Planes.

[Alder]

I have a plane which has a sole with a lower heel and toe. Is this a manufacturing fault?
Would a plane sole bend in a warm shed or from being otherwise abused.
Russell

 

[Jacob]

Manufacturers fault. It's probably a late product when the trade and quality control was dropping off. What sort is it?

NB fairly easy to straighten if you stick to paper-backed 80 grit wet n dry and use it wet on a very flat, rigid, impermeable surface. I use the bed on my planer. There's an obsession with flattening/polishing, which takes hours, but is usually completely unnecessary

PS no need to go beyond 80 grit, move the plane to and fro along the length - use a bit of wood as a fence for straight lines and it looks like it's been perfectly done by experts! In fact it has!

 

[Alder]

Thank you .
I have successfully flattened a second hand plane as you describe on a previous occasion.
My hope on buying a new 4/5 was to avoid that work. If I mention the brand it will start a debate on the relative merits of brands or vintage etc and that was not the intention.
Russell

 

[Jacob]

If it's new you could send it back perhaps?
Some (not all) cheap planes can be useless - I bought Faithful 10 which was beyond remedy.

 

[Alder]

I bought the plane some time ago and used other planes as I couldn't get this one to function. I have only the last few days applied myself to the problem. I have already started with the flattening process.
Russell

 

[ED65]

I have a plane which has a sole with a lower heel and toe.

Sorry could I clarify as the wording is ambiguous. Normally in talking about plane soles any concavities are low spots, when you look at the plane sole, i.e. when the plane is upside down. But I presume you mean they're lower when the plane if right side up? If so they would normally be described as high.

Assuming that is the case, that the sole is a concave curve front to back, it can be tackled using the using lapping techniques but you'll get a much faster result with careful filing than you would using abrasive paper.

Is this a manufacturing fault?

It's likely yes. One common explanation given for this which AFAIK is accurate, is that the castings are A) not stress-relieved (tempered in a furnace to relieve tensions and then cooled slowly) or B) not given enough time to rest after casting. So they're not finishing moving before being machined, ergo after being machined perfectly flat/square the shape changes.

 

[ED65]

My hope on buying a new 4/5 was to avoid that work. If I mention the brand it will start a debate on the relative merits of brands or vintage etc and that was not the intention.

Granted, but naming the brand gives another data point in the collective knowledge of what problems can occur with what brands. It's important for a realistic picture of respective quality to know what can get through QC.

If the plane in question is from a lower-cost brand this sort of thing is unfortunately a known problem, while it shouldn't be expected exactly there's always the possibility of it. And some buyers accept the chance and are willing to try to rectify it because of the lower price paid.

However if you paid more for it, especially if you paid a true premium, then anything like this is unacceptable and there really shouldn't be any question that it's grounds for a return.

 

[screwpainting]

Sounds like plane r soles :roll:

 

[Alder]

I have now flattened the sole of the plane and it is quite a transformation.
I used Mirca Gold E P80 stuck on a sheet of glass plate (10mm). Honing fluid is also used. After only a short spell of honing the sole of the plane is wiped clean. At the same time I place a small magnet on the peeled off back of the Mirca strip and draw it over the Mirca strip, a simple process which keeps the Mirca strip "clean".
It works for me anyway.
Russell

 

[D_W]

Can you measure the depth? This is fairly common, and even a few thousandths of low toe and heel is a pain on a plane that you expect to do any finish work with (jointing a long edge with it will be out of the question).

I have seen planes that have toe and heel out by as much as slightly over a hundredth (an old stanley 7)

I use the same method as mentioned above - 80 grit PSA roll paper on a flat surface. Suspect that the issue is improperly seasoned castings, and not manufacturing. It would be difficult to get a machine tool to do something like that.

Keep power machines away from the plane and don't be afraid to change to fresh paper if the work is significant.

There are faster methods for bulk work, but I'll keep them to myself unless you mention a hollow much greater than a hundredth.