Belt Sander (flat bed) forFlattening Plane Soles?

[Harvey Pascoe]

I've read a bit about rehabbing planes but I've not seen anyone mention flattening soles with a flat bed belt sander, so I thought I would. I"ve got two old planes, a Stanley #5 jack and a nice little Craftsman smoother that have VERY bad soles. After a few thousand strokes or so on sandpaper over the years and getting nowhere, I was about to give up and junk them when I glanced over at the belt sander and said "why not?"

I was amazed at how fast and well this sander took it down.I was also concerned whether the sander could produce a flat sole, or was there a danger of making it worse. Starting with 80 and finishing up with 180, I did not only the soles but also the sides and they now look as good as any new plane. Flatness, which was off by as much as +/- .030 is now down to about .005. The worst of this was around the throat opening where the casting was actually curved upward. Never thought I could get rid of that, but I did. I needn't have worried, .005 is better than I hoped for.

One thing I did is that I did not put pressure on the plane but let it rest on the sander by its own weight alone, so that in this way I did not induce any uneveness.

The Stanley jack, which I always considered a piece of junk, now works really well.

[Dave Gaul]

I've used a belt sander to get started. I believe I used 80 grit & 120 on the belt sander before taking the plane to the granite surface plate & paper.

I agree, works great!

[Terry Beadle]

I too have used a belt sander on a particularly out of true sole. However, because it does take metal very quickly, especially with a 80 grit belt, I used it very sparingly in certain difficult areas and made very frequent checks with starrate straight edge, feeler gauges, and liberal use of black marker marks.

Very little if any pressure was required. A lite touch is recommended.

[David Weaver]

Nothing wrong with a belt sander at all, especially to get planes close. It's nice if the platen is as long as what you're working, but it doesn't have to be if you have some touch and can check things.

I've never "finished" a plane on a belt sander, but I've certainly used a belt sander to rough off metal before going to the lapping surface. Cast comes off fast and allows you to spend your time on a lap, if needed, getting the plane as precisely flat as you want.

Always use eye protection, though. I ended up in the ER working metal curves (for infill parts) on the idler end of a belt sander - got a tiny spec of metal stuck in my eye, even though I was using a fairly slow speed sander. Never felt the metal going in, saw it afterward when looking in the mirror, and it was just embedded enough that it wouldn't flush out (as opposed to shards that you'd get off a high speed tool or welding that shoot into your eye with force).

I wouldn't have considered a low-speed belt sander as an eye protection kind of machine, but live and learn.

[Jim Koepke]

I have used a belt sander on real bad soles.

Extreme caution is advised as it can go real fast.

In my "Fettling a plane from junker to jointer" post I use a portable belt sander which is a bit more dicey.

A flat bed sander is preferred, but what you ain't got you can't use.

jtk

[Harvey Pascoe]

I'll bet a portable sander is "a bit more dicey"! Well, glad to hear it, as I'd hate to be the one to invent something new. Since I hadn't seen this on this forum and there are lots of folks scrubbing away at sandpaper, its nice to know there's a better way, reliable, too. And yes, it does remove metal fast. You want to be sure you're not using warped or bowed belts. Before trying this, make sure the belt is laying flat on the sander deck. Best to use brand new belts.

Without getting too anal about it, what do you think is an acceptable tolerance for flatness? I'm debating whether to leave them as is or take them to the sandpaper. They look so nice now, I'm not inclined to make any more work for myself. The wife has a long enough list for me as it is.

[Jim Koepke]

Without getting too anal about it, what do you think is an acceptable tolerance for flatness?

The answer to that is in how well the plane takes shavings.

If the plane can not take a fine shaving across the whole useable width of the blade, it could be due to an uneven sole.

If you can control the shavings and produce a good surface on the wood being worked, then you are probably fine.

jtk

[Brian Kent]

I will add a word of warning with cheap sanding belts - the kind that give a nice rhythmic tap tap tap as they sand. The problem is if the seam is thicker than the rest of the belt, it ends up dubbing the end of the plane that the thick spot hits first.

I have not tried flattening a plane on a belt sander since I started using better belts with a more even seam.

[Klaus Kretschmar]

I second your experience. It is relatively easy to bring a bad shaped plane back to life on a belt sander. I did it a few times with good success and want to show how I did it with a few pics. At first a pic of the candidate. A T 17 #5 which had seen a lot of use. The sides were painted and the sole out of flat.

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I built a simple jig to be used on the stroke belt sander. It's a granite plate with a square MPX fence.

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The plane was slightly pressed against the fence while sanding sole and sides to keep them square. Here a pic to get the idea (shown with another plane)

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As you can see, the blade was inserted while sanding the plane to make sure that the sole is flat when the plane is ready to use. I did only short runs on the sander to avoid the heating of the cast iron. The flattening is a quick thing although. Thats the same #5 after the flattening of the sole and the sides.

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Finally a pic to show it's performance.

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I really like the plane, it gets a lot of use. To my eyes it's a great user.

Klaus

[Tony Shea]

Klaus has pointed out the biggest and most important key to this whole proccess that often gets over looked. And that is having the blade tensioned in place while doing all this work. The tension in these planes can and will make your sole change states. Therefore always snap the blade in tension but be sure to keep the blade well clear of any sandpaper.

[Glen Butler]

Klaus has pointed out the biggest and most important key to this whole proccess that often gets over looked. And that is having the blade tensioned in place while doing all this work. The tension in these planes can and will make your sole change states. Therefore always snap the blade in tension but be sure to keep the blade well clear of any sandpaper.

I found this out the hard way today. I was pleased with the cuts my plane was making until I found that I had not tightened the frog down properly. Right after I did, I could hardly make a shaving without gouging. I had lapped the sole at work on a surface plate and to keep things simple I only took the sole. I have a surface plate ordered on the way and will lap it properly as soon as it arrives.