Stanley #12 rehab

Waiting for the coat of linseed oil to dry on my hand drill support, I got the time to look at a Stanley #12 cabinet scrapper plane that I got a while ago. I got this one more than 6 months ago but never got a chance to clean it and put it back to work.

First I took it apart to check that no part was broken or unusable.

The Stanley #12 in pieces.

The sole and side were quite oxidized but were showing no damage or excessive rust so I started by cleaning the sole and ensuring it was flat.

Marked the sole with a sharpie before some scrubbing
 on sand paper.

After few strokes the sole was clean and flat enough.

A clean sole.

I applied the same to each side of the plane.

First side...

...second side, all clean.

I then did further cleaning using polishing paste and compound so to remove all and any remaining iron dust.

A shiny sole...

... and a shiny side.

The japanning was in good condition, almost no sign of wear, but was quite dirty so I cleaned it using the same polishing paste.

Quite dirty indeed... Looks that this plane has seen
some real woodworking.

I used the same to clean and polish the brass wheels that were not really looking like brass anymore.

Shiny brass wheel.

The handle was in perfect shape, just dirty so I cleaned it and I had no need to refinish it. With time it got a patina that I really want to keep like it is.

All pieces back together.

That plane did not come with a blade, or more exactly it was coming with a blade that was not really what I would call a blade, so I got this from LV:

A brand new LV blade.

The new blade comes already ground to 45 degree...

The blade is already ground.

... and it fit perfectly in the #12.

The new blade fit perfectly.

I think this will be a very nice plane and I am impatient to try it, but before being able to put it back to work I need to be able to sharpened that blade properly, thing that I never did before. So this will be part of another story boys.

Some more plane porn.