I put the body of a #4 Stanley (Made in England) into the washing soda bath and electolysed it last night. The rust must have got under the japanning as almost all of it came off.
I know that in general it is considered better just to leave it as is and protect the metal against rust with wax/oil. But is it sensible to look at trying to get rid of all the old japanning and put new in its place? It's just that the thing looks almost naked in its raw metal state.
It was my dad's first and main plane and I suppose I am a bit sentimetal about it and would like to get it back to the best condition I can.
Cheers
Jeremy