill Spot and re-weld.
The Knob and Tote presented no great challenges as neither had any flaws or chips, so I thought. I cleaned and applied two coats of Shellac then applied Wax, let sit and then buff. During the buffing the Tote fell apart - I must have applied pressure to a very fine crack which hadn't been noticed. So, one step forward and two steps backwards to clean and glue with Superglue.
Clean the Body and Frog, apply two coats of Black Shellac and then bake. This gives a hard finish similar to the old Black Japan, it can be left glossy but I give the parts a squirt of G15 Rust Protection and wipe - this dulls the gloss a little which is even closer to the old look.
 Pic of the repaired Lever Cap
 
The finished item with Pat. 92 Blade to complete the C.1900 Plane.
11110000111100001000100011111111110000001111000010100000101010101010101011110000100000001000000011000000100000001010101011111111
|