corrugated or plain plane bottoms???

[Ray Knight]

I am looking at some old stanley planes. Some have corrugated or grooved bottoms, some flat milled bottoms. What is the functional issue here. It seems like it should be more than an issue of weight. Thanks Ray Knight

[harry strasil]

Corrugated bottom Iron Plane = Plane makers attempt to cut the friction factor of iron on wood and make the Iron Planes push easier like the old All Wood or Transitional Planes that were their predecessor.

[harry strasil]

Traditionally, Woodie Planes were either hung in a container of Linseed oil or the mouth was plugged with putty and the blade and chip cavity filled with linseed oil till the wood would absorb no more oil. This increased the weight of the all wood plane and also had a lubricating effect on the sole. Some old woodworkers cut the bottom from a glass bottle with the old burning string trick and then rolled up a narrow length of felt that they stuffed into the bottle bottom and saturated it with linseed oil and had it embebeded in a suitable board and held on the work bench so that they could drag the plane sole across it on the back stroke when ever the plane began to push hard, or they kept a candle or some beeswax handy to make a snake trail line down the sole to decrease friction. The felt idea took less time. When Iron planes came about, the friction between the wood and plane was greater and the two lubricating processes were kept up with the new Modern planes. I imagine there was lots of complaining from the older WWers to the company, thus the corrugation to keep satisfied customers.

An old woody that has been taken care of and not left to dry out from non use will weigh more than its iron counterpart.

[David Stonner]

harry, would you mind filling us in on the burning string trick? sounds intriguing.

dave

[harry strasil]

take a string saturated with some sort of oil or alcohol and tie it around a glass bottle, after it burns out or you blow it when its almost done, stick the bottom of the bottle in a container of cold water and the bottom will pop off. You can do the same thing with a glass cutter score mark around a bottle, then hold it over a lit candle and slowly turn the bottle and heat the score mark. stick it in some cold water and the bottom pops off.

[harry strasil]

Once you learn how to adjust a Woody and use them, if given the choice between a Woody, Transitional or Iron Plane, you will pick up a Woody or Transitional every time. I have 2 usable iron planes, a Sargent smoother and a KeenKutter jointer. The reside in a drawer most of the time. I do have iron planes I do use, but they are specailty planes.

[Mike Henderson]

I have some very good wooden planes but the transitional planes I've owned or handled have not been top quality planes. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I've given up on transitionals.

Mike

[Mark Singer]

I prefer the smooth bottom. I am used to the resistance and it will work at inclined angles on edges if you elevate it.....

[Kent Parker]

Ray,

I come from a boatbuilding background and have made and repaired a number of wood masts out of spruce or douglas fir. Having to push a long joiner plane multiple times for the length of a long mast, i always grabbed my corregated joiner. I would polish up the bottom and even wax the sole with beeswax during the inital cuts to make it slide easier. I makes a difference at the end of the day.

Cheers,

Kent

[Bill Houghton]

Friction should be roughly identical between a corrugated and non-corrugated sole, all else being equal, because the weight on the surface is the same - distributed over less sole surface on the corrugated plane, but not by much.

Some assert that the corrugations hold (and, presumably, dole out) wax to the sole. Not so sure - waxing a plain metal sole lasts a long time, and doesn't take long.

I have a few corrugated-sole planes in an arsenal of mostly smooth-sole planes, and have found that, while planing edges, a corrugated sole can self-steer, like running your bicycle at too small an angle to railroad tracks (or riding a motorcycle over those cheese-grater metal bridges once popular in the Midwest - I still have vivid, almost physical memories of my first encounter on two wheels with one of those, on an interstate at rush hour in Toledo, OH). It's not, however, a deal-breaker for me. Given an otherwise equal choice, I'd buy a smooth sole plane, even in the larger sizes; given a choice between a marginal smooth sole and a great corrugated, or a $50 smooth sole and $5 corrugated, I'd go with the corrugated sole.

[Jesse Cloud]

OK, the real practial difference is how much work its going to be to get the bottom of that old Stanley flat. If you have a long plane, it can be some serious work to flatten the sole. Corrugated planes have less surface per length, so its less work to flatten them. And that's a good thing!;)

[gary Zimmel]

Another Theory

Corregated has less iron,

less iron less weight,

less weight means less momentum,

less momentum means more push...

Remember though just another theory...

[Mike Henderson]

I don't feel any difference in use between a corrugated plane and a non-corrugated plane, but I like the look of the corrugated sole so I mostly buy those. Just one of my irrational preferences.

Mike

[Chuck Hamman]

rolled up a narrow length of felt that they stuffed into the bottle bottom and saturated it with linseed oil and had it embebeded in a suitable board and held on the work bench so that they could drag the plane sole across it on the back stroke

Note that Harry said linseed oil. Do not use boiled linseed oil for this or you just might burn your shop down.

[Jake Darvall]

Don't think it really matters too much. Its easy enough to rub on a bit of wax or something like anyhow if the thought bothers you.

What influences the ease of cut moreso are things like......sharp blade, wheather or not your too tired to bother pushing this thing, blade setting. Trying to take too coarse of a cut...the timber type...How you hold your tongue (very important) ...the grain orientation and whether or not you've taken the right path...reading it right. .... etc. etc.

[Lewis Moon]

If there is a difference, it is probably minimal. It could probably be sussed out by taking two Stanley #5s, one corregated and one smooth, weighing each and adding "ballast" to whichever is lighter, retracting the blades and then using a scale/weight/whatever to see the ammount of pressure needed to move each on a piece of wood and to keep each in motion.
I bet any difference could be easily overcome by building and using a parrafin block holder on your bench. I just keep a candle in my apron pocket and rub the sole every once in a while.

[Preston Baxter]

The classical physics demonstration for this uses a metal bar that has a slot milled in one side creating two "skates". The bar is attached to a spring scale with a string. The bar is dragged across a surface noting the force required with the skate side down. It is then is turned over to the flat non skated side, and the same test repeated. The result is equal pull forces for both tests.
The corrugated sole was probably just a marketing gimmick by Stanley. However, I have heard that it may have been developed for use on resinous woods, where the resin would have an adhesive affect.