Repairing a damaged plane body

Old wood planes are tools often challenging the century, continuing today to give satisfaction to those who use them. When accidentally  a damage occurs, who causes it feels very guilty for having interrupted a century-old life . The only partial relief could be a good repair. The accidental fall of a cast iron  plane often results in a lesion at the point of greatest weakness: on the sides, near to the mouth. This happened to my Stanley # 3. After listening to other suggestions, I developed this system to repair this lesion type, which was particularly simple and effective. After appropriately clamping the  plane body to avoid unwanted movements we can drill 4 mm holes (slightly larger than electrodes that measure approximately 3.5 mm) along the lesion.

At this point,  cast iron is properly heated with a torch or any fire, and the arc welding is carried out. I used a small inverter welder with specific cast iron electrodes. In fact it is easier fill the holes than a concave groove, which instead requires some experience. ( In the pics I forgot to take a shot just after soldering) .

I then proceeded to flatten the sole and sides, which were however almost completely aligned. And here it  is returned to its former glory (or almost) and produce the usual thin shavings.

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Right Depth Holes

When we make a stopped hole, it is alchoices important to determine its depth accurately. A classic method is to use a colored tape wrapped around the drill bit shank at the desired height. The method works but the accuracy is questionable, being provided only to our eyes. Depth stops for electric drill tips have a cylindrical shape, held in position by a grain screw; even in this case the solution has not great efficiency, due to poor screw sealing on the helix and to difficulty of keeping the cylinder perpendicular to the tip axis.
In addition, these cylinders cannot be mounted on the auger tips we use with a  vintage brace. Of course there is other solutions: here it is a depth stop by Stanley; it consists of two parts that fit perfectly together  around the shaft and it can be easily adjusted by thumb screws for different diameter tips. Quick to assemble and easy to fine tune. Of course it has to be found on the net (ebay). 

   I am using the stop for drilling a blind mortise before removing the waste with chisels. I use to do that mainly when I have to make several mortises and where the mortise chisel and mallet job would be quite long. The result is guaranteed. 

  There is only a downside. Unlike tape, this stop leaves its use traces on the wood. No fear: a block plane shot and everything will return perfectly smooth!

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