Monthly Archives: August 2023

Renovating a Plane

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Last time I visited my brother, he handed me an old plane that he wasn’t using and that was gathering rust. Disused, but a good plane.

Here’s one view of the plane. It’s a Stanley plane, made in the USA. The markings on it say “Bailey No 4”. According to an online source, it is a Stanley Bailey Type 20 Handplane manufactured in the ’60s.

Viewed from the side, the rust is very obvious.

Step 1: Complete disassembly. The rust is everywhere and there is some other schmutz on some of the surfaces.

Step 2: The next move is to drop all the metal parts into a bath of rust remover. I let them sit for about 24 hours.

Rinsed and dried off, they look a lot better. The rust is almost all gone but there is still some surface stuff that wasn’t rust to start with.

Step 3: Some work with a wire brush and sandpaper has cleaned up the surfaces. Add a very light coat of oil to inhibit future rust.

I may have left some scratch marks in the surface, but I can live with that. This thing isn’t going into a museum; it’s going into my shop.

Step 4: Reassembly.

Looking good.

So, how well does it work?

German Chocolate Ice Cream

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This recipe is for an ice cream that is similar in flavor to the German Chocolate Blizzard I used to get from DQ. They don’t typically carry it on their menu these days. I always asked them to use chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Why? Because the syrup made it too sweet for my taste.

The name is arguably a misnomer but I am sticking with it. (If you look up the history of that cake on Wikipedia you will find that it is named after Samuel German, a chocolate maker, not after the country.) The flavors here are reminiscent of those in a German Chocolate cake: the pecans, coconut, and evaporated milk show up in the filling and icing.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
4-6 tbsp cocoa powder (depending on taste)
3/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

Toast the pecan pieces lightly in a frying pan. Set aside to cool.

Sift, or thoroughly mix, the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder together. This will allow you to add them to the liquid without the cocoa powder clumping.
Put the whole milk in a pot and warm it on low to medium heat. Add the sifted dry ingredients while stirring just until the sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat.
Transfer it to another container, stir in the evaporated milk and heavy cream, and place in the refrigerator to cool for a couple of hours. (Maybe even put it in the freezer for a short while. Having it cold when it goes into the ice cream maker is essential.)

Set up your ice cream machine, pour in the base, and start it up. Once the ice cream is ready, transfer it to a 2 quart tub while folding in the pecans and coconut. (Don’t be too aggressive or you will lose the air that was churned in by the ice cream maker.) Cover with plastic wrap on the surface of the ice cream and put the lid on the tub. Place in the freezer for several hours or overnight.