Resoling Wooden Planes: Genius or Fool's Errand?

[Steve H Graham]

The other day I was thinking about wooden planes. I have been wanting to try one. Used ones seem cheap and plentiful, and it might be a good way to amass some useful tools without breaking the bank. Problem: used wooden planes often have mouths that are huge because of sole wear.

I wondered why people don't buy used ones, glue wood to the soles, and cut new mouths. I Googled around, and I found out people actually do this.

Is there any reason I should hesitate to try this? Seems like a smart idea to me. Also, I am in an area where decent wood is not exactly growing on trees (hahahahaha), so I am wondering if there is any reason why I can't use something like maple or red oak instead of the weird exotic woods people talk about.

[Mike Henderson]

I've resoled wooden planes without difficulty and they worked fine after that. I'm perhaps not an aficionado of old wooden planes so someone who is more critical and uses them a lot might be able to relate their experience.

I used lignum vitae and have no experience with maple or red oak for plane soles but I expect maple would work fine.

Mike

[Steve H Graham]

I would love to have some molding planes but I think resoling them would be pretty difficult.

[Allan Speers]

I'll be watching this thread closely!

I have quite a few woodies that could use this treatment. I also have 5 lbs of Lignum Vitae, just waiting to be sliced into plane soles.

I just could never figure out how to cut the mouth opening accurately. Drill it out, then use special files? (floats, I think?) How do you get a dead-accurate angle? I watched the video above, but he just chisels. What if the old bed isn't pefectly level? Maybe it's time to read Stewie's recent thread on plane building more carefully.


One thought I've always had is: Maybe make a 2-piece sole. Have the back part go right up to the back-edge of the mouth. Easy peasy. Then add a front piece that can slide (maybe on 2 sliding dovetails?) and lock, creating an adjustable mouth. The mechanics of this has always hung me up. Something to think about next month, etc etc etc .....

The other problem is how to attach the stuff. If you're going to go to all that bother, might as well use Lignum (if you can get any) or Ebony, or Hornbeam. These are all very difficult to glue, and I couldn't possibly pull off a heavily dovetailed attachment like you see on ECE's and the like. Use a few countersunk screws?
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The other thing that hangs me up is, If I go to all this bother on a simple coffin or Danish type plane, and eventually sell it on Ebay, it will still only be worth 10 - 15 bucks.

[Barry Dima]

I'll be watching this thread closely!

I have quite a few woodies that could use this treatment. I also have 5 lbs of Lignum Vitae, just waiting to be sliced into plane soles.

I just could never figure out how to cut the mouth opening accurately. Drill it out, then use special files? (floats, I think?) How do you get a dead-accurate angle? I watched the video above, but he just chisels. What if the old bed isn't pefectly level? Maybe it's time to read Stewie's recent thread on plane building more carefully.


One thought I've always had is: Maybe make a 2-piece sole. Have the back part go right up to the back-edge of the mouth. Easy peasy. Then add a front piece that can slide (maybe on 2 sliding dovetails?) and lock, creating an adjustable mouth. The mechanics of this has always hung me up. Something to think about next month, etc etc etc .....

The other problem is how to attach the stuff. If you're going to go to all that bother, might as well use Lignum (if you can get any) or Ebony, or Hornbeam. These are all very difficult to glue, and I couldn't possibly pull off a heavily dovetailed attachment like you see on ECE's and the like. Use a few countersunk screws?

I think Bob Smalser's explanation probably makes for a good foundation--although I've only read up on this process, not done it.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/tRestore/planes/rehabWoodPlanes/rWoodPlanes1.asp

The other thing that hangs me up is, If I go to all this bother on a simple coffin or Danish type plane, and eventually sell it on Ebay, it will still only be worth 10 - 15 bucks.

Yea, agreed. This job sounds like a lot of work for a turnaround—unless you want more reason for the practice? I don't know. Seems more like a labor of love to me, and whatever quality you get out of it after will probably pay back your labor during before the "eventually."

Maybe I'm being romantic though? Resoling a plane just seems so practical and fun, goshdarnit.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

I'll be watching this thread closely!

I have quite a few woodies that could use this treatment. I also have 5 lbs of Lignum Vitae, just waiting to be sliced into plane soles.

I just could never figure out how to cut the mouth opening accurately. Drill it out, then use special files? (floats, I think?) How do you get a dead-accurate angle? I watched the video above, but he just chisels. What if the old bed isn't pefectly level? Maybe it's time to read Stewie's recent thread on plane building more carefully.


One thought I've always had is: Maybe make a 2-piece sole. Have the back part go right up to the back-edge of the mouth. Easy peasy. Then add a front piece that can slide (maybe on 2 sliding dovetails?) and lock, creating an adjustable mouth. The mechanics of this has always hung me up. Something to think about next month, etc etc etc .....

The other problem is how to attach the stuff. If you're going to go to all that bother, might as well use Lignum (if you can get any) or Ebony, or Hornbeam. These are all very difficult to glue, and I couldn't possibly pull off a heavily dovetailed attachment like you see on ECE's and the like. Use a few countersunk screws?
-------------------------

The other thing that hangs me up is, If I go to all this bother on a simple coffin or Danish type plane, and eventually sell it on Ebay, it will still only be worth 10 - 15 bucks.

Allan. I have had some of the same thoughts as you do regarding gluing lignum vitae, but are you sure Hornbeam should be a problem ? I don´t think it contains oil to prevent adhesion ? By the way I don´t think ECE plane soles are dovetailed, I think the pattern is square, whick perhabs is possible to do even without heavy machinery.

Why is an ajustable mouth important if you have double iron ?

[Dave Anderson NH]

I got a couple of rabbet planes for $5 each about 3-4 years ago. I resoled with Lignum Vitae and they work just fine.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

I got a couple of rabbet planes for $5 each about 3-4 years ago. I resoled with Lignum Vitae and they work just fine.

What did you use for glue ?

[Warren Mickley]

I would recommend getting the plane working before fooling with the sole. Make sure you are happy with the iron and cap iron, the wedge and the abutments, and how everything works. Also the traditional way to close up the mouth is to inlay a patch in the sole in front of the mouth, so you might consider that also.

[Stanley Covington]

I agree with Warren. Inletting a patch at the mouth has always been SOP for wooden planes, and solves most performance problems related to the block. The only reason to attach an entire new sole might be to remedy deep gouges or cracks. Differential expansion/contraction might produce new problems, but if you are prepared to take the risk, why not.

[Allan Speers]

I got a couple of rabbet planes for $5 each about 3-4 years ago. I resoled with Lignum Vitae and they work just fine.

Oh man. I recently threw away several lovely wooden fillister planes (3/4" 1/2" and I forget the other) and I mean REALLY nice ones, because the soles had warped a little. It never occurred to me how easy they would have been to resole. - And me with all this lignum just waiting for something to do. Ughh ....

[Phil Mueller]

I was given a smoother and jointer and figured what the heck...no real loss.
Basically followed the videos on the Internet.
Here is the sole of the smoother when I received it. In addition to the wide mouth, it had about an 1/8" crater.
image.jpeg
I put it in a vise and planed it smooth.
image.jpeg
Glued a piece of maple to the bottom (Titebond). Chiseled out the opening from the inside. The new bottom was a bit thick, so the "V" chiseled from the inside did not go through the bottom. I put it back in the vise and planed the bottom until the opening would allow the iron to protrude with enough room in front for the shavings.

I did sand to final thickness, fearing the plane would cause some tear out around the mouth.

Did the same for the jointer.

Both work well.
image.jpeg image.jpeg

[Robert G Brown]

When I first started woodworking about 10 years ago, one of my first planes was a worn transitional. I resoled it with red oak from one of my trees. It worked fine then and still does nowadays when called upon. It is mostly retired now due to newer (more expensive planes) acquired. I see nothing wrong in using local wood to fix a plane.

[Allan Speers]

When I first started woodworking about 10 years ago, one of my first planes was a worn transitional. I resoled it with red oak from one of my trees. It worked fine then and still does nowadays when called upon. It is mostly retired now due to newer (more expensive planes) acquired. I see nothing wrong in using local wood to fix a plane.

One might argue that you want to use a wood that's fairly low in movement, or more importantly one that has a low T/R ratio, neither of which applies to red Oak. Then again, in a controlled environment it probably doesn't matter, hence your good results.


I've always wondered why you don't need a sole that has aprox the same movement as the body. How the heck does a Beech plane with a lignum sole not rip itself apart after the first rainstorm?

[Robert G Brown]

Then again, in a controlled environment it probably doesn't matter, hence your good results.

I am impressed. You are correct. My shop is the basement of my home which is a controlled environment.

Thanks. I can see now, that someone else may not get the good results that I did.