Vintage tools: Millers Falls #9

As I am a fan of Millers Falls planes, few weeks ago I was lucky to find and receive another Millers Falls No 9 plane. I already have one but wanted a second, maybe to get one in each hand.

The plane body is in good condition but needs some cleanup as usually with an old plane. It retains most of its original japanning. Unfortunately I did not think about taking a picture before tearing it apart.

Millers Falls No 9

I cleaned the gunk on the body, then made some trace with a sharpie pen and rubbed it on the sandpaper on my marble plate. The sole revealed to be perfectly flat.

A clean flat sole.

I cleaned the body using a polishing paste I never tried before so I was not sure about what to expect. I put a few drop on the part, rubbed it with a clean clothe and it was clean of any residue on it. I must say I am pretty happy with the result, it removed any residue from flattening the sole and any dirt from the body.

A clean and shiny plane body.

The blade has still a lot of life but was badly ground at incorrect and inconsistent angle. After 30 minutes playing with it on coarse paper onto the marble plate the blade bevel was back in proper order and ready for sharpening. Some workout on the water stones from 1000 to 8000 grits and few last strokes on the leather strop made the blade as sharp as it could be (or as sharp as I could make it).

A sharp blade.

I used the same polishing paste to clean the blade body that was oxidized and got a similar shiny result.

A shiny blade.

Time to put all pieces in place now. While putting back the handles I noticed that the tote had some clearance at the bottom that allowed for some movement. Maybe the wood shrank a bit while aging and the screw was not tight enough to have a sturdy fit. I used a little brass washer at the top to get just enough room to slightly tighten the screw and the tote was good to go.

Last step is to clean the lever cap that shown the same oxidation. Again I applied a bit of polishing paste and rubbed it.

Let's rub it!

After some adjustment it was time to give it a try.

Nice shavings.

Now I have a second Millers Falls No 9 in proper order and I will enjoy playing with it.

I am not sure about the type of this one, the lever cap without red background paint and tote attachment let me think it is a type 3 so made between 1941 & 1949.