Replies

1. 
   lwj2 | Feb 19, 2005 05:49am | #1

   A machine shop can flatten them if you wish.

   Check your local phone directory.

   Whilst I don't know what you're using for abrasives, you might consider using a much coarser grit for your initial flattening, then changing to finer grits progressively. Forex, most of the knife makers I know start with 50 grit or coarser belts, eventually winding up with a mirror finish using a buff and jeweler's rouge. If you've got a lot of metal to hog off, there's no point in using a 600 grit to start.

   Leon Jester
2. 
   Midnight | Feb 19, 2005 05:58am | #2

   Jim.. got any course grit sanding belts...??

   I'd a piece of surplus kitchen worktop, glued 3 belts to it in 60,80 and 120 grit. Flattening a Stanley #7 took a half hour while a #5 was about 20 mins..

   Nothing fancy, just slit the belts open where they're spliced and use contact glue to fix them, taking care not to leave any wrinkles. These course grits cut real fast; I found that if I vac'd the belts every 5-10 strokes they kept cutting fairly quickly. Leave it longer than that and the filings build up to the point that you're wasting your effort..

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

3. 
   SgianDubh | Feb 19, 2005 06:40am | #3

   As others have said a coarser grit makes short work of the job. Start with 40 grit if you can get it, otherwise 60 or even 80 will do, but it can get a bit slow at that fine a grit to start if the sole's badly out of whack.

   You can buy rolls of abrasive paper at home repair centres all over the world, and either a bit of spray mount or even impact glue will hold the stuff down to a flat surface. A thick piece of glass will do laid on something flat, such as a saw table or surface planer bed, although I've been known to spray mount the paper directly to the machine beds. The adhesive is easily cleaned off with a bit of lacquer thinner.

   I rarely finish the job at anything finer than 120 grit, and even 120 grit is getting a bit posh looking for me, ha, ha. I just need the sole flat where it really matters to start with to get it up and running, i.e.,  all the perimeter and around the mouth. I'm not interested in it being shiny-- in fact shiny and perfectly flat might make planing harder work because of the added friction. 

   The job should take a maximum of about 20- 30 minutes to get any plane sole flat, even a badly hollowed no. 8, and I reckon most take little more than five or ten minutes. Slainte.

   RJFurniture

1. 
   AlanTurner | Feb 19, 2005 02:16pm | #4

   I sometimes use a drywall sanding screen, in 80 grit, to start. Spray mont some paper, and lay the screen over the paper to hold it in place. The downward pressure of lapping secures the screen so it does not slide around. Like Richard, I also sometimes use my jointer as the bed for this work. It cleans up quickly. With the screen, the swarf falls into the screen and does not get in the way. Without that, the metal filings pretty quickly fill the paper, and then you can get ####bit of a radius, side to side, pretty quickly. Use a felt tip marker all over the sole, and and when it is abraded away where you care about it, you can then go to the paper. It should not take too long.Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com

1. 
   Alphonse | Feb 19, 2005 03:15pm | #5

   Something no one mentioned,relieving the area to be flattened.Sorta like Japanese chisels.Take a die grinder/Dremel with a carbide burr or abrasive mount and etch a non-linear series of depressions into the sole.The depth needn't be much,three-four thousandths,mebbe.This doesn't affect the "truth" of the plane's operation.Don't do it near the blade projection area,if that concerns you.

     A machine shop could do it,but the set up takes time,planes are not easily grabbed by magnetic chucks on grinders,and they can distort the work if you aren't painstaking.If you know a good machinist you'll know they don't come cheap.If you had it milled,you'd be back to a bit of lapping anyway.

2. 
   twotowers | Feb 20, 2005 12:23am | #7

   Hmmmmmm. Sounds good. Since I have belts, and a hand and floor belt sander - any chance of using a power sander? Cut to much to fast? Or cuts the time down?
   Thanks for the imput everybody Looking for a tad more.It was looking hopeless last night.
   Jim

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 20, 2005 10:53am | #9

   Jim,I would urge extreme caution in trying to flatten the plane's sole with a belt sander, especially with a hand held one. The chances are very good that you will make the sole worse rather than better. The sander that was in the mill wrights shop was probably larger and had a much flatter and stiffer bed than the typical home shop woodworking sander. Most of the modern cheap planes are finished at the factory on belt sanders and that is why they are so out of flat.John W.

1. 
   twotowers | Feb 21, 2005 01:26am | #10

   Your right,
   Tried it and took to much of the nose of the plane and now the bottom is u shaped.
   Jim

4. 
   reinvent | Feb 19, 2005 04:44pm | #6

   Got an old record plane from somebodys basement that had some rust on the base. Debated how to remove the rust and try to get the sole flat without spending a year doing it. Was working in a millshop at the time that had a 6" verticle belt sander (with 80 grit btw). Thought what the heck, the plane is so beat up I had nothing to loose. So I held the plane with both hands with blade installed but pulled back (to maintain tension on the sole) and let the sparks fly. It worked slicker n snot! The sole got an almost mirror polish (except for a little pitting) and was so flat that it would get stuck to a well machined surfface.

1. 
   twotowers | Feb 20, 2005 12:27am | #8

   Now that is interesting, I'll try it!
   Jim