Not all that long ago I came across an advertisement on Facebook Marketplace for a Sargent No.53 Floor Scraper. The photos showed a very rough and rather battered example, but the asking price was good enough to spark my interest.
The seller was located quite a long way from home, so I negotiated a price that included postage and decided to take a chance on it.
When the scraper arrived, it proved to be exactly as advertised — rough, dirty, well-used, and missing its blade.
Normally when I acquire an old tool my approach is simply to clean it up and preserve as much of the original finish as possible. In this case, however, the condition of the scraper meant that a more complete restoration was the only practical option. This is something I rarely do, but the plane was well beyond a simple clean-up.
Restoration Work
I’m not equipped to reproduce the original japanned finish, so instead I used engine enamel to repaint the cast iron body. While not historically exact, it provides a durable finish that closely resembles the original appearance.
The beech sole plate was in particularly poor condition — badly worn and cracked. Since an exact replacement wasn’t possible, I made a new sole plate from Australian Jarrah.
Jarrah isn’t identical to beech, but it was a good option from the timber I had readily available.
| Property | Jarrah | Beech |
| Density | 820 kg/m³ | 725 kg/m³ |
| Hardness (Janka) | 8.0 kN | 6.0 kN |
| Specific Gravity | 0.80 | 0.65 |
| Colour | Dark brownish red | Pale brown |
| Grain | Usually straight | Usually straight |
While Jarrah isn’t an exact match for the original beech, it is both denser and harder, which should make for a very durable sole plate.
Finding a Blade
The final step in bringing this scraper back into service was finding a suitable blade. After a bit of searching I was able to purchase a Bahco 474‑150‑0.80 Scraper Blade, which proved to be an excellent fit and completed the restoration.
General Information
Plane Type: Floor Scraper Plane
Model: Sargent No.53 Floor Scraper
Features: Adjustable scraper with wooden sole plate and raised handles
Manufactured: 1913 – 1943
Length: 3½ inches
Cutter Width: 2½ inches
Construction: Cast iron body with wooden sole plate
Finish: Originally japanned (restored with engine enamel)
Uses: General-purpose scraping of floors and veneers
Despite its rough starting point, this old scraper has turned out to be a very satisfying restoration and is now ready for many more years of use.