My Father-In-Law recently gave me an old hand plane that belonged to his father-in-law (my wife's grandfather), Ted, who passed away last year. It's been in a shed for decades, and obviously has a lot of rust.
I had the idea that I would restore the plane so that it looked nice, get Ted's name engraved in the side of the plane, and gift it to my mother-in-law (Ted's daughter) as something they could display on a shelf in their house as a remembrance. The goal here is to make it look nice, it does not need to function.
My problem is that despite my best efforts, the rust is returning. Here's what I've done so far:
My problem is that after sanding, the plane looked nice enough (clean, but not glimmering), but after less than a week sitting in the shop, all the bare metal is starting to show a rust color again, and I'm frustrated. Do I need to apply some sort of sealant after sanding? Do I need to a more aggressive sanding?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I had the idea that I would restore the plane so that it looked nice, get Ted's name engraved in the side of the plane, and gift it to my mother-in-law (Ted's daughter) as something they could display on a shelf in their house as a remembrance. The goal here is to make it look nice, it does not need to function.
My problem is that despite my best efforts, the rust is returning. Here's what I've done so far:
- Wire Brush to loosen & remove surface rust
- Vinegar & Salt bath for 3 days
- Rinse & soak in water with baking soda
- Using a brass wire brush, removed rust
- Dry and clean with paper towel & denatured alcohol
- Re-painted plane bed gloss black (decided against japanning since it's only for display so it doesn't need to be that durable)
- Sanded chip breaker, iron, sides and bottom using random orbit sander at 150 and 220 grit
- Used a buffing wheel & buffing compound to buff the sides & bottom, although it didn't seem to do that much
My problem is that after sanding, the plane looked nice enough (clean, but not glimmering), but after less than a week sitting in the shop, all the bare metal is starting to show a rust color again, and I'm frustrated. Do I need to apply some sort of sealant after sanding? Do I need to a more aggressive sanding?
Does anyone have any suggestions?