Wards jointer plane restore - clean up

I was privileged enough to be given a Wards jointer plane by a good friend to restore.

His father had passed away and this was discovered in one of the tool sheds.

what is always amazing is that what seems in so bad of shape can actually be an excellent tool just needing some repairing.

before i had even started the cleaning process i gave the plane a once over by looking for:

cracks, especially in the sole

dramatic twisting or cupping of the sole

and the degree of rust

below is a compare of what the tool looked like before any cleaning and then after cleaned and a new black finish was added.

wards jointer plane restore comparison: before and after cleaning and new finish

the difference is night and day however the work to get to this point was actually very little.

the restoration to this point went as follows:

1. dismantle (take photos if you need to remember how parts go back together)

2. just use a dense medium stiff wire brush to remove dirt and debris.

3. vinegar bath

4. remove any weak finish from the top of the plane (i swear by using old files that i cold grind into a chisel then use it to scrap the entire old finish. there is always a bit of tooth left in these old files so they work perfect as a scrapper or a grater).

5. stiff wire brush the rest, then wipe off

6. mask the sides then prime with an auto primer 

7. paint with your painting preference. there are many hard paints out there or just use spray on truck bed liner.

repurpose an old file to a scraping - grating restore tool

the next step in the restore was to fix and condition the wood parts, true the sole, and sharpen the blade.