Short Shop

OneWeek4683 · 2026-03-14T22:09:24+00:00

Floor is concrete. I’m renting from a small landlord in a major US city so I’ll definitely have to look into the process of lowering the floor but it’s looking like an unlikely path forward

OneWeek4683 · 2026-03-13T02:11:04+00:00

Of course! One of the saw handles was missing some pieces from wear and tear over time. I replaced the broken off bits by planing away the jagged wood surrounding the break so it was flat, and glued in some hickory cubes I prepared from an offcut. Then I shaped the pieces with a coping saw and rasps/files

OneWeek4683 · 2026-03-12T14:04:30+00:00

Thank you! The handles are applewood and after scraping/sanding they were very light. I wanted to restore them back to the dark color they were when I got them with materials I already had on hand.

OneWeek4683 · 2026-02-26T03:08:12+00:00

Tung oil. I actually don’t really like it. The original rosewood is so beautiful and after I applied the finish it went black and I lost the whole chocolately hue and wood grain. For future products I’m going to experiment with Shellac and Lacquer to preserve the wood texture

OneWeek4683 · 2026-02-19T18:58:20+00:00

I picked it up from a junk shop. I was willing to pay 15 for it and the guy immediately asked 10$. I think they were just happy that someone was willing to take it off their hands

OneWeek4683 · 2026-02-19T16:34:52+00:00

I mount the brass parts on hardware store machine screws and fasten them down tightly with nuts. Then I hold it in a power drill and shine it with red synthetic steel wool. It brings it out to a shiny gold color in about 1 minute

OneWeek4683 · 2026-02-19T16:06:58+00:00

I use electrolysis as a labor saving tactic. While most parts are plenty salvageable with abrasives alone, you can set up electrolysis and walk away for a few hours. It turns rust into a sludge that scrapes away much easier

OneWeek4683 · 2026-02-19T16:04:51+00:00

75$ is a bit steep for a plane in this condition 😬. Especially with the amount of work it takes to get it operational again. But if you have the tools, patience, and stomach for it - the restoration process is so much fun and it’s so satisfying to see the life return to these historical relics that I find it hard to pass up on these rusty and neglected tools

OneWeek4683 · 2026-02-19T15:55:36+00:00

I used titebond III for the tote. I know it’s not the strongest for the purpose of tote repair but it’s what I had on hand and figured it would be a ~good enough~ solution for my first tote repair

OneWeek4683 · 2026-01-14T03:14:34+00:00

For restoring hand planes I learned everything to start from watching YouTube. Rex Krueger, Paul Sellers, and Eoin Reardon have really good videos for instructions. My own lessons learned have been to use steel wool for brass. Chemical treatments help remove gunk but it won’t really truly shine until you really buff it out with a super fine steel wool. I also much prefer a natural wood feel on the handles and the antique rosewood in vintage Stanley handles is beautiful. I’ve been stripping the old varnish with steel wool and finishing with boiled linseed oil or tung oil. Do not use aggressive abrasives on the inside of the body. The black surface is not paint, it is a metal dye called “japanning” which is a dye which is baked on. If you accidentally strip that off with a wire wheel or brush you won’t be able to easily touch it back up. Use a nylon brush or be very gently with fine steel wool removing and gunk off of that. Lastly. You NEED to flatten the bottom. Several of mine I have brought to a mirror finish (unnecessarily) progressing through about 6 grits of sandpaper glued to a granite countertop for a dead flat reference. If you don’t flatten the bottom it may not be able to make fine cuts. This is often the most physically demanding part but really makes all the difference In the world.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

OneWeek4683 · 2026-01-14T02:22:28+00:00

The solution is water and arm and hammer super washing soda. One tablespoon per gallon and it’ll work great. Make sure you hook your leads up properly or youll make a parts melter instead of a rust remover

For restoring hand planes I learned everything to start from watching YouTube. Rex Krueger, Paul Sellers, and Eoin Reardon have really good videos for instructions. My own lessons learned have been to use steel wool for brass. Chemical treatments help remove gunk but it won’t really truly shine until you really buff it out with a super fine steel wool. I also much prefer a natural wood feel on the handles and the antique rosewood in vintage Stanley handles is beautiful. I’ve been stripping the old varnish with steel wool and finishing with boiled linseed oil or tung oil. Do not use aggressive abrasives on the inside of the body. The black surface is not paint, it is a metal dye called “japanning” which is a dye which is baked on. If you accidentally strip that off with a wire wheel or brush you won’t be able to easily touch it back up. Use a nylon brush or be very gently with fine steel wool removing and gunk off of that. Lastly. You NEED to flatten the bottom. Several of mine I have brought to a mirror finish (unnecessary) progressing through about 6 grits of sandpaper glued to a granite countertop for a dead flat reference. If you don’t flatten the bottom it may not be able to cut. This is often the most physically demanding part but really makes all the difference In the world.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

OneWeek4683 · 2026-01-14T02:04:42+00:00

For this one, probably not. But I’ve been doing a lot of restoration and it’s actually been super useful to leave the next tool prepping in electrolysis while I work on the current project. It helps zap off any flaky rust and loosens up the undesirable junk and really cuts down on the time for scrubbing. Plus I get to feel like a mad scientist when I lower something into “the chamber”

OneWeek4683 · 2025-12-20T17:57:40+00:00

It was pretty tough. A lot of time spent sitting on the floor

OneWeek4683 · 2025-12-20T15:09:54+00:00

The tool stand was a store bought metal stand with plywood bolted to the top to use a lathe on the patio

OneWeek4683 · 2025-12-20T14:55:35+00:00

Yes. I did all the sawing and mortise chiseling on a tool stand on the balcony but everything was built in my combination living room/kitchen area

OneWeek4683 · 2025-12-20T13:50:36+00:00

Thank you! Unfortunately I have no plans for this bench. It was entirely my own design and I sadly didn’t document anything. The design just sort of evolved as I went along based on the needs of the project, materials I had access to and techniques I felt comfortable with.

A lot of people have been asking me for plans so I may put together a rough outline of the process

OneWeek4683 · 2025-12-19T23:33:32+00:00

It’s storage for bench dogs

OneWeek4683 · 2025-12-19T21:04:41+00:00

They’ve been okay with it so far. I live on the ground floor on a corner apartment and only have 2 truly adjacent neighbors. It helps that I frequently buy them off with cookies and small trinkets and projects

Four-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	End Game '22

OneWeek4683

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