Vaughn and Bushnell

[Joel Goodman]

Is the steel sole of the Vaughn and Bushnell planes harder to flatten than a Stanley or similar cast iron plane?

[David Weaver]

Probably. I've flattened planes of mild steel, high carbon steel and cast iron and both types of steel were a good bit harder to flatten than cast. Even in the casts, different brands of cast are of different hardness (MFs seem to be softer than stanley planes, which is nice when you're going to lap)

It still shouldn't be a problem, and if it seems like it's slow going, then do it in shifts, or slow down the pace or count strokes to distract yourself.

I'm in the middle of flattening my third infill, and I let it get pretty concave in peining together. It's 18" long and there is no studman who could flatten it in one session and not be totally pooped out and screw it up. I do about 10 minutes of it each time i go to the shop, and I count strokes when I do it.

What are you planning to lap it on? A long jointer table or a replacement glass shelf on a fairly flat bench with a longer throw than a granite plate makes life a lot easier when lapping planes.