Yes, a Wards Master… from Montgomery Ward. Normally one wouldn’t consider using, let alone spending their hard earned money for a tool from Montgomery Ward. Since Wards didn’t make their own tools, theirs are actually rebranded Stanley or Sargent planes. If you compare this one to a Stanley # 5, the only difference you would find is the branding on the iron and lever cap, and the tote and knob are painted black rather than stained. The rest of the plane, including the castings are as far I can tell, indistinguishable from a Stanley. It’s possible Wards skimped on the quality of steel in the blade iron to save money, but I can’t confirm that.
The starting point
I’d been looking for a longer plane than my #4 for a while and found this fourteen inch #5 on Facebook Marketplace for $22. From the photos, I could see It was a bit rusty, but in otherwise good condition.
When arrived, it was packaged in a flexible mailer wrapped in a couple layers of bubble. Definitely not optimal for a plane. The iron and lever cap were separated from the plane and floating around the package. It’s a wonder the tote didn’t break in half. This is sacrilege to someone who spent 32 years working for one of the largest packaging companies in the world.
In any case, it survived the shipment, and was in the condition I expected. Rusty, but only minor pitting in the body. The knob and tote were intact, and all the parts were there. The blade iron, covered in a coating of rust, was my biggest concern, but cleaning and sharpening it is most likely surmountable.
Disassembly
The plane came apart without any issues except the threads on the blade adjusting knob shaft were “buggered up”. I couldn’t get the brass wheel off the shaft, so the shaft backed out of the frog and the shaft and knob came out as one piece. Once the threaded shaft came out, I ran the adjusting wheel off the opposite end of the shaft. The threads were only slightly rounded over, so a tiny file should clean them up. I’d run a tap over the shaft, but I don’t have a tap for left-hand threads.
Cleaning up the metal parts
Cleaning up the parts is straightforward. Soak everything made of steel or iron in Evapo-Rust overnight. I used two containers. A small screw container just large enough for the small parts, and a small plastic storage bin for the larger parts. A #5 plane is 14 inches long, so it’s challenging to find just the right size container.
I saw a Jay Bates video where he used a PVC pipe with a cap on one end standing vertically to soak all the parts of a very long plane. The diameter of the pipe was just large enough for the body to fit in, making the most efficient use of the liquid. My solution was much less elegant. I tipped the storage container at about 45 degrees so the parts and the solution were in the corner of the long edge of the tub. It was just enough to cover all the parts.
Evapo-Rust works wonders on everything except high carbon steel. The blade iron on this plane came out mostly clean right out of the solution. Some extra elbow grease with a scouring pad had it looking great. That might mean Wards used cheaper steel than Stanley on their irons. Everything else cleaned up with a toothbrush and a some touch up with a brass brush wheel on the bench grinder.
The lever cap was so corroded when I got the plane, I didn’t realize it was chrome plated. Coming out of the solution, it was obvious the rust got under the chrome and lifted it away in places. It would have been fine if all the chrome had come off, but the hit and miss corrosion left a rough mottled finish. It looks good from a distance, but up close, not so much.
I polished the three brass parts using a soft pad and rouge on the Dremel.
Refinishing the wood parts
I was planning to leave the tote and knob as-is, but the black painted finish wasn’t doing it for me. Besides, there were white paint splatters on the tote, and lots of bare wood showing on the knob.
To remove the finish, I sprayed paint remover on the parts in a large coffee can. Occasionally, I’d scrape the parts with a stick and add more paint remover. The finish never actually lifted from the wood, but it softened up enough to scrape it off easily.
After some sanding, the two parts were ready for finish. I used a Red Mahogany stain and sealed it with Shellac. I’m not sure shellac is the proper finish for this application, but I didn’t want to use urethane and it’s what I had.
Sharpening
The most important step before using any plane, even a brand new one, is sharpening the blade. Most people’s attitude toward hand planes is a result of their first experience. Mine was terrible. Someone gave me an old #4 plane 25 years ago and it sat on the shelf unused because it wasn’t sharp. At the time, I didn’t know any better and gave up on it, and all planes as soon as I tried to use it. A few months ago, I cleaned it up and sharpened it using the “Scary Sharp” method. I tried it out and it was so satisfying, I couldn’t stop making shavings. I probably planed a three inch wide board down to two inches. Cutting long shavings you can read a book through is an amazing feeling.
The Scary Sharp method is an easy and inexpensive way to get into sharpening. The kit consists of three pieces of float glass and seven grades of a special 3M lapping paper. It’s basically sandpaper meant to last longer than standard sandpaper. I bought the sharpening kit and an angle guide on Amazon.
With the six coarsest grades of material adhered to both sides of the float glass, you work your way from coarse to fine. The result is an amazing mirror finish.
Of course in reality it’s not quite that easy. I won’t go into detail because there are plenty of YouTube videos explaining the process if you search “Scary Sharp”. The basic steps are:
- Flatten the back of the iron to create the basis for a straight bevel
- Establish the primary bevel perpendicular to the iron
- Sharpen the primary bevel
- Break the burr from the back of the iron
- Create the secondary bevel
There are more elaborate and expensive ways to sharpen a plane iron that will give you better results. If you’re just starting out, this method will get you 90% there and make your planing experience enjoyable.
Beware; once you start using hand planes, you may find excuses to buy more. Hand planes perform very specific jobs, and there are many many jobs to do in woodworking. This is only my third plane. After restoring the #4 Dunlap that sat on the shelf for so long, I bought a low-angle block plane. My next acquisition will be a rabbeting plane of some sort to clean up right angle corners. See what I mean?
End Result
I’m really happy with how this turned out. I found a scrap piece of tigerwood that had a twist in it, and was able to flatten it quickly. The plane cut super-thin, unbroken shavings. I didn’t measure them, but they felt less than five thousandths of an inch. A piece of paper is about four thousandths, so I can honestly say I was making “paper-thin shavings” with a Montgomery Ward plane. The test will be how long the blade holds its edge. If Wards cut corners on the blade material, I’ll be sharpening often.
The reason I wanted a longer plane was to couple it with a shooting board. I’ll be building one in the future and will post the build.
