Flattening the back of a plane iron

[Andrew Fleck]

I thought I would post this up for anybody who may be struggling with getting the back of their plane irons flat. David Weaver really helped me out a lot when he sent me a link to a post he had written some time ago. Some of you probably remember the one where he made basically a block of wood with handles that you bolt your plane iron to. I took his advice and made one for myself. That made a world of difference for me.

For those reading that have never seen this, just bolt your iron to the block. This lets you put a lot of even pressure down on the blade and cut a significant amount of time off of your flattening process. I use a granite block with glued on sandpaper to do the initial work on the iron. I then take it to waterstones to polish it up.

It was literally taking me hours to get some of my irons somewhat flat. This reduced it to about 10 minutes.

In case anybody is wondering about the rasp in the picture, it is a old Nicholson Platers Special. It's a farriers rasp that really eats wood fast. I used it to shape the handles. Thanks again Dave.

[Frederick Skelly]

Yes, David taught me the same a while back. I agree that it makes a big difference.
Fred

[Patrick Bernardo]

The bolts look like a great idea. This is a great tip!

I've been using a plain old stick, to which I've just held the blade with my hands - a tip which I picked up from the Finck book. Sometimes the blade wants to slip around, though, so the bolts would help a lot. And it's true - the amount of time saved is significant.

As an aside - are you using spray adhesive to stick on your sandpaper? If so, which one? I hate the stuff, and would love to find a replacement, but it's also possible I'm using the wrong one. It's just messy and a real PITA to scrape off when all is said and done. (I'm using the 3M 77 adhesive.)

[Andrew Fleck]

The bolts look like a great idea. This is a great tip!

I've been using a plain old stick, to which I've just held the blade with my hands - a tip which I picked up from the Finck book. Sometimes the blade wants to slip around, though, so the bolts would help a lot. And it's true - the amount of time saved is significant.

As an aside - are you using spray adhesive to stick on your sandpaper? If so, which one? I hate the stuff, and would love to find a replacement, but it's also possible I'm using the wrong one. It's just messy and a real PITA to scrape off when all is said and done. (I'm using the 3M 77 adhesive.)


I just use Loctite general purpose light spray adhesive. Its works good for me, but I'm sure your 3M stuff is fine. Just use some mineral spirits to clean it off. It wipes right off without any scraping at all for me. I cut my strip of sandpaper to the desired width and then spray the back of the paper with a light spray.

[David Weaver]

Glad you guys are using it, it's a finger and time saver. Someone should submit it to one of the magazines as a tip sometime. I wouldn't be offended.

It's just a free way to make a version of a jig like the tsunesaburo wedge jig (which doesn't work with western slotted irons, anyway). I got the idea from watching a japanese planemaker slap a new iron into a wooden shop made wedged jig as part of the production process and haul off on it high speed on a large long aluminum oxide stone - flattening the back by hand.

Makes the newer common stuff quick to set up, and the vintage planes that you'd otherwise pass by can be conditioned unless they are really deeply pitted or abused.