Flatten Sole of Plane
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I have an old Craftsman plane that is similar to the Stanley #4. It was my grandfather’s plane and I’ve never tried to use it until recently. After looking at a lot of sites I decided I needed to restore it somewhat and so I started with flattening the sole.
I started on the sole using 80 grit paper. After a few minutes I could see divots on either side of the throat (please see attachment). I kept going for a while but could not seem to
make a difference in the divots. I went to 60 grit with some progress. I stopped after about
an hour because I don’t know if I’ve caused further damage by using such coarse grit.So do you think it’s ok to keep going or is the plane not salvageable? Also, what kinds of problems would I see using the plane in this condition?
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You must be logged in to view attached files.14 August 2015 at 1:20 am #129361The consequence of a dip in the sole ahead of the mouth is poorer control of tearout. If the rest of the sole is flat the plane will produce flat surfaces and probably perform just fine in common work. Sharpen up and give it a go, then you’ll have your answer.
Matt
14 August 2015 at 7:36 pm #129385Every time? That’s interesting. In favourable grain, tearout ought to be independent of technique; if the grain reverses plane tuning can minimise tearout but technique-wise the only control you have is to reverse planing direction or skew the plane in the troublesome areas.
If you’re getting tearout at the start of several boards, I think it’s still most likely to be that the grain rises at those points, perhaps re-check them to be sure.
Matt
I have found it really is worth getting the sole flat across the mouth. And it takes does take a fair amount of work and alot of sand paper to get abused soles back to par. I used 60 to cut down a sole that a bunch of gouges in it, then dropped to 80, then 250 after I got the gouges cleaned up. The mouth looks like it has enough metal thickness to let you finish. Just as procedure question, did you have the blade and iron installed while flattening? If not give it a try that way as on my craftman, the throat deforms slightly with out them.
ehisey,
Thanks for that tip…in fact I did not have the blade and cap iron installed while I was flattening. Installing those made a big difference. I was able to get the rear of the throat flat fairly quickly and I’m still working on the front of the throat. I’m almost there.
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