Scratched my plane soles

[HeathRobinson]

Hi guys,

Last weekend I bought myself a little american black walnut and some maple from Yandles. I don't have a planer or jointer machine but stupidly forgot that fact when I bought the pieces rough sawn on one side.

I got them home and decided it was a good time to try out my new jack and promptly set to work removing the rough in one spot so as to see what was beneath. Nice looking wood as it turns out but fast forward to the next morning when I go to use my planes again and low and behold they've got deep scratches down the length of their soles and the jack can't even take a shaving without it coming up like a comb. Looking closely I figured out that this was because the blade had been badly nicked in various places. The same places that the scratch marks on the sole pass the blade. I ran a light rare earth magnet all over the wood looking for any hint of metal but found nothing. I suppose it could even be a small stone. No further scratching has occured which to my mind means that whatever caused the scratches must now have been planed off.

Quite disappointing to scratch up my new planes but at least it doesn't affect performance and I have already fixed up the nicked blade. Just wondering what I can do to guard against this happening again - would PAR wood be any safer? A metal detector? Rubbing the wood down with a wire brush before planing? All of the above?

Simon

 

[devonwoody]

Thats certainly a bit of bad luck, I would want to trace the source of the scratching, it wasnt wood that did it.

Any gravel/grit possibly come into contact after it left the stack when purchased, I recall Yandles yard has a gravel surface, or have you been doing any metalwork at all?
Of course there might have been a bit of wire buried in the timber and the tree grew over it, only a small bit would do what you describe.

 

[Martin Cash]

Happened to me as well a long time ago.
Anything that comes into my workshop that needs initial planing now gets a brush down first with a stiff wire brush before I have a go with the jack plane. I actually have two jacks. One has an old radiused blade that does the initial roughing and the next has a much more carefully prepared blade.
The old radiused blade is simply ground quickly on the grinder and given a quick touch on the medium oilstone - that's all. It sits in a cheap market bought number 5, and it does its job well. In spite of precautions it has still found the occasional gravel speck and pinged the edge. It is my protection for my carefully prepared jack plane blade in my Marples number 5.
Hope this helps.
MC

 

[OPJ]

How unfortunate.

As you say though, it won't affect the performance of the plane, now that you've reground the blade. I'm also in favour of removing grit first with a stiff brush. I do this even before putting timber over or through a planer thicknesser; a lot of yards store their wood under cover. But, at the same time, it's also quite dirty in there and also sorts of grit can build up on the surface of a board with forklifts moving everything about.

Yandles stack a lot of their timber vertically against a wall, meaning a small stone or anything could've been embedded in the end of a board without you realising. Also watch out for staples - the bane of working with softwood!! :shock: :wink:

 

[Philly]

Simon
Don't be too concerned about the scratches to the sole - it just shows you actually been using your tools!
It's worth having a roughing plane to remove the initial "rough stuff" - I recommend a wooden Jack or a #5 Stanley. Camber the blade quite strongly, and use it to get rid of the saw marks (including any grit!) . Then you can refine the surfaces with your finer planes.
Hope this helps,
Philly

 

[Ironballs]

Like Phil says, don't be too worried about the scratches on the sole, it's a working tool. The others have made some comment about the ends of boards, the first thing you should do before taking a plane to a piece or sending it over the planer is to remove the end of the board, even if there are no stones embedded the paint itself can be hard enough to chip blades.

As it's timber you cannot use there is no additional waste here

 

[HeathRobinson]

Thank you all for your input. You've made me feel much better about the scratches and given me some sound advice.

I have a Record #4 that I was trying to flog but that will now become my roughing plane as suggested a while back by the prophetic Rob. Will also look around the sheds for a wire brush and chop the painted ends off my boards before planing them in future.

Simon

 

[woodbloke]

Simon - as others have said, don't worry about scratches to the sole...it goes with the territory :wink:
On the other hand you could always ask Miss Robinson to polish them out for you with a bit of Autosol and a rag...rather you than me though :lol: :lol: - Rob

 

[promhandicam]

. . .Just wondering what I can do to guard against this happening again . . .

Keep them in a tool cabinet maybe - seems to work for a lot of people? If the scratches are really deep then sell them on ebay as special edition planes with corrugated soles - they will command a premium amongst the collectors.

Steve

 

[HeathRobinson]

:lol:

 

[Alf]

I do hope the folks who can't see the point of more than one plane are reading this thread... :wink:

 

[woodbloke]

I do hope the folks who can't see the point of more than one plane are reading this thread... :wink:

Name and shame Alf...won't make any difference though :lol: - Rob