#4 restoration
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- This topic has 23 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 7 months ago by Steve Giles.
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7 September 2016 at 4:08 pm #139982
Hi Sadlysenile,
Thanks for all the great info. Looks like I’m on a frog search now.
Cheers,
Rick
9 September 2016 at 8:03 am #140005My ebay Stanley #4 has resin handles and after the first five minutes of use I didn’t even think about it any more. I suppose that given the choice wooden handles are preferable, but plastic ones wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me.
I took some fine sandpaper and smoothed out the mould lines. After that and a swipe with linseed oil they feel and look just fine.
10 September 2016 at 2:12 am #140032Just to wrap up…
Thanks to everyone for the ideas – all very helpful. This board is a great resource. <- wood humor ha ha
So I took one more shot at a pre-driven #4. The cache of something older than me is too much to resist. That said, for a next #4 purchase, I’ll probably buy new. The cost is very similar either way. And, I think the quality is probably as good or better than a used one.
Having lost a few actions for small amounts, I chose to snipe this time. On paper (or should I say on LED), it’s the nicest one I’ve bid on. And the winning price was on the lower end of what I’ve seen. The later may be down the auction ending the evening after a major US holiday.
It should arrive tomorrow, and I hope to have it tuned up by the middle of next week.
Once I find a new frog, I’ll finish tuning my original #4, and probably profile the blade more along the lines of a scrub plane.
Now it’s on to making a mallet.
If you’re restoring Resin (expanded polystyrene?) handles, don’t be tempted to clean them up with Brasso. I did, and the handle went all soft & gooey and wouldn’t set hard again. It just kept on melting!
Brasso’s good for smoothing and cleaning most plastics, but it didn’t react at all well with my 1980’s Stanley Resin.
You live ‘n’ learn.Because Brasso is a great all-purpose cleaner & polisher!
It cleans metals, enamels, plastics…Ever tried to T-Cut & Polish old enamel on tools which has ground-in grime?
Brasso cuts through it.So long as plastics aren’t naff; like Stanley’s.
You remove scratches from Acrylic Watch-Crystals with the weaker version called Silvo.
If Brasso was only for Brass, Silvo for Silver, and Chrome-polish for Chrome, what would you clean Aluminium and Copper with?
I guess it sounds daft now, but I got away with it for so long.
Brasso was smoothing scratched plastic and polishing everything it touched – like using Lighter Fluid to remove sticky label goo – until it reacts wrongly.
Sometimes its tempting to use whatever we have in the cupboard, getting more adventurous & less cautious, as each product fails to achieve results.
Be gentle – I am openly and publicly admitting my failure here lol
20 September 2016 at 2:57 pm #140477Although Brasso is marketed as a brass polish, it’s good for polishing many different kinds of material (except Stanley resin handles, apparently :-). It is excellent on many other plastics for instance.
It could possibly even be used on a strop for sharpening blades. Anyone tried that?
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