How to Restore a Collectable Hand Plane

Today We are restoring a Stanley Bedrock. but this will not be your typical restoration. we will be doing a conservation-restoration of the hand plane.
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[@johnhiemstra1464]

With that plane old restoration we must save our soles. Nice video.

[@MCsCreations]

Beautiful work, James!!! 😃 My only tip is about using white vinegar to remove rust when it's a problem. Which wasn't the case of your plane at all. 😊 Oh, and baking soda after to stop the vinegar. Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That is a great way to start a fight! It works well though.

[@MrAtfenn]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo i was really hoping you would start off by saying that you soaked the plane in white vinegar for two days before you started the restoration. then wait a few seconds for the veins in peoples heads to explode before you told them you were kidding.

[@bricky12]

Thanks James i just hopped up to the "Top Patrons" list for ya! Wooohooo KOTWO!!!!!!!!!!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Woot woot! You the man! Looking forward to the next hang out.

[@ryanallthewiser]

Great video James

[@tryingagain14]

Thanks James. I understand the reasons why you did it this way. If it was me, I'd be tempted to make the new handles to use, and set aside the originals to put back on if it was sold

[@kaganboyle532]

Hello, thank you for all the content, you have been a boon in learning woodcraft. I don't know if this is worth a video but if it would be right I'd find a video on the more obscure stanley planes (such as the gage) interesting.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Thanks. I try and do Thursday videos either showing interesting tool or showing a technique. Anytime I get my hands on something new and interesting I try and put a video on it. Someday I'll do a video on a gauge point

[@wolfman75]

Great Info James!!! Thank You!!! 😃👍😎

[@bevetsg1]

That's what I would consider a nice "sympathetic" restoration. Not wanting to wax too philosophical on a Saturday morning but keeping the patina on an old tool like that maintains a woodworkers bond back over the years to the first fellow to pick this plane up.

[@makermark67]

Great information as always. Thanks

[@MrAtfenn]

i love hand planes. i love new planes, old planes, japanese, infill, etc. that said, i just dont get why anyone would get a beautiful tool like this bedrock and fix it up only to let it sit on a shelf. i believe that it is a tool. a very well crafted tool and it is made to be used. most of the reason that many of us have decided to use hand tools it for the pure joy and satisfaction that you can only get by using things like a well sharpened chisel or hand plane. of course i respects everyones right to do what they want with their tools but, to me, a hand plane is only happy when it is being used.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I know a few people that buy plans hold on to them for a few years and sell them when the price is going up. Sort of as investing in stocks. But everyone does different things. And then the last 5 years or so the prices on these have gone through the roof.

[@alexjames1146]

It's amazing how collectors can influence markets. Paying more for an inferior product from ignorance. A genuine collectable would range from in the original box and packing to fished out from a rusty bucket. A genuine working tool would have been maintained by its owner with all the required fettling and maintenance done as needed. More history in a fully functional old plane. Of course I'm not a collector. I use them. Nice video with some good cleaning tips applicable to many situations. 👉👍💪👈

[@scottdenfeld6956]

Have you considered a carding wheel, as used in finishing (blueing) fine firearms? A super soft wire wheel (or brush) that does not hurt the "patina" but removes the surface rust.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I have seen that done well I've seen it done very poorly. A bit of skill but it does work very well.

[@MarvinBlank]

Excellent job. Learn the difference first. There are plenty of common ones out there.

[@Gomer205]

I just found a bedrock 606 in a box at an antique store. It is a little crusty with surface rust and missing the knob. I only paid 20$ for it.😃

[@mariushegli]

I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Thanks. That means a lot.

[@guitarfreak122]

I swear I saw this plane on ebay a few days ago. Had the exact same number on the heel. I think it went for a little over 200

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I sold it a couple weeks ago on the can I have it and tool auction group on Facebook.

[@TheBlueCollarConservative]

I mostly restore old knives and axes but a have restored a few hand planes. It has been my experience that you do not lose any value or it is minimal loss by flattening the bottom of the hand plane, all while keeping everything else original looking. The only people that I have sold to that demand everything be kept original are interior decorators and they have more money than sense.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

On a bedrock probably not. It is only mildly collectable, bit on some of the less common planes tht can take off $100+ in the value. I have seen union x planes that lost $50+ for having the iron sharpened.

[@TheBlueCollarConservative]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I've not refurbished a Bedrock but I think, because I'm in the PacNW, the collectable tool market is a bit different than the Midwest. I just haven't seen those swings.

[@TheBlueCollarConservative]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo btw, my favorite planes are the Sweetheart ones....

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Oh ya on the west coast wood worker will pay crazy amounts for things. So much harder to find things out there.

[@TOTHEPOINT82]

These are great

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Congrats on first!

[@swig46]

I would like to consider the original owner of the plane. The original owner of your plane was most likely a craftsman that took pride in his tools and maintained them. When he bought the plane it didn’t have any patina, rust or broken wooden parts. I am sure if the plane got some rust he would have removed it or if the tote broke he may have repaired it. From the collectors point of view, when does a plane cross the line of not being able to be maintained in original condition and needing to have patina and broken parts preserved? I believe planes similar to yours, end up in that condition from abandonment and disuse, not from the from the constant use and care of a craftsman. So why is preserving the condition of an abandoned tool so valuable to a collector? I don’t have a problem with anything you did to the plane, I am more interested in what collectors really want and why. Thanks for your video and the opportunity it provided to explore the topics of cleaning, restoration, and preservation of old tools.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That is a video o want to do some time. What makes a plane collectable. Bedrocks are in the gray area but there are normal Stanley baly planes such as the early pre lateral planes that can go for several hundred, but cleaned up they go for half that. Tool collecting is a wears world where restoration does not mean restored to original condition.

[@swig46]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I would love to see you make that video, I think it is a controversial and confusing topic, especially for new buyers and new collectors. I am not new to the topic, I have been collecting for over 50 years. A perfect example of the confusion I am talking about is your example of a pre-lateral Bailey. If a “cleaned up” pre-lateral looses 1/2 of its value, does that mean the Bedrock you cleaned has lost 1/2 of its value? I don’t think that is what you meant, but it does illustrate the confusion caused by vague terms like cleaned, cleaned up, restored, and restored to original condition. A specific example is repainting a plane. For me a repainted plane immediately goes from collectible to user. But then it seems that acceptable actions vary when it comes to British in fill planes. Bill Carter, the British plane maker, can replace the wood in a miter plane and the value will go up. Is this a result of the planes appearance being improved or the improvement being done by Bill Carter or both?

[@stevenlee9994]

great video! although part of me was hoping to see you paint it bright orange. Quick question, you mentioned you don't use the Stanley Bedrock planes... any particular reason why?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Thanks man. Mostly because the benefit is not worth the increase in price to me. They are better then the standard baly in a few ways, but not by that much.

[@randomrobbie8923]

I bought a old joiners plane. Was going to clean the iron and it said W. Butcher. Were those irons any good

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Depends. back then the quality would change batch to batch. You really cant know brand to brand on anything over 50 years.

[@LegoMan-cz4mn]

How do you feel about flattening the iron? In the name of conservation and value

[@josedomingosteixeira1379]

This!! How can it be done?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

If it is for conservation work I get a new iron and then just hold onto the original.

[@josedomingosteixeira1379]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I rebuilt an old wooden jointer from my great grandfather but the blade is twisted and I really would like to be able to use it! Can I just take an hammer and strike it flat?

[@LegoMan-cz4mn]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo hmm, all right then! That would solve the problem for sure

[@LegoMan-cz4mn]

@@josedomingosteixeira1379 I have tried, and failed in the past doing this, the hardened steel is nearly immovable.. however, if the blade is laminated (like on japanese planes, common in old/antique western wooden planes) you would be able to flatten the soft iron, just not the hard steel So really the only option left is to remove the twist by removing material, only after having tried it with a hammer Good luck!

[@fletchlives8639]

I have bought a number 4,5,6,7 plane and they're not in to ba a shape. They just need a bit TLC. I know you said you clean it with wd40. I have a tin of wd40 degreaser. Would it work just as good as wd40 oil? These planes will be kept and used like!?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Ya that would work great!

[@kennethnielsen3864]

50ed.

[@hdwoodshop]

What is the value of a plane like this? Just curious.

[@jonasbredelius7]

A couple of 100 dollars depending on modell and condition

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

It depends on condition and type. But anywhere from 100 to $200 there are a few of them that might be as much as $400 but they are extremely rare.

[@hdwoodshop]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo 😮

[@ricos1497]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo Stamp those 2 W's on the side, and that thing soars in value. Probably.

[@jameslewellen150]

Are you going to return your wife's toothbrush? LOL

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Lol don't tell her.

[@wesleyhendricks9375]

Disappointing video no way flattening the sole and repairing a damaged tote will lower the value of a bedrock, you should just call it how to clean a bench plane😁

[@makermark67]

Great information as always. Thanks