Silk purse from a sow's ear? Any advice?

[Stan]

I offered to clean up and sharpen a plane for someone as a favour. What they supplied "has issues".

It is a number 4 plane with "Silverline" on the lever cap. ( I am aware of its status in the world of planes! ) The iron is marked "record" and at some time in the past has been reground to a slight convex shape. The regrind, the make and general condition make me think it has been converted into a scrub plane.

I have spent a while lapping the sole using the following kit;

This is a piece of plate glass supplied by Veritas, guaranteed flat. I made a 3/4in plywood surround for it and the glass sits slightly proud in a recess to protect it. The plywood is then clamped in my workbench, which sits on a base I made with adjustable feet so it can be levelled and prevented from rocking on the ground. Standard wet and dry is clamped on just firm enough to hold it.

Results so far;

The heel and toe are coming up nicely. The sole appears to be concave in two dimensions. This I can mitigate, but the real horror is to come.


Resting the plane on its right and left sides;

The right side sits nice and firm.

The left - oh dear. Yes, that is a gap. When I press the left side flat at the rear this is what I get. The plane rocks in both dimensions like a banana. ( Perhaps I should paint it yellow ).

I don't have the facility to machine the side square. Am I just going to have to put up with it, or can anything be done?

 

[Against_The_Grain]

Unless your friend is left handed and using it in a shooting board I wouldn’t give two hoots about the squareness or flatness of the sides.

 

[Droogs]

Don't try to do anything to the sole without the frog and the iron being insitu. The reason for this is that the tensions withing the sole casting are in different places and act in different directions to when the plane is complete and when it is in pieces. The cast sole will "relax" when the frog and iron are removed. This means that if you then sort it out and flatten it, when the thing is back together it will not be so.

Put it back together with the blade just above being able to protrude. Start with 120g and a lot of fluid on the paper. Mark the sole completely in sharpie and then rub exactly along the length axis back and forth. After a dozen strokes see where the sharpie has been removed to get a picture of how out it is.
Work the plane until the following areas are level (you do not need the entire sole to be so) -
The Toe (front edge of the plane
The mouth (the area to the from and back of the slot for the iron about 1/4" either side
The Heel (the back edge of the plane.

Once these are level step up to the next grit and repeat until you get to around 1k

The plane will then be true and usable provided you sort out the iron with a slight camber ie an arc with a height of 4 or 5mm in the middle compared to the side corners.

hth

 

[paulrbarnard]

ie an arc with a height of 4 or 5mm in the middle compared to the side corners.

I agree with all you said except this bit. That’s quit a camber for a smoothing plane.

 

[Droogs]

My baad fingers on the wrong buttons should be 1 or 2mm. Typing while fighting the dog for a soggy yucky fluffy thing

 

[Jameshow]

I agree with all you said except this bit. That’s quit a camber for a smoothing plane.

I have that much camber on a scrubbing plane - great for cleaning up dirty / rough boards and as a toolbox plane!

Mines a wickes model!

 

[cowtown_eric]

ain't nothing said about how you have to fix everything at one go to join the flat sole society. As far as I know, the Tool God will on;ly shine on those worthy......s tell them that the tool could be refined, and maybe that sends them down the path or rhikenology!, and suddeny yu become an "oldtools" enabler!!!

 

[Stan]

ain't nothing said about how you have to fix everything at one go to join the flat sole society. As far as I know, the Tool God will on;ly shine on those worthy......s tell them that the tool could be refined, and maybe that sends them down the path or rhikenology!, and suddeny yu become an "oldtools" enabler!!!

Eh?

I need to punctuate that correctly. I don't fancy being labelled an "old tool".

Thanks for the advice everyone. Droogs - I had forgotten the point re leaving the frog attached. Extra thanks.

I have a 1954 copy of "Planecraft", which I am using to help me stumble along the path from ignorance to enlightenment. For a scrub plane it recommends a camber with a centre height of between 1/64 and 1/32 of an inch, i.e. less than 1mm. This particular plane is about 4mm.

 

[Recky33]

Is this " favour " going to end up as a scrub or are you trying to get it back as a No4 ? If a scrub it's ok as it is, just sharpen it, the idea is to get stuff down fast, just remember a big camber set shallow works fast, a small camber set deep tires you out very quickly, If it's going back to a No4 don't make any plans for the next month or so as you are about to fall out with the idea of doing favours

 

[--Tom--]

Just sharpen it and get it working, you’ll chase diminishing returns with time that could have been spent on something much more fun

 

[D_W]

strong aluminum oxide paper next time rather than silicon carbide. Silicon carbide's intended for alloy steel with carbide. It's fragile and it breaks - you want something tough that will stay coarse under pressure.

That's often the inexpensive, gray, white or yellow alumina (not stearated or coated unless the coating is shallow or almost not there).

Unless that casting is extremely hard, it would generally take me about 5 minutes to remove that on 80 grit mirka gold roll. Sheets would be OK if it's a decent brand with heavy enough paper - roll with adhesive is need if you want to do this several more times (brand doesn't matter, just decent quality). 80 grit al-ox roll here is often in the $12 range for 10 yards by 4 inches.

 

[clogs]

D_W
long time since I heard Yards..... a bit like £'s, shillings and pence....lol....

 

[D_W]

except we know what yards are in the US. Both types!! I'd have to study the old English money system 400 times to be able to read old catalogs and have a clue which item cost more than another.

Just guessing on what's still sold by the yard here:
* sandpaper rolls
* fabric
* garden stuff (cubic yard)
* probably still concrete (not exactly something I buy every day).
* carpet

Not to mention, american football goes by yards.

Little weird to see scandinavian sandpaper with yards on it, though.

guessing a lot of that stuff is still in yards for fear of losing the older customers. When we all have chips implanted and everything becomes nonverbal, we won't have to worry about converting it.

 

[Orraloon]

A yard is a meter thats been short changed by 3 and a bit inches.
I got used to both systems as when Britain changed over the change was so gradual they still have not finished it after 50 years. When I came to Australia everything was metric as they did the change in one go. Picked a date, said thats changed and job done. Quite happy and can work with both systems but do most of my woodwork in feet and inches as I can visualize that better.
I always look for a tape or rule that has both measurements.
Regards
John

 

[Peri]

I'd have to study the old English money system 400 times

Dead easy.

"Two farthings = One Ha'penny. ​

Two ha'pennies = One Penny. ​

Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. ​

Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. ​

Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. ​

Two Bob = A Florin. ​

One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. ​

Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. ​

Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). ​

Once Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea.​

The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated.” ​

​

(Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett)

 

[Bod]

Dead easy.​

​

"Two farthings = One Ha'penny. ​

Two ha'pennies = One Penny. ​

Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. ​

Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. ​

Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. ​

Two Bob = A Florin. ​

One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. ​

Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. ​

Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). ​

Once Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea.​

​

The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated.” ​

​

(Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett)

A cheap ice-cream costs £1.50p or 30 bob (£.s.d) Inflation?

Bod

 

[raffo]

What's a pence?

 

[Peri]

Several pennies I reckon.

Sixpennies become sixpence, threepennies becomes thrupence.

I was 3 when we went decimal - it's all a bit before my time

 

[raffo]

The transition from Penny to pence is missing in the list glad i didn't have to deal with all that.

 

[Chris70]

… and a sixpence was also known as a tanner. Or was that only in Geordieland?