[OP]
Member
Home depot plane. Haven't done it before so I wanted to start with this plane before the LN. Very not flat, but it wasn't too hard to fix with 60-grit and granite surface. My question is about the last millimeter around the mouth. Looks like I would have to grind the whole bottom for a while to get the mouth edge both before the blade and behind the blade.
How important is it that the edges of the mouth be perfectly in line with the sole?
Member
The most critical areas are the toe, heel and right before and after the mouth. If those areas are in alignment you are in good shape.
And, you should not have to mess with the soul of your LN plane, if you do, send it back. I would be pretty surprised if you had to do anything else other than a little cleaning and put a final hone on the iron.
Last edited by James Conrad; 09-06-2013 at 9:41 PM.
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Proust
Guest
You can ignore it as long as it's not hugely relieved (and it's likely just up from the sole).Originally Posted by Michael MacDonald
A lot of planes that have a lot of wear will have a bit of relief in front of the mouth and still work really well, even if you're not using the cap iron. There just isn't enough room between the relieved area and the wood for a chip to seriously lift and induce tearout.
Member
Nothing of value to add except that as James says, you shouldn't have to touch the sole of a Lie Nielsen plane, and if by some odd reason it does need it, they will do it for you. That's half the point of paying nice money on a plane - all those little things should be already taken care of.
" Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice
Member
+1. 1 mm is only 0.04" or a bit over 1/32"... well less than the blade to mouth gap for may users and many uses.
If you had two identical planes like yours and sanded one of them down totally flat you *may* see it being a little more forgiving before tearout but I think even that is pretty unlikely for all but the gnarliest of work. Even then it's far more important to master getting the blate truly *sharp* and, when dealing with gnarly, take ever lighter cuts until tearout goes away.
Once I learned what sharp really worked like I was amazed at how forgiving it made the rest of the plane.
The biggest key, imo, is to avoid a convex plane, as it's nearly impossible to get a fat belly flat (both with tools and personally!) <g>
One can never have too many planes and chisels... or so I'm learning!!
[OP]
Member
Good feedback. Took me a while to get back to gather the comments. I think my next step is to get a thicker iron. And not worry further about flatness.
Member
i have only had one plane out of flat enough to affect it functionally- and it was something like 1/16 hollow in it's length ( a no.4). Idid the bulk of the material removal with a large single cut mill file, checking frequently with a straight edge. I followed that with sandpaper on granite, mostly to leave a nice finish. it's now a sweet running smoother. before it was a nightmare- a totally chattering pain, woth no adjustment between no shaving and digging in. i have a no.2 that came to me with the sole worn convex. it worked ok, i guess better now that I flattened it, but it wasn't hard to use before.
Contributor
Your description of how the plane worked perfectly describes the problem encountered with a concave sole. Had a block plane like that once. Lapping it made it much better.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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