As I documented in a post earlier this summer I returned from a cross country trip, starting at my in laws in upstate New York, with a moving truck full of hardwoods and tools. I've spent my free time (what free time?) the last few months sorting through everything and finding places for it in my shop. Now that I'm getting things organized I've begun work restoring some of the hand tools that had corrosion from being in a basement the last couple of years. Kind of a zen process really, to settle in with a fire burning in the woodstove and start putting some sweat into it. I started with chisels and now am almost done with the hand planes. I love rehabbing old/vintage things so this is right up my alley.
There's a nice, shiny chisel under there somewhere.
Making progress. Those big timber framing chisels on the left remind me that I have a dream to build a cabin someday.
One of a couple old Stanley's ready for some TLC. At some point just for kicks I'm going to do a little poking around on the internet to find out what years these were made. There are some good resources out there but the process of identifying Stanley's by year of manufacture looks a little tedious if you're not already a Stanley expert. The big No. 6 planer has very few markings so that's the one that will take the most time to figure out.
Looking better. All the mechanisms still work pretty smoothly after a little machine oil. Very glad about that.
The one on the left has some pretty deep pitting in the iron and chip breaker that I couldn't polish out so I may look for a replacement set if I have trouble with it.