Originally Posted by
David Weaver
That sounds like something someone who doesn't actually use planes much would say. There is literally no function in woodworking that a hand lapped plane can't complete, and they are functionally superior in action to a plane that has been ground.
That is, they come out slightly convex and present less friction in use, and the difference is significant. It's even more significant if you compare waxed planes, as a ground plane will lose all of the wax on the sole much more quickly.
We don't hear anything about that because the market is driven by beginners who don't have the experience to know otherwise, and they're being directed by people (especially bloggers and tool show vendors) who also don't have the experience to know otherwise. People who describe how good a plane is with a straight edge or a dial indicator rather than use.
People who get their planes ground flat are wasting their money. The only excuse to apply machinist logic to planes is if someone has the desire to square a plane that is significantly out of square and they don't want to or can't learn to work the side of the plane to reasonably square. That is significantly more difficult than lapping a sole to practical usability.
For 8 years now I have seen various people on these forums claim that a plane needs to be machined and that nothing can be done by hand, and not a single one of them was a materially competent woodworker who has used planes heavily for more than trimming joints and removing planer chatter. The strawman that's used is the "ruined plane" or the "plane that was done by hand that still doesn't work". It costs $20 for an appropriate piece of glass and about $1-$3 per plane for the PSA abrasive needed to get them in good working order. Anyone claiming that doesn't make a suitable plane is full of it. I have literally done several dozen that way, maybe 50, and have never failed to end up with a good working plane, and without creating a whole bunch of unnecessary rust-magnet surfaces.
Are you sure he's just not referring to not wanting to touch steel again instead of implying that it needs machined? Maybe Tom just prefers machining it flat since it's just easier to do.
I'll admit it. . .I've rarely hand-lapped planes. I'm of the mind "if it ain't broke, don't mess with it". Literally, if there aren't any hairline cracks and it doesn't cut poorly and cause your planed surfaces to be out-of-flat, don't touch it. The effort is far outweighed by the benefit.
With that said, if I found a plane to be giving me fits and found out that it was seriously out of flat, I'd get it machined, not hand-lap it. Why? It probably has something to do with that whole "work smart, not hard" mantra. I'd much rather be playing Diablo III than standing at my bench making a bunch of metal dust that will end up irritating my skin if it accidentally gets into my pores.
Just a thought. Tom may have the same view, I dunno.
On a side note, don't you mean concave, not convex? Concave, to me, would imply the toe and heel are in the same plane with the middle not touching the work surface, whereas convex is the opposite.
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