Thread: Optimum Surface for Plane Sole?

I can only answer a little of this - I'll leave the rest to the more informed on metal planes.
However, I believe the grooved planes were designed to be used on resinous wood where sticking was inherent in the timber.
I suspect that the ideal surface that you've achieved (johansson block status) won't last that long anyway. Minute scratches will appear with use.
In the old days I was taught to use linseed as a lubricant but that was on wooden planes. What wood were you planing. If it resinous or oily that might create the problem. Whatever lubricant you use, make sure it won't affect any gluing you might want to do.
Congratulations, you appear to have achieved what most would have thought impossible especially with a Stanley
Cheers,
Jim

You're on the right track, but 800 grit is really too fine for the sole. I stick to 240 grit, or 400 for block planes. Too fine and the surface friction increases as you've noticed. Cross hatching will make the sole act like an abrasive and get clogged up with particulate from the peice faster. Straight sanding is what you want.

Natural wax is the way to maintain your soles smooth operation, don't apply *anything* else as it may impact on the finish or glue you apply to the peice afterwards. With a 240 grit finish the wax builds up a little in the scratch marks and lasts a little longer. I don't usually have to re-wax until the iron needs sharpening again.

Interesting question.......my intuition (unreliable at best) says that the sole of the plane doesn't need to be any smoother than the finish that the blade leaves.

Other things to check before you grind grooves in your plane.....technique; are you on top of the plane while you're using it or are you just pushing it along? Equipment; maybe you need a heavier bench.......I had a moment of satisfaction a while back when I had to plane the top of my newly built workbench and it didn't move at all.

I've noticed some older smoothing planes have longitudinal grooves running the length of the sole, so I'm guessing this isn't a new problem.

The Stanley 'c' type as in #4c was a solution to the sticktion problem.......which brings us to another question.....why don't we see planes like that being made now?

Cast iron is porous so it takes a few coats of wax (without silicone added) rubbed in with 0000 steel wool for the first treatment.

Unfortunately that bit behind the throat is pretty critical.

Really the two ends of the plane need to be coplanar with either side of the throat. The rest doesn't matter that much. That is in fact how Japanese planes are tuned.

To paraphrase Patrick Leach (author of the Blood and Gore treatise on Stanley): 100 years ago, people were making a living from these tools and they weren't going around lapping soles. If they could use imperfect tools and live by them, they're good enough for you too.

Basically, it doesn't need to be dead flat to function properly and the flatter it is, the more it will stick. As long as the blade is well honed and polished, you'll get a glassy smooth finish no matter how rough the sole of the plane is.

Originally Posted by markharrison

Unfortunately that bit behind the throat is pretty critical.

I understand it to be the opposite. In front of the mouth is important because this is the surface that registers the depth and guides the iron. Behind the mouth is almost irrelevant because it rarely comes in contact with the peice due to the hollow created by the iron.

My No.7 still has a dirty great cavity behind the mouth and cuts superbly.

Thank you all for the feedback. What an awesome place this is!

FYI, the wood in question is good old pinus excreta from a reject yard. I get a lesser effect on this ancient jarrah but it's still present.

I'm using 800 grit because I've not been happy with the results I get on coarser grits while lapping plane and chisel backs: in my inexperienced hands there's usually a corner or two that don't end up flat (and any further discusion on that should stay in the sharpening thread). What I'll probably do is get it as flat as I want it then rough it up a bit on some 240. I will continue to use wax, and I will continue to maintain an air gap between my wood and Silicone.

Both Technique and Bench need to improve, and will, given time and practice.

All good fun!

Blade iron backs and chisel backs need to be polished, a plane sole does not. Many members here polish with grits in the tens of thousands, but this doesn't translate to a plane sole.

Nothing says "I work with wood" like plane shavings on the shed floor. And, there are few things to give greater satisfaction than a plane or chisel doing its best work.

Strewth! Lapping a plane sole with 800 grit is pure masoschism! I certainly wouldn't bother going over 240 either - time & use will bring their own shine to it.

As pointed out, you are going to have all sorts of fine scratches on that lovely smooth surface within a year, unless you intend leaving it on the shelf. Being a smoother, it shouldn't be hitting the rough stuff, like my general purpose jack - it has all sorts of sole scratches. And yes, I am quite careful what I use my hand planes on - I don't like needless sharpening & removing of nicks any more than the rest of you - but it happens. All else being equal, brass won't give you significantly less friction in this application, in my limited experience (a brass shoulder plane that I've had for 25 years), & it's easier to scratch than cast iron.

I keep a block of paraffin wax on hand while planing, & run a squiggle over the sole every 5 minutes or so - takes a couple of seconds to do, & the small effort is rewarded a hundred-fold. Paraffin wax is beaut stuff if you can get hold of it - much more 'slippery' than bees' wax, which is what I used for a long time. And I wouldn't fuss too much about it affecting the finish - there is unlikely to be any significant amount remaining by that stage. I have experienced no problems with a wide variety of finishes, including water-based, which leads me to conclude there is nothing there. Silicones & certain lacquers are a completely different story........
Cheers,

others have said it... I'll repeat it... but with the caveat of 'been there, done that, learnt from it'.

I've lapped to 800 grit and beyond... but there is absolutely no point on a plane sole.

240 grit is as far as you want to go when lapping a sole. Between 40 and 240 are enough steps to a) lap the sole, then b) on the finer (but only to 240) grits to make it look 'finished', e.g. take out the 40, 80 and 120 grit marks.

800 is far and away too much, and if you are trying to continue the lapping/flattening, then you have a few hours ahead of you at 800grit taking out the previous grit's scratches before the 800 grit paper starts to bite at the sole.
e.g. for a long time you will be 'polishing' away at the scratch marks from previous grits.

If you polish the sole on 800 grit, then plane away a little, then I think you'll find that most timber will 'wreck' your 800 grit finish.

So, yep, a polished sole will stick to your planing surface, think of it as a piece of 800 grit and a piece of mirror glass... which one will stick due to 'a smooth surface and wax on a smooth surface" more efficiently?

A corrugated plane really adds very little value in any way, imo.