Thread: Flattening Plane Soles

Originally Posted by Ratbag

DMT makes a "super-coarse" extra big "Dia-Flat" stone which at 12" x 3" should be just the ticket, but at around $200 +/- it's an expensive white elephant if it doesn't work as intended.

Don't waste your money on that ratty. My reasonably new one is now only good for flattening waterstones. Maybe a powered linisher for the grunt work and then change over to glued down abrasive sheets on glass or granite to finish. It's only important for toe to mouth to be flat and then most of the area behind the mouth - a few hollows in the middle won't hurt. You could get out your belt-sander with an inpatient facility.......

Sheesh! The thought of using the belt sander on a plane sole makes my toes curl!

I think I might try ONE before committing 100%.

An alternative to the DMT is the Atoma system. I've found them more durable. Better system too because you can have two different grit sheets on either side (I have 140 and 400).....http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/...196....postage isn't too bad as I recall.

At the "Design in Wood" course I did at the Uni of Tasmania back in 1995 with none other than Kevin Perkins as the Tutor.
We were shown how to "Tune" a new plane.
To flatten the sole (of a brand new plane), a length of abrasive was attached to a perfectly flat surface and the planes sole was rubbed against it till it was flat.
You would perhaps think that a brand new plane would have a flat sole!. But they all don't.
If I were to do the same thing now I would not hesitate to use a linnishing machine. Much quicker. Just be careful you don't blue the metal with over enthusiasm.
Sharpen your blade so you could shave with it, bit of wax on the sole and your ready to go.

Old ones don't either. It apparently takes years if not decades for full stress relief in grey iron castings. Having said that, my old planes have only ever required a light touch up.

These 80's vintage A series Blocks however are abysmal. A big pity really as they are the ones with the extra high & long sides (like a Lie Neilsen) that would make them ideal for fine shooting had the soles been flat and actually perpendicular to the sides!

I believe that Lee Valley actually used these short-lived A series Stanley designs to create their own supposedly "improved" block plane designs.

I don't proclaim to be an expert on this topic, but I recently flattened the soles of a few planes.

A quick trip down to the local stone mason, and I picked up two offcuts of granite that they use for kitchen bench tops. I would suggest you take a small bucket and rag, as they can be pretty grubby. The stonemason was happy for me to take as much as I wanted, because he had to pay to have it carted away.

One piece is maybe 12" square, and the other 24" x 12" (maybe a little larger).

I then used some spray on co.tact adhesive and lined up 3 strips of ally oxide paper in ascending grits ( starting around 120).

I certainly apperared to work. And the planes work well.

I am also in the process of flattening a sole. In my case it is an old Falcon. I thought these were a reasonable quality but the sole is way out.

So far I have used a 12inch disc sander to do some initial flattening because I don't have a belt sander. I then moved to 80 grit on the top of a marble stone and have put in a fair amount of effort so far but still have a way to go. It's probably not worth all the effort but I just thought I would give it a go to see If I could get it performing well.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Don't waste your money on that ratty. My reasonably new one is now only good for flattening waterstones. Maybe a powered linisher for the grunt work and then change over to glued down abrasive sheets on glass or granite to finish.

I think using valve grinding paste on glass also works.

I'd suggest what Glenn does, and if stone isn't available, go to a glass supplier for a "glass shelf" (I use that term because it will get you a long thick run of glass for cheap, nobody is going to pay $200 for a glass shelf).

Mine cost me $20.

Add a roll of PSA paper, some decent quality non-stearated aluminum oxide (mirka gold is nice if you can get it).

No loose paper, or the edges around the tool will be dubbed.

Should take very little time. Caution that getting something flat is one thing. Getting something cosmetically perfect over an entire surface by lapping will usually lead to something less flat (though not threateningly so if you check periodically).

(see 11:30 in this video for the plate I'm talking about). I don't buy many new planes these days, but I also don't get too particular about setup now, either, because most of the elaborate fettling doesn't do much for a double iron plane. It'd have taken about twice as long as the minute or two of lapping in this video to have the sole perfectly bright. If I'd have wanted another step of finer paper, figure about the same amount again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khP74IuFljY

Hi Ratbag,
Bob Smalser has a very good site on block plane refurb. It is well worth a look.
Regards,
Ross

Originally Posted by D.W.

I'd suggest what Glenn does, and if stone isn't available, go to a glass supplier for a "glass shelf" (I use that term because it will get you a long thick run of glass for cheap, nobody is going to pay $200 for a glass shelf).

Mine cost me $20.

Add a roll of PSA paper, some decent quality non-stearated aluminum oxide (mirka gold is nice if you can get it).

No loose paper, or the edges around the tool will be dubbed.

Should take very little time. Caution that getting something flat is one thing. Getting something cosmetically perfect over an entire surface by lapping will usually lead to something less flat (though not threateningly so if you check periodically).

(see 11:30 in this video for the plate I'm talking about). I don't buy many new planes these days, but I also don't get too particular about setup now, either, because most of the elaborate fettling doesn't do much for a double iron plane. It'd have taken about twice as long as the minute or two of lapping in this video to have the sole perfectly bright. If I'd have wanted another step of finer paper, figure about the same amount again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khP74IuFljY

Wow ... He is a little more aggressive than I am. I chose to be reasonably gentle so as not to distort the shape of the plane ... Would do 100 strokes forwards, turn the plane and repeat 100 backwards .. then turn and repeat. It can be somewhat tedious so I did it in 10 or 15 minute segments between other activities.

Originally Posted by Glenn.Visca

Wow ... He is a little more aggressive than I am. I chose to be reasonably gentle so as not to distort the shape of the plane ... Would do 100 strokes forwards, turn the plane and repeat 100 backwards .. then turn and repeat. It can be somewhat tedious so I did it in 10 or 15 minute segments between other activities.

I am he..
He is me...

(I learned to lap planes like that after years of refurbishing and then making planes, including steel sole and sided infills that need a LOT of draw filing and lapping)

:P

There's only cosmetic virtue in anything above and beyond that.

(and FWIW, a plane that's got a toe and tail that are just ever so slightly higher than the mouth is biased in your favor as a user).

I use various grits of sandpaper on flat glass. I start with 60 to get the hills out as aggressively as possible then go down the grits to 400 or so. Once you've done 400 you can continue down the grits by hand if you want to without doing any damage to the flatness because the grits are so fine. But beyond 400 is only for cosmetic value. I took the base of a 5 1/2 down to 2000 grit and I could see my face in it. But it is a lot of work and no value at all for use. Planes don't need to be pretty, they need to work.