I'll admit it, I am spoiled..when I go rust hunting I try not to find actual rust. I've had pretty good luck on that front..developing a nice network of dealers and collectors who supply some of the best tools around here. I really don't like to clean tools..maybe a Q-tip and green scrubby pad..that's about all I use. Major reconditioning I'll leave to others with more time and inclination..but recently a friend came into my shop with this old No.6 Stanley fore plane. If I saw this at the flea  I would generally give it a pass, just too rough and, as I said, I do have pretty good luck finding the really clean ones..

I was thinking.."parts plane" good low knob..o.k. tote(little chip off the tip) and levercap..just strip it down and be done with it

sole was rough looking...lot of work there....

little crusty inside...but maybe not as much as I expected..mechanicals worked well..

definately had a hard life...too much abuse and little to no care or respect...

As I was breaking it down for parts, I changed my mind.. it's a Type 9..100 years old and still intact..everything looks proper..probably not my job to part it out if I could get it back in working order..

after all it had good "bones"..nothing broken and everything appeared to work...good mouth ..fair amount of blade...I started out with a bath in "Greased Lightning" but Krud Kutter also works..scrubbed with my toothbrush and a green scrubby pad

Boy, it's actually starting to look presentable..front knob still a bit oily but the grime on the tote and bed cleaned off pretty good..decent amount of japanning too..I'd say about 95%....correct blade..

still a lot of grime on the cap and blade..

but the sole was looking better..most was the orange "caught in the rainstorm" rust..with minor pitting...had second thoughts at this point...

maybe with a little more work I can actually get this looking presentable

"camera flash reflection"...but frog face looked pretty darn good once I got most of the crud off

next I'll wax down the whole thing and see if I can get some of the shine back...a little rubbing compound and paste wax and I just may have something decent:

Well, it took more than I expected, I had to flatten the sole, a dirty job but necessary to bring it back to life as a working tool..after I flattened the sole I had to square the sides...god awful amount of time for both jobs and my lapping plate got more of a work out than it's had in years..as did my arms...(I'm too old for this)

The knob & tote came out nice with some rubbing compound and a few coats of paste wax..

used a little Noxon and steel wool on the cap and blade..cleaned off well...

few small spots of paint on the bed but the japanning looks pretty good...

and the nice thing is...after 100 years it does exactly what it was made to do..and will likely last another 100 years (or more). Wouldn't want to do this too many times but the satisfaction of putting it back into service was worth it...might just look at some of the "junkers" with new eyes...but I'll still pick up the best of the best..

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