Thread: Flattening the sole on an old Stanley 5 & 1/2

G'day first up can you post some photos of the 5 1/2 & with the glass how big or small is it ( L x D x Th ) please . Now as to fix or flatten the sole I'd use wet & dry glued to the glass ( mine is about 1200mm L x 600mm D x 19mm Th ) & I start at 120 grit for major flattening & go up from there to about 1000 for my smoothers or finishing work 1500 to 3000 & for scarry sharp 3000 to 15000 powders ( About 1 to 2 DAYS work but in my defence it was rainning ) that is what I have & using & by the way there are members on here that will be able to help you out better than me. I hope I have some what have helped you out a bit Dan.

Hearing that someone started at 120 grit is a help. I would have been scared to go that coarse.

I'd go out to the shed to measure the piece of glass but it's cold, wet and dark right now.....IIRC, the glass is about 350mm X 350. I had a crack at scarey sharp once (so I know the glass is big enough for a sheet of wet/dry paper) but it was a bit complicated for me. And not dirty enough. The dirtier things get in a shed, the more success you know is occurring.....some days I come out of the shed just covered in success.

I've started with 80 grit before. I don't use glue to hold the paper down, the water holds it in place quite well.

Originally Posted by Colin62

I've started with 80 grit before...

I would start with 80g too.

Cheers, Vann.

ps And I'd probably finish around 320g

For best results you need a LONG flat surface (thick MDF probably cheapest; and you need a flat surface under plate glass which bends under pressure, especially if thin). Cloth backed abrasive works best, and lasts the longest. Use ALL the sheet and make sure you run OFF the sheet as you work back and forth and across - this wears the sheet more evenly and helps to avoid convexity of sole.

Which way is sole concave? end-to-end or across the width?
If the former, that is good because you are removing a small amount of metal at each end - however, easy to turn concave into convex due to rocking the plane - check often, stop before sole is completely flat. Getting convex to flat is a nightmare, you need to make sole concave first!.
If the latter, then you might have a big job to eliminate the mouth wear (you are removing metal from almost all the sole). The best approach is to use files - if you are skilled in their use. Much more controlled in metal removing (use a reference plate and permanent Texta or marking fluid to identify where to remove metal - check often). Use abrasive only to smooth sole after files get it flat/

The second best approach of all is to only buy planes with flat soles! Or to move on those that are not flat. The best approach is to only buy wooden bodied planes which are easy to flatten, and keep flat (you do need one long flat metal plane though).

Cheers
Peter

I thought of using files.

But...Two things

I've never undertaken a job that was this important (well, it's important to me) before and also I have a dodgy tendon in my right thumb, so some of the more repetitive type of bench work is out for a while.

If, I did use files, what sort of files (cut etc) would be best?

I had cheapy that needed to be flatened,got out my oldest,worn belt from my 150mm belt sander put in on my combo belt disc sander and away i went(I think it was a worn out 120 grit so what grit that was is anyone's guess)
As the bed of the sander is about 500mm long it was long enough not to have any rock,then finished it off with scary sharp method down to 240 grit.
Some of you guys may think this is a bit crude but it finished very well with not much needed useing the wet and dry.

Originally Posted by seanz

I thought of using files.

But...Two things

I've never undertaken a job that was this important (well, it's important to me) before and also I have a dodgy tendon in my right thumb, so some of the more repetitive type of bench work is out for a while.

If, I did use files, what sort of files (cut etc) would be best?

Finding good files these days is a problem. Start with Double Cut Flat files (around 10" bastard or 2nd cut) to get close to where you want to be (checking often on the reference plate). Finish with Mill Smooth files. I must confess that I have been lucky finding NOS Nicholson and Wiltshire files, I have no idea what the situation is in NZ with finding go(o)d files.

Originally Posted by seanz

I thought of using files.

I have often wondered why people don't use a milling machine. I have no knowledge if this is practice but it seems to me that for the time and effort that goes into flattening a metal base by hand that the cost of having this done would be worthwhile.

TT