Does my old/new Record 6 need a really flat sole
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Hi gang!
I’ve been “bringing back to life” a dozen English made chisels of many sizes, one Record 6 plane (in the works) and have 7 or 8 saws in the wings. All these tools were imported into Canada by my wife (her dad’s manual tools) and most of them are/were in dirty, rusted shape and mostly unsharpened though they had once been looked after properly. There is also a rebate plane in the lot.The chisels I have been able to sort out, with help from a few YouTube videos from Paul and access to “Working Wood – The Artisan Course” which I bought last year. They are now rustless (and likely ‘restless’), sharp and ready to go to work.
The question today is: does the sole of the Record plane need to be dead flat from toe to heel? Currently I have the front part pretty well flat, but from the back of the blade opening to the heel, not so much; there is a serious hump under the blade and then the level doesn’t ‘touch’ until the back end of the heel.
Suggestions are most welcome!
Right, I now have pics! The first one is the general state of the plane before touching it. The second is while sorting out the sole and the last a bit of a question mark as to what do I do here.
It’s kind of difficult to sand just where the scribble is at!
Any and all ideas are welcome.
The problem is where the plane was probably dropped and brazed or welded as a repair.
I have a Stanley #7 with the same issue. They tend to cup when they are welded or brazed back together.
The good news is that the area right behind the mouth isn’t much problem if the rest of the plane is flat, and if it bothers you, it looks quite possible to get the rest out. Just tape or glue aluminum oxide Parker to a flat surface, and sand away with the cutter and lever cap installed but retracted. Paul has a video.
What you DONT want to do is just sand the problem area. You are aiming to sand against a flat surface and level the whole sole. I got almost .1” out of mine, which was a LOT of sanding steel. Start coarse.
If you have some feeler gauges and a flat surface or straight edge, you should be able to tell how close you are. Anything less than maybe .005” should be acceptable on a long plane. The truth is, a completely flat jointer is rare.
But you are close enough to try it on a board and see how close you are to planing a board straight.
And just be careful you don’t drop it again. It should work fine.
OK, so far so good, I have been sanding on a flat(ish) surface … not dead flat, but enough and with the innards all mounted up (listened to Paul’s video!). I guess what’s left to do is simply ‘more’ of 50 grit sand paper to reduce the hump. This may well be explained by the welding (or the drop forcing the need for welding). This will bring the full sole to a even flatter state.
This isn’t a tool to send men to Mars so ‘good enough’ will apply.
Thanks for the feedback Larry.
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