I’m a firm believer in leaving the japanning on an older plane if its reasonable. Leaving it could increase the value of the plane, but on a lot of the old, neglected hand planes the japanning is shot. Determining what to do next will take some trial and error if you’ve never done it, but here is what I do.
If you are not going to repaint, it’s a good idea to give the japanned areas a couple of coats of dark wax. This will bring back a bit of the luster and help protect both the japanning and any bare metal where the japanning is gone.
If I am going to paint, I use Dupli-Color DE1635 Ceramic Ford Semi-Gloss Black Engine Paint because it matches japanning pretty close. If matching the old japanning is not one of your objectives, then any good enamel should work just fine. The hardest part is stripping the old japanning (or paint if it happens to be a newer vintage hand plane). Follow the instructions in the stripping section and then make sure everything is cleaned and dry. I wipe everything down with mineral spirits and let it dry. All parts being painted must be completely cleaned of rust, old japanning, and any dirt, oil, or other contaminants.
For Dupli-Color I give a coat every 15 minutes. I do not use a primer. I usually do 4 or 5 coats. Maybe more if I feel it needs it. If you are not using Dupli-Color, follow the manufactures instructions.
Note: Millers Falls hand planes were never japanned, they were always painted. By the time they started producing hand planes in 1929, enamel paints had become durable enough to serve the purpose. Almost all manufactures started using paint instead of japanning in the coming years. By the 1960’s or so, almost all manufactures were using enamel paint.
Note the top edges of the cheeks should be masked. This is kind of a pet peeve of mine. The top edges of the sides (or cheeks) do not get painted.
One other note, some Dupli paint suggest baking it on. Be careful heating cast. I’d hate to hear you warped your plane repainting it. I have never baked dupli-color.
Mask off all of the machined surfaces before painting. This is tough stuff to remove after it is cured. I recommend removing the tape about an hour or two after the last coat goes on. Pull the tape off at an acute angle to the surface so it doesn’t pull the paint away. If you wait until it is fully cured, the paint edges won’t be as sharp.
I try to paint the frog and base at the same time just to save time.
With dupli-color I set a timer for every 15 minutes and give multiple coats. Once I am happy with it, I let it sit for about 1 – 2 hours then carefully remove the masking tape.
At this point a firm grasp on the paint will leave a fingerprint so avoid touching it. Since no metal-to-metal contact points should have paint on them, you could actually assemble at this point.
I find it best to wait overnight. When masking the plane for painting, it is best to mask anywhere there is metal to metal contact. These contact areas should not be painted, so they will need to be masked.
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