Ran across this Millers Falls plane the other day and picked it up for 8.00. I had a good bit of rust on it but looked okay. I needed something to play with and thought this would be a good one to experiment with.

This plane was made somewhere between 1966 and 1976. It was to be like a Stanley No.4.

So I was wanting to redo this plane.

So with it disassembled I wanted to try the Electrolysis method to remove the rust and japanning from the body and other parts.

You can see the bubbling in the water as the rust is removed.

So after most of the day in the solution here is the body with the rust removed and almost all of the japanning. A little wire brush, picks and it will be clean.

Each of the parts was put in the Electrolysis and the rust removed and wire brushed just to clean everything up.

Today I got the body painted and it looks like the original japanning.

I haven't gotten to work on the knob and tote yet but put it back together just to show you how it looks now.

All of the parts cleaned up really good. I was thinking this is not going to work out but it really did the job and was great for a one armed person. No real work!

As soon as I get to use my right arm and get the strength in it I will redo the handles. Just can't do any sanding right now.

So what do you think? I am pretty happy with it and learned a lot that I will use when I get to start on the Delta Joiner/Saw projects.

I still have a bit of sanding to do on the bottom to flatten it and the blade hasn't been sharpened yet so I couldn't show you any real fine shavings.

---

John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

That came out gorgeous, John!

---

Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Thanks Lew. It was fun to do. I am still pretty limited as to what I can do so it has been a nice way to stay busy watching the bubbles come up.

Here is a link to a site I found with Millers Falls Plane numbers and dates they were produced.

---

John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Looks very nice John.   What did you use to clean up the body?   That soft swirl pattern looks great.

Looks GOOD!

( at least for the gals we go with....)

---

Planer? I'm the 'planer', and these are what I use...

Looks good for a "one arm bandit"! Just wait until you have both arms working.

---

Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

I was trying to sand it smooth an work up through the grits but just couldn't do it with. My left hand so I stopped. I will go back over it later and smooth it out. But thanks for saying it looks good.

John "stretch" Lannon said:

Looks very nice John.   What did you use to clean up the body?   That soft swirl pattern looks great.

John,

Looks real nice.

So how do you like the electrolysis method?

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

I used Electrolysis to clean up the body.

You can read about it here in an article Larry, he site host for Old Woodworking Tools posted. I tried it and it worked really well.

http://www.thepatriotwoodworker.com/forum/topics/rust-removal-by-electrolysis

John "stretch" Lannon said:

Looks very nice John.   What did you use to clean up the body?   That soft swirl pattern looks great.

Larry it worked really good after I got an old battery charger bat the flea market for 4.00. The new one I bought was too smart to run after the battery was fully charged. I have already used it on several other small items. Getting my practice in before tackling the saw/joiner.

Thanks for your help and advice.

Larry Buskirk said:

John,

Looks real nice.

So how do you like the electrolysis method?

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host