Reply To: Plane Restoration
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[quote quote=8248]Thank you Rob,
The sole is flat side to side, it’s just the front and the back that is a little higher then the rest of the sole. The shavings are from the the middle of the iron so the iron should be level with the sole. I will wait and see if it improves after a couple of resharpening’s.
Johan
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It sounds as if you are describing a concave sole, toe to heel. Is that correct? This isn’t terribly difficult to “fix” and since you would have at least two points of contact to start your flattening (sandpaper on glass or whatever) it should be quick and relatively painless.
Not sure how often it is mentioned, but for me, when flattening a sole “freehand” against a reference plate, I like to turn the plane around toe-to-heel every so often. Say 10 strokes with the toe forward, then 10 with the toe pointing to me. The theory is that I will cancel out any bias introduced by my body mechanics which could tend to bring the sole out of square to the sides. It is just the way I’ve been doing it, I can’t say if it really makes a difference but it gives me something to do during a boring part of a restoration.
Also, remember to do your flattening with the frog, blade, chip breaker & lever cap in place and tensioned for use. Just retract the blade. On smaller body planes, you can certainly deflect the casting when cinching down the blade. May as well compensate a bit during the flattening procedure.
Good luck and enjoy your new “toy”.