[Red5hft]

Here is my Stanley No. 3 Type 6 cir. 1888-1892 after restoration. The dark patina of the rosewood knob and tote is striking against the polished iron and steel. I continue to seek out circa 1890 or older carpentry tools that I enjoy using in the day to day maintenance of our 1890 historic home in old town Alexandria. It is rewarding to replicate the craftsmanship using period correct tools in effecting repairs.

This Bailey plane cap iron is stamped with “ L. Bailey’s Patent Dec. 24, 1867”. I am wondering if this was typical of the type 6 Stanley Bailey planes or if this cap iron may have been replaced using parts from an older Lee Bailey plane?

Anyone have first hand knowledge of other type 6 Stanley or Lee Bailey planes with or without such marking?

“Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you’re right.”
-Henry Ford.

Topic

[Joshua Farnsworth]

#2037079

Wow! What’s your polishing process? You can check Jim Bode’s website for other type 6’s to see what the original iron looked like. The type studies don’t really take the iron into account.

[Red5hft]

#2037086

Polishing Planes

Joshua,

My polishing process it quite simple. It is formally known as “retirement”. Ah, the silly things you can do when you have time on your hands. Really nothing special, just hours spent with ever finer polishing compounds and a few interesting podcasts. I do like the look of what could have been done by the plane manufacturers if only they didn’t have to be profitable. I do find the planes seems to not accumulate rust and they are seemingly friction free on wood thanks to the extremely smooth surface. It is not all time wasted by the crazy old guy.

More to come, I am working on 6 various block planes. These are among my first. (I have a Fulton 3700 I refinished, but it is quite small and unimpressive in its simple design).

“Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you’re right.”
-Henry Ford.

[Author]

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