Shoulder plane repair

Attachment 44054
Attachment 44056

This is a Record 042 shoulder plane, which had broken in half. It was given to me by a colleague, after a pupil dropped it. They break very easily, since there is very little metal in the middle

I took a picture of the two halves but unfortunately it will not upload.

The two halves are sandwiched between 2 plates of brass. 3 holes were drilled and tapped for the few brass screws I had available: one 1/4” BSW, the other M4 and a little one, which is BA! Thinking that 3 screws were insufficient, I epoxied the plates as well.

Then I cut off all the surplus brass.

For the replacement blade, which needs to be 1&1/4”, I found an old skew rebate plane blade, the right width. I cut a piece of mild steel, slotted it for the adjustment whee, and welded it onto the end.
Can’t show that picture, it won’t upload either.
I had to grind off the skewed bevel, of course before sharpening.

Before putting in the blade, I had to flat the sole, which I did on a broken abrasive belt, taped to flat chipboard. This showed that there had probably been distortion in the plane originally, so it would have been under tension before it was dropped.
Attachment 44055
This is the bit I welded on, before cleaning up. I avoided welding over the makers stamp: it looks like a pepper pot.