Suggested motion for flattening Stanley no. 5 sole

[Peter Godlewski]

Hi,

I'm new to the Sawmill Creek community and after lurking around the Neanderthal Haven I've had most of my most pressing questions answered. So a great big thank you to all those who went before me! I recently bought a used Stanley no. 5 and have been in the process of tuning it up. I just tuned up a Stanley no 4 using float glass and sandpaper but I think there was something wrong with me technique because it the marker lines i was using to test started to wear unevenly.

I read that people use belt sander belts and that they last longer (I went through an unbelievable amount of sandpaper) so I bought some and will try again with the no.5 (and probably redo the no.4). My question is what is the suggested motion for sharpening bench planes? Is it a planing motion or a figure-eight motion? I've seen videos with mostly the planing motion and that would work best with the sanding belts. But thats how I did the no.4 and I'm wondering if I was applying uneven pressure.

Any tips or suggestions on the proper motion and the where/how to hold the plane? The sole isn't that badly out of true, but my OCD side wants to make things look clean and newish before I start using them...

Thanks to everyone for their help and I'm thrilled to be joining.

Peter

[Edward Miller]

Does it require flattening? Have you sharpened up the blade and tried it out on some wood? If it works well (is able to remove a shaving of a thickness you want to remove with a jack plane), why spend your time flattening the sole?

[David Weaver]

I also probably wouldn't do anything to it unless you intend to use it for smoother shavings.

My suggestion if you're going to lap more than one plane is to buy a glass shelf 1/2 inch thick, 8 inches wide and 3 or 3 1/2 feet long and stick down 80 grit psa mirka gold paper that's 4 1/2 inches wide. It will make VERY short work of a #5. I don't like loose belts because they're not cheaper than PSA rolls, at least not of similar quality, and their looseness makes a amateurish looking dub around everything (not that it makes a difference on #5s, and of course it's not like I didn't do that to some planes too before I figured it out). PSA paper doesn't dub anything and it leaves everything crisp.

I suggest calling what you want a shelf because a glass shop will usually sell some such thing fairly cheap, while a piece of custom glass won't be so cheap. The edges are usually softened on shelves, too.

Remember when lapping that less is more. You will have a better plane if you stop when key points of contact are taken care of than you will if you blast away until every single blemish is gone.

figure 8s or planing motion, makes no difference. Just make sure your pressure is toward the middle of the plane and no rocking and turning the plane into a very gradual banana shape.

[Ralph Boumenot]

I bought a marble threshold from Home Depot 4" wide x 36" long for $10 and change to do my flattening of a #7.

[Jack Curtis]

Not speaking from personal experience since none of the very, very few metal planes that I've used were out of flat; but my understanding is that scraping rather than sanding is the way to go.

[Jim Koepke]

Peter,

Welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't indicate your location. You may live close to another member that is willing to share their knowledge in person.

Most of my planes only get lapped if there is a bit of rust to remove. It is easy to make the sole worse by just pushing it back and forth on a piece of abrasive material. The iron filings will build up toward the center of the plane and cause problems if they are not removed every few strokes.

My recommendation is to not do this unless there is a clear need beyond OCD.

That said, +1 on what David said about Pressure Sensitive Adhesive papers being the way to go.

Finding something to stick it to is another story. Mine is a piece of granite from a monument maker (think grave stone carver) that is on top of what is basically a tall saw horse.

It tends to get used more now for rehabbing old blades and other items than for the soles of planes.

Here is a post with a picture:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t-Made-a-Stand

jtk

[David Weaver]

It tends to get used more now for rehabbing old blades and other items than for the soles of planes.

This is one of the best uses of it. Once you've got all of the old planes you want, it still makes for a nice long run for anything else, making primary bevels on tools that you don't want to heat up, flattening backs (especially, nothing flattens backs faster than a fresh long run of al-ox paper in the sub 100 grit range).

It is something that if you spend a lot of time woodworking, you'll find a use for it. Even truing up the bottoms of old woodies that have a lot of wear, but that you want to be sparing with the wood removal.

[Peter Godlewski]

Thank you everyone who replied!

This was exactly the sort of advice i needed. I hadn't heard of PSA (just been using normal al-ox sandpaper) so I will give it try. I do have a large piece of float glass to attach things to, so that is taken care of. Since this is a used plane, there is a bit of rust and gunk (with some of that paint which always finds its way onto planes somehow) on the sole that I want to take care of. I don't want to do more than necessary, but wanted to make sure of the flattening technique.

Thanks again! I'm sure I'll be back with more questions in the future.

Peter