Is it worth it?

Awhile back my daughter, Jessi, found some tools for free on Craigslist. She asked me if I wanted them, and, well, the rest is history.

The first one I'm working on is a very old hobby jointer/planer from Sears Roebuck. I did some initial research on it and found an owner's manual online I've been using to help in the rehab.

The knives on this thing are very questionable - pretty deep nicks. After following the instructions, they aren't too bad but still have a few nicks I'm concerned about, and that's why I titled this post "Is it worth it". Replacement knives are available, but cost upwards of $22 for all three of them. I know that sounds minuscule, but right now it means I'm going to have to keep on working on these knives to see if I can hone out the nicks at least for a trial run eventually.

The table has some really bad stains, too.

I tried steel wool - didn't work very well. I even added some brake cleaner fluid to the mix - that didn't work very well either. Then I tried WD-40 with the steel wool. That seemed to work a little bit. As a last resort, kind of, I decided to try a little 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper with the WD-40 and started making noticeable progress (bottom right corner is the only part left after the first go round).

Fingers started going haywire, shoulders started aching. It's a bitch getting old. But I got most of the rust off in the second go round.

Whether I like it or not, patience will definitely need to be a virtue in getting the top into usable condition.

Is it worth it? You bet, especially since it was free, but even more importantly because it was a gift from Jessi.

Updates to follow.