Anyone here precision grind soles via machine and restore hand planes?

[David Kuzdrall]

I have a corrugated Stanley no 5 plane with a broken tote and quite a bit of wear and tear that I would like to get back into shape. It is a special tool given to me by a friend that has since passed away and it was given to me specifically for the purpose of being used, not just looked at.

it has a particularly tight mouth so I plan to put a back bevel on the iron and use it as a high cutting angle "fine" jack plane. I am short on time at the moment and am looking to have at least the metal work cleaned up, sole precision ground flat and sides squared by an appropriate person, on appropriate equipment. I can likely shape a new tote or swap one from a parts plane if necessary.

thx

[Mike Henderson]

Around here, almost any machine shop can grind a sole flat. There are a few places that do old planes on a regular basis, but any good machinist can do it. A place that does it regularly may offer you a lower price.

Mike

[Bill Satko]

Tom Bussey or Tablesaw Tom as he is known over at Woodnet. He is an retired machinist that buys old planes and refurbishes them by grinding them flat and the truing the sides. He will provide the service you are looking for. I believe his website is www.tablesawtom.com (http://www.tablesawtom.com/) or you can contact him at the Woodnet or Family Woodworking forums. I don't know if he is a member here.

[Leigh Betsch]

What is the length of the sole? My surface grinder is a 6x12, if it fits within that envelope I can help you out.

[Ray Bohn]

Tom Bussey or Tablesaw Tom as he is known over at Woodnet. He is an retired machinist that buys old planes and refurbishes them by grinding them flat and the truing the sides. He will provide the service you are looking for. I believe his website is www.tablesawtom.com (http://www.tablesawtom.com/) or you can contact him at the Woodnet or Family Woodworking forums. I don't know if he is a member here.

Tom has flattened two planes for me and a third was just worked. They work much better than before he did his magic. He also mills the blade if you send it.

He provides great customer service- he emailed to tell me that, now that he has worked my third plane (605 1/2), it is worth much more than I sent for insurance. He wanted to make sure it had the correct coverage before he sent it back to me.

You can contact him tablesawtom@hotmail.com

[Tony Zaffuto]

I have a machine shop in my manufacturing plant and have had one of my machinists flatten soles for me. Works very well if done correctly and with an appropriate blade & chipbreaker, your plane will be supercharged.

If going to do it, you need to have someone familiar with operating a surface grinder to make sure the plane is fixtured correctly. If you plan to use the plane to shooting, you can also have the sides of the sole ground square.

I don't know "TablesawTom", however, I have read his description of how he grinds and I would use him in a heartbeat.

[David Kuzdrall]

Thanks for all the replies, I will contact Tom and see what happens and thanks to the others who also offered up their help.

i think tom has a smoother listed in the classifieds that looks great so hopefully he can work on my as well.

thx

[Chris Fournier]

Send the complete plane so that the grinding can be done while the frog is installed and the lever cap tensioned.

[Chris Vandiver]

Send the complete plane so that the grinding can be done while the frog is installed and the lever cap tensioned.

I could be wrong but I don't think that using a surface grinder with the frog installed in the body is a practical application. All that I have ever seen done are with the body alone.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Would be very difficult to fixture/hold with the frog installed. If anyone feels compelled to get to the "n-th" degree of flatness, have to sole surface ground, then re-install the frog, blade etc., and then do a final "honing" on Sc paper affixed to a granite plate.

As a point of fact, planes I have had ground, have checked out flat after I re-installed the frog, blade etc. Checking was done with a Starret straight-edge held on the sole, looking for light.

[Brian Holcombe]

Is it advisable to use a fly cutter in a mill to do this?

[Tony Zaffuto]

Is it advisable to use a fly cutter in a mill to do this?

A guy who claimed he was a toolmaker (generally a step or two above machinist) who worked for me, did a plane for me using a mill, though I can't say what kind of cutter was used. I had given him explicit instructions to grind the sole, but on his own, he chose the mill. I did not find the job to be nearly as good as grinding.

The guy was let go (not for this) several months afterward.

[Curt Putnam]

Thanks for all the replies, I will contact Tom and see what happens and thanks to the others who also offered up their help.

i think tom has a smoother listed in the classifieds that looks great so hopefully he can work on my as well.

thx

I have a Bailey # 4 and roundside 608 that Tom has done and could not be happier. I've put an LV O1 blade & chipbreaker in the # 4 and have gotten but not yet used a PM-V11 blade & chipbreaker combo for the # 8.

[Leigh Betsch]

Would be very difficult to fixture/hold with the frog installed.

Not hard at all. Just clamp it to an angle plate, indicate it square.

[Chris Fournier]

Not hard at all. Just clamp it to an angle plate, indicate it square.

I agree with Leigh, this isn't hard to do at all and you might as well if you want the best possible outcome. You can indicate in some pretty funky stuff with success if you take your time. There is no reason that a proper job with a fly cutter would not work quite nicely. The surface finish would be coarser than a ground finish but grinding is tricky and heat can really mess up a job if the machinist is not careful. Folks love ground finishes because they look so nice, they can however be as flat as potato chips and look nice. Of course you can monkey up a surface with a fly cutter too...

[Ray Bohn]

Would be very difficult to fixture/hold with the frog installed. If anyone feels compelled to get to the "n-th" degree of flatness, have to sole surface ground, then re-install the frog, blade etc., and then do a final "honing" on Sc paper affixed to a granite plate.

As a point of fact, planes I have had ground, have checked out flat after I re-installed the frog, blade etc. Checking was done with a Starret straight-edge held on the sole, looking for light.

I think that you will find that TablesawTom will request that you do not send the frog.