Stanley No.3 Plane Restoration / Rescue 1920's

I bought this beauty from Ludo's Old Wares in Ulmarra NSW which is about 10 minutes North of Grafton.
It was in his tool room on a high shelf covered in grime and in 4 pieces.
I didn't recognise it as a Stanley plane at first, but after careful examination realised it was a No.3, a plane I didn't have, and a plane i wanted!!
Research indicates its probably from the 1920's.
Its body had been welded or fillet brazed with brass at some point on both sides, indicating it had been exposed to a traumatic event somewhere during its life.
The weld bubble made it impossible to be put together, making it unusable. It looked like the weldee had made a start at filing but had given up.
Lodo put in his manacle and examined as it wasn't priced and asked for $25, he said "the old girl would only be good for parts due to the weld which would be worth $50 plus", I said "$20 cash", he said "get this rusty thing outta here", "I said OK!"
First up was disassembly and a degrease to see what I was up against.
It became pretty obvious that this would be more of a display piece than a working tool due to the damage, I didn't think it would be strong enough to be used again.
So anyway it had nice vinegar bath for around 3 days, this produced a great result removing the rust.
I cleaned up the handles with 240 grit sandpaper and paste wax.
The weld was then ground and filed down to allow it to be put back together again.
I then paint stripped and resprayed the body and frog 3 times with paint and prime in Stanley gloss black.
All the parts were run over the wire and polishing wheel.
The blade was resharpened.
Reassembly was then undertaken, finally putting the old girl back together again after who knows how many years.
Its not perfect and it feels a bit frail but it does work again!!
Thanks for watching!!