Gloat and Need Advice

[SSuther]

I went to our local MWTCA meeting (Waxhaw) a couple of weeks ago and snagged two nice planes. One is a nicely used Stanley 93 shoulder plane. You may recall I'd asked advice on that awhile back. Got this one for a nice price, and it works well with no fettling required. The other is a wooden moving fillester plane. Overall in good condition (great to look at), but one of the screw holes in the bottom for fence adjustment is stripped. I'd love to hear from you folks on what you think would be the best way to resolve that problem. I'd like to put this one back into use.

Photos attached.

 

[Travis Porter]

I am by no means an expert, but how about making a plug to fill the hole and then redrilling and screwing your screw back in?

Nice haul on the planes. I have the 93 myself and love it.

 

[sapwood]

Sorry Stan, no advice here. Just drooling :eusa_droo
Great looking finds :icon_thum

Roger

 

[SSuther]

Well, first thought was to plug it and re-drill it. My only caution on that is that the plug will be going cross-grain and I'll be drilling with the grain which is normally hard to do without the bit wandering, plus screwing into end grain is not very strong. Of course, I may be making too much out of this repair. If it strips out again, I'll just have to do it again.

 

[Monty]

hmmm... that hole is pretty close to the side of the plane, so drilling it out with an oversized bit may not give acceptable results. I might consider chiseling out a square and inlaying a block of hardwood there. Mark the location of the hole center on the surrounding wood first.

 

[DaveO]

Whatca get that 93 for?????? Nice looking planes.
Dave

 

[SSuther]

Got it for $85. Ave. new price seems to be around $110 plus tax and shipping. I've been told the old ones are better made than the new ones, so I thought this was pretty good.

 

[SSuther]

I'll go back tomorrow and look at the feasibility of inserting a cross grain plug and drilling. I'm thinking I'll need to tap the threads to keep from putting too much pressure on the relatively narrow side wall of the hole.

 

[chris99z71]

I may be too late for this, but what about putting in a helicoil insert? :dontknow:

 

[SSuther]

Not a bad idea if I could match the threads. The screws that came with the plane are a pretty coarse thread, and my tap and die kit doesn't have anything to match. To use the helicoil, I'd have to be sure that I can get one that will match the screw thread, and get a tap that will match the helicoil. What's the best place to find those? Car parts place? I've used helicoils a bit in industry, but never had to order any.

The purists probably would complain at the idea of such newfangled solutions on an old plane. Just haven't figured out if I'm a purist or not.:-?

 

[chris99z71]

Yeah, I'm sure that there are many who would curse my idea...but I'm thicker skinned than that :lol:

Personally, I've never used a Helicoil kit, but I've heard really good things about them. Perhaps you could replace the screw with something of more standard size to ensure compatibility with the Helicoil kit. It looks close to 1/4"...so maybe a 1/4-20? I can't really tell from the pic.

Amazon offers a bunch of thread repair kits.

 

[SSuther]

I checked it this weekend and it is a shade over 1/4" with less than 12tpi. So I've thought about drilling out to 3/8", then cutting cross-grain 3/8" plugs from maple and gluing them in the hole (got a plug cutter). I still would have to drill the maple plug and tap it to match. I really want to keep the original screws in there (for the sake of the next guy who gets it after I'm gone). I'll check Amazon for the tap. Thanks.

 

[chris99z71]

That will certainly provide a more "purist" solution and I'm sure it will make a fine fix.

 

[striker]

I don’t profess to be expert in this area but I thought I would offer my opinion. I think you would be hard pressed to find a helicoil or any thread insert for a non standard thread. You may try an outboard shop or an industrial supply like Mcmaster if you want to give it a go. Personally, I would plug it like you previously mentioned. If you have concerns about the new hole wondering make a drill template/guide to locate hole before you lose the location. Then play with a piece of scrap to determine the correct tap drill size. Use the screw as a tap to create the new thread, maybe filing a groove in the first thread or two to create a flute to cut the thread. If the plane worked for 100 years with the screw threaded into wood it should work for a few more with the repair. Good luck

 

[brent innc]

Would it be feasible to take a 1/2 inch mortising bit and drill out the hole and then insert a 1/2" square piee pf a good more dense piece and insert it?????? Just a thought!

 

[SSuther]

Now that's why I asked this group- to get the creative juices flowing. Your suggestion of modifying the screw so that it will tap it's own thread is brilliant! Couple that with my old dowel jig to keep everything lined up, and I think we've got the perfect total solution.

 

[SSuther]

I don't have a mortising machine, but do have a plug cutter that will allow me to fill the drilled-out hole with a hardwood plug. Will have to stack two or three, but I think that will work.