It’s been a while since I last posted on this subject and I’ve now built a cylindrical derusting tank from soil pipe that is good for dipping longer planes.
I managed to separate the blade and chip breaker a while ago without injuring myself again, but I think they may be beyond repair as they’re badly pitted even after several dips and a lot of work with the wet and dry.
The sole of the plane has come up a lot better for some wet and dry and another dip in the derusting liquid last night:
Before wet & dry
After wet & dry and more derusting
There are still a few pits and some scratches, but it’s a lot better than before.
The wet and dry has exposed some nasty scratches on the right side which were hidden by the rust:
I don’t know what the previous owner did to this poor thing before it was left to rust, but the scratches look mechanised, like someone’s attacked it with some sort of grinder.
I got a roll of 180 grit abrasive yesterday, so today I laid it out on some MDF and I can now rub the plane up and down the abrasive.
It seems to respond quite well to a quick vacuum to get rid of the clogging dust:
The other improvement to my derusting regime is to use my Axminster AWHAG heat gun to dry the parts after they’re dipped. I knew I’d find a use for it one day!
I don’t want to overdo the heat, so I keep it on the lower setting and try not to get too impatient.
My gauntlets are probably overkill for this task, but they stop me from absent mindedly picking up a hot piece of metal …
I gave the No. 5 1/2 another go on this strip:
The gouges in the side look a little better now, but I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of them completely:
The sides weren’t quite square to the sole to start off with. So far I’ve just tried not to make it any worse but I may attempt to improve matters later.
I always try to get my moneys worth out of the derusting liquid, so as well as the No. 5 1/2 I’ve also dipped my No. 5, No. 3, No. 220, No. 130 and some parts of my 905 breast drill!
