I was setting up my Veritas shoulder plane and it got knocked off a 5″ tall block onto my bench. Unfortunately, the corner (where the sole and side meet) ended up landing on the corner of my iron holdfast. This left a small (maybe 1/8″) ding the corner.
I wouldn’t be too bothered about it except the ding seems to have created a bit of a bump along the sole. Maybe 1 thou high in a 1/16 x 1/8 spot It’s subtle, but if you run the blade of a square over the sole, there is a small point where the blade lifts before returning back to the sole.
It seems like the right thing to do here is to try and make a targeted effort to remove just that small amount of raised material and preserve as much of the sole surface as it is. I don’t want to mess up the geometry of the side to the sole any more than absolutely necessary. Is there a specific tactic i should employ to do this?
Replies
Not having seen it, my first reaction would not be a targeted approach, but to lap the whole length. A few passes on sandpaper should do the trick. You are removing such a tiny bit of metal, you won't mess anything up.
Yes, I agree. Use a block of wood with square sides to hold the side of the plane against. This will help keep the sole 90° to the sides.
I agree you need to lap the entire sole the same way you would with a lower quality plane to insure the sole is flat. A large flat plate preferably plate glass or a granite slab, in a pinch you can use your tablesaw table if it's know to be true and some silicon carbide wet dry paper is how I do it. If using your saw table don't use water as a lubricant but a light cutting oil or WD40 instead. Start with something around 180-220 and lap until you see scratches evenly across the sole, paying close attention to where the damage is then work your work your way up to maybe 1500. It will most likely take more than a few passes.
I would just file the dinged spot with a half-round file with the intention of making the ding into a slight low spot. I don't see any need to lap the whole plane, and I think you're right about keeping the geometry intact.
I'd run it on my flat sharpening stones to lap out the bump/burr myself. Sorry to hear this happened. It would make me feel sick to my stomach.
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