Corrugated or Smooth

[Juan Lauchu]

That last post I had was so informative that I actually sent in a donation to SMC:) There is just so much great information here! Thank you for the replies to my last thread.

So... as Mr. Lowe had said... Do I want corrugated or smooth on the bottom of my Smoothing plane? What about a jointer?

Thanks again!
Juan Lauchu

[Robert Rozaieski]

Whichever is cheaper :D.

[Eddie Darby]

I go with smooth, and if the going gets tough, then I get out the paraffin wax and the sole of the plane gets a squiggle. All that mass in the plane helps you in the cut, so why reduce it? The problem of friction is easily overcome by less than 1 cent of wax.

[Pedro Reyes]

Don't pay extra for either. I use wax anyway.

/p

[Thomas Knighton]

Six in one hand, half dozen in the other so far as I've been able to tell ;)

Tom

[gary Zimmel]

I would go with the smooth also. Wax is cheap... and I like the extra mass.

[Dave Anderson NH]

For a smoother, either option will work well. For a jointer plane I would recommend a smooth sole only. Since most of the work of a jointer is on board edges and they are narrow, the corrugations can make the plane unstable in use. Most corrugations are about 3/16" inch wide (plus or minus) and most dressed 4/4 stock is only 3/4" to a max of 7/8" if you're lucky. You could end up with as few as 3 areas of sole on the wood and the plane would want to teeter on the board. It's arecipe for ending up with edges almost impossible to square.

[Phillip Pattee]

Juan,
I have never seen anything explaining the advantages of a corrugated bottom plane that I found credible. The idea that it reduces friction was been debunked by science centuries ago--before corrugated planes were even manufactured. Friction is a product of the force that holds the surfaces together times the coefficient of friction for the materials in contact. The surface area in contact in irrelevant. As others have said, wax reduces friction.

The other reason I have seen is that it is easier to flatten the sole and maintain it flat. But the design demonstrates that it isn't important to have a completely flat sole. Only the key areas where corrugations are actually absent are important--where you have a clean flat surface running across the width of the plane. For that matter, think of corrugations as uniform and regularly spaced pitting put there on purpose. Most collectors, and those looking for a good user, will pass on a plane with a pitted bottom. You can get one in this condition for less money because of its poor condition, whereas a corrugated plane usually commands a slightly higher price. A pitted sole doesn't necessarily affect the overall useability of a plane. It will probably work just fine as long as the sole is flat in the key areas. Because pitting is generally confined to a portion of the sole and is also random, it does not cause the registering problems that Dave pointed out. In summary -- it probably doesn't matter and don't be afraid to take a chance on a bargain plane that looks pretty shabby. As long as you can be consistent with it, you can produce flat surfaces.

[Greg Crawford]

I had read that the corrugations can relieve tension in the casting. With the old castings and the way they were aged, I don't know if this comes in to play or not. Dave brings up a great point about jointing. I have enough trouble with a flat sole! How about trying to free-hand a chamfer with a corregated sole? Yuk!

Greg

[Tim Sgrazzutti]

I don't have any corrugated planes. I use a bar of wax, and holding a corner of it to the plane sole, squiggle it on in a serpentine path. Wouldn't be possible to wax a corrugated sole like this. Then again, if you filled up the corrugations with wax, I guess the sole would be "self waxing." Hmm...........note to self, buy corrugated smoother to test theory.

[Frederick Rowe]

Phillip nailed it. Friction is independent of area. It probably seems counter intuitive, but is true - absent other forces acting on the body in motion.

Good link to video demonstration of daVinci's law.

http://www.nano-world.org/frictionmodule/content/0200makroreibung/0100leonardo/?lang=en

The little known corollary to daVinci's law addresses the logical follow up question of "Why then would Lie Nielsen charge extra to corrugate a flat bench plane?" Answer: Because people will pay for it.

Class dismissed.

[Mark Stutz]

Get whichever one you like the best!;):D Some people think the corrugated ones have a:cool::cool:factor.:confused: I don't know. Whichever comes first? Whichever is cheapest? I can't tell a difference in use.

[Marcus Ward]

This isn't really an issue because the mouth, toe, and heel are not corrugated. The mouth especially is the important bearing surface and will hold it in registration even if a corrugation is riding on the edge. Sort of an a priori analysis that doesn't hold up in use. I've never had a problem with instability working with a corrugated plane.



For a smoother, either option will work well. For a jointer plane I would recommend a smooth sole only. Since most of the work of a jointer is on board edges and they are narrow, the corrugations can make the plane unstable in use. Most corrugations are about 3/16" inch wide (plus or minus) and most dressed 4/4 stock is only 3/4" to a max of 7/8" if you're lucky. You could end up with as few as 3 areas of sole on the wood and the plane would want to teeter on the board. It's arecipe for ending up with edges almost impossible to square.

[Mike Cutler]

"Why then would Lie Nielsen charge extra to corrugate a flat bench plane?" Answer: Because people will pay for it.


Not quite.;)

The real question is why would people pay for it, not why LN would charge more for it.
To corrugate the sole requires extra time and setup steps in the machining process. Time=Money. They should charge you more for it.

Cool link you provided.

[Frederick Rowe]

Not quite.;)

The real question is why would people pay for it, not why LN would charge more for it.
To corrugate the sole requires extra time and setup steps in the machining process. Time=Money. They should charge you more for it.

Cool link you provided.

I stand corrected. I was momentarily distracted after calculating the coefficient of friction between a well heeled wallet and a LN #7 Corrugated Bench Plane.

[Mike Cutler]

I stand corrected. I was momentarily distracted after calculating the coefficient of friction between a well heeled wallet and a LN #7 Corrugated Bench Plane.


They are big $$$ and there is some serious "stiction" in the wallet mechanism.;)

[Mark Singer]

I perfer smooth