Bargains in Plane Sight: Searching For Your Own Tools

Today, I decided to spend my Sunday afternoon looking for hand planes. Ever since Module 5 started, I have been in constant search for chisels and planes. The three main sources I’ve been combing have been thrift stores, Kijiji and Craigslist. Thrift stores (just like garage sales) are a give-or-take situation, mainly because it depends on who is selling their stuff. I rarely find tools in thrift stores, which are mainly a good source for kitchenware and clothing. Craigslist and Kijiji, on the other hand, can narrow down your search easily. From the past few weeks of my search, I have only found two or three ads for smoothing planes, most of which vary from $35-70 each. Ontario listings seem to have more people posting ads selling their old hand tools; Montreal in comparison is scarce.

I have worked at thrift stores and antique stores before, even acting as a buyer for my friend’s Antique store Salmagundi West in Vancouver. One place I always went to to find specific antiques is Marché Aux Puces St. Michel. This place is huge. I have found a variety of rare items here before, like 1920’s light fixtures, a medium-format Yashica film camera, a 1940s-vintage doctor’s leather case and some dentures from the 1800’s.
Yes— anything you can imagine being left behind from the past, you can dig up here. 

The first time anyone ever goes inside this flea market is overwhelming. So I’m telling you now, if you decide to come here, be prepared to have your energy drained if you’re not ready to spend a whole afternoon here. It’s just a few minutes walk away from our John F. Kennedy Campus /RTC garage door, right before you hit the Trans-Canada Highway. There are two floors and many kiosks. Each kiosk is run by a buyer/seller who have items that can either provide specific specialty items like tools, old medical antiques, cameras, etc, to just plain everything. Prices also vary widely, and bargaining is a must, don’t be shy about haggling. Note: they only take cash here. If you forget to get cash out, there is an ATM at the gas station across the street. 

I came in the flea market with my boyfriend Murray in arm, and $60 in my pocket. I was aiming to get a smoothing plane and a block plane for that price. I always remember to go here with a set budget and a specific item in mind or else my mind will wander and I will end up buying a taxidermied raccoon. So I walked down the aisles, peeking into each kiosk for a tools section. If you see a pile of rusted metal, you’ve found a good place to start. Don’t hesitate to browse quickly, and pass on kiosks which don’t have what you want. If you allot yourself a time of at least 5 minutes per kiosk, you’ve already wasted too much time. Remember, you’re on a mission. 

The first plane I found was an old Stanley smoothing plane with a frog assembly. It was rusted and dirty, but that shouldn’t deter you from opening it up and taking a look. (Remember, you can sand off any rusted bits off the steel). I opened it up and saw that it had the chipbreaker, but not the blade. I asked the man how much it was and he was willing to give it for $15. Not sure if I am able to find the blade for that Stanley model, I decided to think about it and keep walking.

As I continued to look around, I decided to just ask one of the sellers if he knew where we could find a kiosk full of tools. “You're looking for a guy name Aldo. Just go straight from here, turn right then left. You won’t miss it.” 

We followed his instructions, and before we were even within 50 feet of Aldo’s kiosk, we could see his piles and piles of tools. There were screws, routers, hand drills, saws; power and hand tools, everything you could think of. On one messy shelf, he had four smoothing planes, one jack plane and five block planes! I started going through them, analyzing the damage to see what was fixable and what was not. Since all of them are old hand tools, I had to take them apart. The blade is the most important part: even if rusted, it had to have enough steel for me to use it on the bench grinder. A lot of the block planes barely had any steel left. I also kept in mind that I needed a low-angle block plane. Some of the mechanisms like the screws or levers were rusted shut, others were just too big for my hands. Missing pieces should be a deal breaker since these are old tools. If you think these are hard to find, think of trying to replace a specific piece. Don’t forget to test the feel of each; seeing the weight and the ergonomics of each tool. Is it comfortable? Is it easy to manage when you're using it?

After I considered which planes I would take, I also managed to find a carpenter’s square, an old tape measure with 1/16th ticks (and no fraction labels!) and a bevel gauge. He gave everything to me for $30! Quite a steal. I told him that I was attending Cabinetmaking in RTC and he told me to send him more of my classmates. Remember to look for Aldo.

Before we left, we stopped by one place with lots of tools spread around shelves and found a heavy-duty vise. I had $30 left in my pocket so I bartered to get it for $20 but he asked for $30 instead. We shook hands at $30. Bartering is key. All in all, I spent all of my budget, but considering how much I got, I’d say I hit jackpot. On the way out, I passed by the man I asked earlier about tools. What I didn’t see was that he had two hand planes in plain sight! I asked him how much he would sell them for and he said $10 each. I told him I would send some classmates over. 

The complete haul, as they were when we got home.
Four of the pieces have significant surface rust, but that’s easy to remedy.

After I arrived home, I spread a drop sheet on my kitchen table and began to restore, starting with the block plane. I used WD-40 to loosen the gunk off of everything. I used wet/dry sandpaper ranging from 80–600 grit to grind off the rust and crust off the blades and soles, working from the lower grits up. Instead of water, I used silicone-based bicycle lubricant to work with, treating the steel and making sure to use it for finishing and rustproofing. One great thing about using bicycle lube instead of machine oil like 3-in-1, is that it does not attract dust. * good idea!

The low-angle plane, before and after, from above.

The low-angle plane, before and after, from the side.

The low-angle plane’s shoe, before and after.

The low-angle plane’s blade, before and after.

An engineer’s square, before and after corrosion removal.

I then began to work on the smoothing plane. This was completely covered in rust, but just by using an 80 grit sandpaper, I managed to clean it and was able to see silver after only 5 strokes. 

Ehrmahgerd. !

“You are sooo beautifuuuul, to meeeeee”

The handles had thick blue paint that was chipping and faded. So unscrewing them, Murray decided to help me sand them off. The S handle had thicker old paint so he used a heat gun to strip the paint. It bubbled right off and he used a scraper to clear it off. 

The handles after stripping, one coat of stain, and sanding with 150-grit dry sandpaper.

After sanding both again, he stained it with some Minwax water-based stain with a custom blue tint (Tardis Blue!) and did four coats before letting it dry and re-attaching it back on the smoothing plane. The last two coats were applied by dipping the handle right into the stain and letting the excess run off back into the can, until the last bit was wiped off with a paper towel.

I still need to take the blades to the bench grinder to get the 25° angle and to hone it after, but the hardest part is finished. They are now cleaned and polished.

Before and after. Schmexy.

WOW!

In one afternoon, I managed to find and restore some hand tools which will last a long time in my hands. Being able to get to know your tool is important. Working on bringing one back to life really gives you and your tools a bond. I’ve already named my purple block plane Prince

*I believe this is the proper spelling

 (…the artist formally known as). Now that I have taken it all apart and put it back together; ground, lubricated and shined, I know every single piece; where it goes and how to assemble it. Get to know your tools. Respect your tools and it will give you outstanding results. 

So go on and start your search, you’re on a mission (like Jake and Elwood). Remember to have a set budget, bid low, and do not hesitate to disassemble the tool before buying.
Happy hunting! A penny shaved is a penny earned!

Marché Aux Puces St-Michel

3250 Boul Crémazie E

Montréal, QC H2A 3N9

Hours: Fri-Sun 9:30 AM- 5:00 PM

Marché Aux Puces St-Michel Facebook Page

Lapping the "Soul" - Grinding

Lapping the "Soul"/ Having a Flat back side

Having a level backside is essential to getting the correct angle for using a grinding wheel, and for accuracy once sharpened.  (I'm not sure if we can use the grinding wheel even if our tool isn't level?)

Not really.   I think the proper term is flat.   Level means parallel with the ocean.
The Backside must be flat because

1. We will use this side as a register when tooling
2. To achieve a perfect point for scary sharpness. If the back isn't perfectly flat, it will be difficult to remove the burr during the honing process.

Ensure that the back of the tool is Flat by grinding it on your choice of medium, starting with a very low grit and working up. If the tool is fairly clean and only a little uneven, start at about 320 and workup, if there's a lot of gunk on it, start lower, about 50-80 and work up to 1200 or more.

 Rosen's medium of choice is a course diamond stone.

Sand paper was taped to a sheet of melamine for fine lapping. We used grits 320,400,600,800,1000 and finally 1200

 Pete and Ahmed watch me demonstrate with my Waterstone

We're checking for an even light reflection, the tool should be shiny and flat. Patches where the light doesn't hit, or doesn't hit evenly means you need to keep going. Aim for perfect Flatness on the lower grits and use the higher grits to reduce the scratches. During this process be sure to keep the tool flat, you don't even have to hold the handle of a chisel.

William brought in an old rusty smoothing plane. Old Stanley planes like these are easy to find and are easily tuned up. 

First he had to flatten the soul of the plane

When creating a smooth surface on a hand-plane, it only has to be flat on all four edges of its sole, it's okay if there's a slight indent in the middle section.

 Smoothing down a hand plane is hard work but when done right and treated with care, the grind can last decades with only the occasional ten minute tune-up.

Lapping grits are available and should be used on a hard flat surface such as glass

But we seem to get quicker results with sand paper

80 Grit silicone carbide seems to do the trick for Marissa's cool antique block plane

Grinding the perfect hollow grind using a Grinding Wheel

This is the ideal hollow grind, shown on the edge of a hand plane blade.

Grinding using a grinding wheel creates a concave shape known as a hollow grind, this shape makes it really easy to cut since the point of contact with the wood is directed onto the tip of the chisel.

 For safety reasons, tie hair back, remove jewelry, tuck in your shirt and wear safety glasses.( Belts?)

we are grinding the ends of our plane irons and chisels square

If the tool is very damaged, for example dented, you'll want to set the grinding wheel at a 90 degree angle. Then use a sharpie to mark a line straight across using a Square or engineering square.

 You want the line be drawn just below the imperfections. Grind by eye until you've removed the damaged part, and check for square.

Set a grinding wheel tool rest to 25 degrees (for the average chisel  and plane iron) and lightly grind the edge along the wheel, moving left and right if the chisel is wider than the grinding wheel.

No jewelry, shirt tucked in, fingers far enough from the tip and not wrapping around. Here Brendan uses his right hand to keep the blade pressed against the tool rest, and he's using the forefinger of his left hand against the base of the tool rest to keep the plane iron ( Blade ) square.

Remember to "cool the tool" constantly by dipping it in water

To accurately verify if you have set the tool rest to 25 degrees, check the blade you are grinding with a bevel gauge or an angle gauge like this one 

Hollow Grind

 When using a grinding wheel, stop every few strokes and look at the pattern developing on your tool, adjust accordingly to get an even grind all the way across.

 Future Article topic: Troubleshooting grinding issues. Look at the very tip of the tool and check to see if light reflects, if it does, you haven't created a point yet, keep going. Every few passes, whet your tool with water. You can never use too much water, but not using enough can damage your tools. "Ask Matt" on Youtube suggests keeping a drop of water on the edge of the tool, and when it begins to boil, whet it again.

Great Job Marissa! 

Grinding and Honing / working up the grits

When honing a plane iron or chisel you may have a preference to type of stone or materials.

Names like India stone and Ceramic Stone are commonly heard.

Many materials are used as abrasives to grind and hone steel 

Man Made

Silicon Carbide

Aluminum Oxide

These materials can be also glued to paper producing sand paper

Also

 Diamond

And Natural (mined and cut right out of the ground)

Washita

Arkansas

 Some stones insist lubricant is needed to cut steel and so often we classify them accordingly

Oil Stones - Water Stones - Non lubricated Stones

In this class we will explore a variety of stones and sandpaper.

It is not obligatory to hone with only one category of material at a time.

the important thing to remember is that one must respect the order of grits.

The rule to remember is that the lower the number, the courser the grit.

For example;   A 320 grit is courser than 600 grit.

As a matter of fact, one can divide the grinding and honing process by grit,

Eg:  Grinding <  320 <  Honing

The confusing thing though is that there are other systems of grits too.

For woodworkers, the other system is Japanese 

As you can see a 500 U.S. grit is equivalent to a 1000 Japanese grit

 Most Japanese waterstones are Aluminum Oxide which has a characteristic called Friability.

Diamond Stones are the most durable.

So we use them here at RTC

Search the blog for grinding and honing articles. 

Perhaps comment about your experience.

Honing

Honing is the process perhaps most of us call sharpening

If you have ground your plane iron or chisel on a grinding wheel, the hollow grind will provide stability during the honing process.

whether using Oil Stones, Water Stones, Diamond Stones or Sand paper, the process of honing is the same.

The key element of the process is to create a micro-bevel

The micro bevel is usually about 5 degrees more than the ground angle

Therefore in this class  we grind at 25 Degrees and hone at 30 Degrees

The use of a honing jig is often handy to achieve perfect results

But I recommend mastering the skill without it.

It will be a frustrating journey but it's all in the name of craftsmanship.

search the blog for honing (Sharpening) opinions

Grinding

Grinding is done at lower grits to prepare or repair a plane iron or chisel before honing

Most often a grinding wheel is used because the process is faster 

The chisel or plane iron is placed upside down on a tool rest that is set to grind 25 degrees, the wheel produces a Hollow Grind

When grinding a 25degree bevel of a chisel or plane iron,

Be sure to grind the entire surface of the bevel.

it is apparent when the entire bevel is ground when only one reflection of light bounces back from the newly ground surface

 Only once this is archived may you proceed to the honing process

 In most cases if you are a true craftsman and take care of your chisels and hand planes, 

grinding need be only done once.

Search the blog for grinding tips.

Reading an imperial tape measure

You may say "I'm not good at fractions"  and so learning to read an Imperial tape measure can be intimidating at first.

But it's really quite simple once you grasp the dividing things up into groups concept.

The denominators of the imperial fractions are the same over and over again. I think this system has an advantage over metric because it reduces the amount of numbers one reads and therefore reduces mistakes.

Here are our famous denominators

/64           /32           /16           /8           /4           /2



Note 32nds and 64ths are not included on this drawing - But if you spot the pattern, a 32nd would appear between every line 

Watch these 2 short video on reading a tape measure

https://youtu.be/4YF6Zz0krXA

https://youtu.be/T6lCpPB2xKs

Now do these exercises below

Now if you are really brave, click on this link to read these measurements to the 16th and 32nd of an inch
After opening the link, select 1/16" or 1/32" increments and "inches only" before clicking on  Create it 

And finally take out your tape measure and measure the height of your desk.   answer in the comments below.