Truing Block Plane Sole - Alternatives to Cutting Oil?

[mason winston]

Thanks for reading! :)

I picked up my first block plane, a Stanley "Bailey" model @ 6 1/4". The sole is pretty rough, and I'd like to true it. I have assorted Imperial Wet or Dry sandpaper grits ranging from 400 to at least 1000. I might have some 1500 lying around here somewhere.

Anyways, I'd read somewhere (maybe here) about folks using cutting oil on the paper to smooth out the process and make the sandpaper more effective. Are there any suitable alternatives to cutting oil? I just got back home and really don't feel like going out again this evening... :o

[Maurice Ungaro]

Water works just fine on wet/dry paper. Just make sure you don't start with too fine a grit. It gets tiring.

[jerry nazard]

Maurice is correct: water works great. You can add a drop of dish detergent if you want to.

[mason winston]

Excellent! Thank you, gentlemen. :D

[george wilson]

In the 19th.C.,and later for all I know,in England,at least,they used soapy water to bore holes in armor plate using carbon steel drill bits.

I wouldn't make the water too soapy,because it will start holding the plane sole away from the abrasive. Some dish detergent is fine. I use a weak dish detergent solution for sharpening chisels,etc. on stones.

[mason winston]

I covered the sole in red marker and made a few passes on the 400 grit, it'll definitely take a few more passes to get this tool true.

I've also read other members' posts regarding higher quality replacement irons, so I looked at a few sites - Hock, Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley - but can't seem to find an iron specific to my model. I have a Stanley Bailey 12-920 @ 6 1/4" overall length.

Am I just not aware of what "the industry" calls my tool, or are upgrade/replacement irons just not made for the Bailey? Also, have I mentioned before that I'm very, very new to all of this? ;)

[Maurice Ungaro]

You'll need to measure the width of your blade, and also note if it is a solid blade, or has adjusting slots in it. Replacement blades are sold per these specs.

[David Weaver]

post a picture of the iron on here. There are newer and older style irons, and they are not compatible. What your plane is probably similar to is the #9 1/2, but if you have a newer iron with a long slot and then three notches, then you can't just order a #9 1/2 iron willy nilly.

It's likely the machining marks in it are fairly deep. I have never used cutting fluid, other than on a cast iron lapping plate. Generally, it's easier to lap a plane bottom with aluminum oxide paper dry and just brush away the filings or swarf that come off.

[carl grover]

I've also read other members' posts regarding higher quality replacement irons, so I looked at a few sites - Hock, Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley - but can't seem to find an iron specific to my model. I have a Stanley Bailey 12-920 @ 6 1/4" overall length.

Am I just not aware of what "the industry" calls my tool, or are upgrade/replacement irons just not made for the Bailey? Also, have I mentioned before that I'm very, very new to all of this? ;)

Any of those replacement irons is going to be much better than what you have. However; I have several block planes and the Stanley blades work fine provided they are sharpened correctly. Since this is your first plane you might want to play around with the Stanley blade while you practice your sharpening technique.

[Joel Goodman]

The Stanley block plane irons are two widths -- 1 3/8 and 1 5/8th, also in new style with 3 slots and old style with 11 slots. LN, LV, Hock etc all have good irons -- I believe the LN and the LV are thickest at 1/8" which is a good thing. But I would fool around with the plane with the stock iron first. Also if your plane doesn't have an adjustable mouth I wouldn't waste the $ on an upgraded iron.

[mason winston]

Alrighty, here are the specs of my blade. I'll also include a scan of it at the bottom of this post.

Length: 4 5/16"
Width: 1 5/8"
Thickness: Just over 1/16"

I'm definitely going to use the stock blade to get used to handling the tool, but I also want to know what size to order when I get to a point where I feel that a better blade will truly benefit me, if you get what I'm saying.

And, wow, you guys are right about the depth of the machine marks. I've spent roughly four hours at 100 grit slowly dragging the sole across the abrasive, so I make sure I get all of the black marker (red marker didnt have enough ink) off of the sole. I hope I only have another hour or so lapping @ 100 grit, so I can jump to the 220. My goodness...

Out of curiosity, in terms of lapping at a certain grit, when do you get to a point of diminishing returns? 400 grit? Maybe 600?

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=158440&stc=1&d=1281910587

[Rick Markham]

Mason, Changing between grits somewhat frequently seems to help me. Plus it changes the scratch pattern and allows you to see progress easier. Once you get through the first grit things move a lot faster. In the beginning I spend most of my time on about 120 grit (If it has deep scratches, isn't near flat, or has pitting), alternating occasionally with 220. Once the bulk of the machine, or rust pitting is gone, and it is "flat" I move to 220 then 300, I honestly usually go to 600, but I believe most folks stop at 400. (I don't work on 600 very long, mostly just long enough to "polish" the bottom, it is probably a bit anal on my part) This is just the way I do it, for me changing grits in the beginning between the two seems to help. It might just be my perception though.

[James Taglienti]

I don't think anybody should have to spend 4 hours on a block plane sole. That's like torture!

[Maurice Ungaro]

I've spent roughly four hours at 100 grit slowly dragging the sole across the abrasive, so I make sure I get all of the black marker (red marker didnt have enough ink) off of the sole. I hope I only have another hour or so lapping @ 100 grit, so I can jump to the 220. My goodness...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=158440&stc=1&d=1281910587

Well, part of your problem may be the "slowly dragging the sole" part. Speed up the action a little, and you can cut that time down significantly!

[Tim Put]

I make sure I get all of the black marker (red marker didnt have enough ink) off of the sole.

That might be your problem. The areas where the marker won't come off are too low; you don't want to sand those areas.

Colour the sole of the plane, take one swipe across the paper; those clean areas with no ink, those are the areas that need to be sanded down.

You should sand more as if you were trying not to sand off the ink.

[David Weaver]

Alrighty, here are the specs of my blade. I'll also include a scan of it at the bottom of this post.

Length: 4 5/16"
Width: 1 5/8"
Thickness: Just over 1/16"

I'm definitely going to use the stock blade to get used to handling the tool, but I also want to know what size to order when I get to a point where I feel that a better blade will truly benefit me, if you get what I'm saying.

And, wow, you guys are right about the depth of the machine marks. I've spent roughly four hours at 100 grit slowly dragging the sole across the abrasive, so I make sure I get all of the black marker (red marker didnt have enough ink) off of the sole. I hope I only have another hour or so lapping @ 100 grit, so I can jump to the 220. My goodness...

Out of curiosity, in terms of lapping at a certain grit, when do you get to a point of diminishing returns? 400 grit? Maybe 600?

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=158440&stc=1&d=1281910587

Quite often, I use only stick-on 80 grit paper. I don't know what it's equivalent to once it's worn a little, but it's less aggressive than fresh 80 grit.

That's on a long piece of plate glass (42"), the whole thing held to end of the bench with a light duty clamp.

It takes about 5 minutes to do a block plane.

I rub the bottom with a medium sandflex block after that to knock any burrs and then put a coat of briwax on the bottom and wipe it off quickly before it hazes (does double duty of cleaning off the filings and protecting from rust).

I'm not convinced that going further with grits does anything practical.

[Leigh Betsch]

The big problem here is you should be using sheep lard!
OK, ok, just trying to stir things up again.

I wouldn't waste any more time that what it takes to get the sole to a 220 grit. It needs to be flat not polished. But what do I know, most of my planes are wood (and they flatten up right quickly).

[David Weaver]

The big problem here is you should be using sheep lard!

I wouldn't waste any more time that what it takes to get the sole to a 220 grit. It needs to be flat not polished. But what do I know, most of my planes are wood (and they flatten up right quickly).

:D

I think there's a fallacy that whatever touches the wood will impart its finish level to the wood.

That's true of the edge of the iron (nicks, chips, etc will get transferred and a uniformly sharp blade will leave the best finish).

A plane sole doesn't transfer anything but the burrs to the surface that's being worked. You knock those off after you're done and you'll not be able to tell the difference on the surface between a plane finished with 80 grit with the burrs knocked off and one finished to 2000 grit wet and dry (other than perhaps the one with 2000 grit wet and dry might have more friction if it's not waxed).

The other thing you do when you carry the flattening through high grits is continue to work a flat bottom away from flat.

Should you ever get a rusty surface on a plane from disuse, you can quickly knock the rust off with the same glass plate. My glass plate cost me $20 at a glass shop - I asked for a cabinet shelf made of float glass, and they rounded the corners for me when I told them what I was going to do with it. 8x42. I have used it *a lot* to flatten old planes (wood or metal) and to lap several newly made infills. It also comes in handy for very coarse pitted iron flattening. I think a 10 yard roll of 4 inch Al ox paper (mirka) is about $18. That lasts a long time on the lap. Easily enough to flatten 15 cast iron planes that are way out of shape.

I wouldn't do an LN or LV plane on it with 80 grit, but I wouldn't do them at all, either, because lapping will just make them less flat.

[mason winston]

Alright, got it (mostly) smoothed to 220 grit, and that's a big difference compared to how it came from the box. I can already see that I'm going to need to replace the screw that holds the entire blade assembly together. It's also difficult to lock the blade down and have it sit evenly in the mouth - one side is almost always out just a hair more than the other. These seem to be common complaints as I've read more reviews...

On the plus side, the stock blade isn't terrible, but I will have to touch it up a little bit to maximize smooth, even cutting. The plane feels good in my hand, heavy and solid after I tighten everything down.

Noobie question: Should I be able to use this plane to shave wood glue (Titebond 3) off, along with the wood it's holding together? Do some (any) of you guys use your planes on glued surfaces?

[David Weaver]

You can use it on glue, it'll just dull the iron faster. Generally try to get most of the glue off by other means (chisel, scrape it off with an old plane iron, etc), but on things like dovetails, there will always be some.

[mason winston]

Cool. Thank you! :)