Squaring up sides & bottom of plane

[Anthony Scott]

I have a Stanley #5 in pretty good cosmetic shape. However the bottom and sides are not square. It looks like there needs to be a good amount removed to bring them square maybe as much 1/16" in some spots.
What is the best and/or quickest way to do this? It seems like sandpaper will take forever.
Thanks

[Chuck Nickerson]

If the bottom is flat, the sides only need to be square to the bottom if you're going to use the plane on a shooting board.

[David Weaver]

Seems like a good place to apply george's idea in another post - stick a piece of sacrificial wood to the side of the plane if you want to use it on a shoot board and plane the wood to square.

You might be able to lap it, file it, etc closer to square, but you won't get it perfect by hand and you definitely don't want to remove a 16th from anywhere on the plane other than length if you don't have to do it.

Maybe find another plane for a shoot board and put that one aside for general work.

[Anthony Scott]

So if I hold the blade of my 6" combo square against the bottom of the plane and register the head on the side of the plane I would say there is about a 1/16" gap at the bottom of the side (near the bottom of the plane).
Is that easier to correct?

[Don Dorn]

I think that a 16" over that short of a distance is way too much. Therefore, I would abide by the other suggestion that it should be used for general planing as it isn't an issue for that task. If you are going to use a plane for shooting, I'd save my pennies and buy a low angle jack from either Lie Nielsen or Lee Valley. Either of those will come square and low angle planes are very good on end grain and they are easier to hold on a shooting board.

[Robert G Brown]

I have a Stanley #5 with the same problem. Read somewhere to use the lateral lever to adjust the blade square to the plane's side. That works for me when using on shooting board.

[Anthony Scott]

Ah, good idea.

[Zach England]

If you really wanted to use it on a shooting board you could modify the shooting board to accommodate it. I have squared planes on my stationary belt sander since it has a table perpendicular to the belt, but if your plane is like my vintage Stanley planes then 1/16" is more material than you can remove without sacrificing the structural integrity of the plane.

[Steve Friedman]

Tom Bussey (Tablesaw Tom) will flatten the soles and sides to amazing tolerance and for a very reasonable price. Not sure if he posts here, but he does on WN. He also has a website www.tablesawtom.com

Steve

[Jim Koepke]

Anthony,

Have you tried using the plane on a shooting board?

If the lateral lever will not bring the piece being worked into square, then a different plane might be a better solution.

jtk

[Dale Cruea]

I never try to square my sides to the bottom. I will try to flatten the sides a little if I am going to use them on a shooting board.

[Gary Kman]

A precision surface grinder is the tool for the job and are common in machine shops. Had a Record 7 done myself. Grizzly sells one G3155. Electromagnet holds the work to a table that travels back and forth under a grinding wheel. Accuracy to under 0.001" flatness. Make up some nice file handles for the machinist and offer a trade.