Brethren, As we all have experienced fifty plus days of stay-at-home or, no more than go to work then stay at home we have, by now, come to realize that daytime TV is awful,   we have completed the “binging” of our favorite series on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Roku, You Tube, Britbox, Acorn, etc.  Some of us can no longer look at a deck of cards or bear to hear the word “Solitaire”.  Perhaps a number of us have turned to some type of projects to pass the time – and that is what we would like to focus on here.

If you been working on a project or even hobby of some type you would like to share with your brothers. Please e-mail photos an a write-up to rodmstjohnsno1@comcast.net . I will upload those to this section of the St. John’s web page so we all can check in every so often and see what each of us has been up to.  (Who knows – it might even prove inspiring for some!.

FROM: ROD MACDONALD, Have had this plane for some time in a box of old tools. Decided to do a restoration on it – I wish I had taken a “before” before. It was pretty rusty, the wooden handles were broken and the finish pretty beat up. moving parts were pretty much frozen. After a vinegar bath to remove rust – and some penetrating oil and wire brushing – got everything to come apart. Took a lot of grinding and sanding to get the rust completely off and to polish the non-painted pieces. Was able to epoxy and refinish the wooden parts. Did some research (you’ll be surprised how much is on line to help you identify old planes) and found out this was a Stanley Bailey No.5 manufactured in either 1929 or 1930. This project took a lot less time than I originally thought it would.