Grinding the sole of a plane

[Dwain Lambrigger]

All,

I apologize if this has been asked before. I am taking an old block plane to a machine shop because it has a deep groove in the sole. I am going to ask them to grind the sole perfectly flat, and 90 degrees to the sides (cheeks?) Is this a mistake? I have heard about using sandpaper, but I ground it for 30 minutes using 100 grit to no avail. I thought that if they can keep it perfectly flat, and square, I would be ok. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance for the expertise. This newbie really appreciates it.

[Alex Shanku]

How deep/bad is the groove? I would be concerned about opening up the mouth of the plane too much as a result of machining the sole.

[Mike Henderson]

Rod maker's planes had a groove in the sole. If that's what it is, it won't hurt anything and is an "extra feature". Look on the LN site at the block planes and they talk about machining a groove on their block planes for rod making. It's an extra cost option.

Mike

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi Dwain,

A groove won't affect how the plane performs, it's more a case of flatness. (In terms of how the plane sits on the work.)

You can always add extra grooves and put a "C" after the model number.:D

Assuming that the groove is along the length of the plane, of course.

That said, if you want to square it up, and re-machine the sole, I would look for a machine shop with a good surface grinder. And just take the minimum amount off.

Does it have an adjustable mouth? If not, as Alex said, the downside of what you are proposing is that the mouth opening will be greater, and that might affect performance much more than any benefit you could get from removing the groove..


Regards
Ray

[Dwain Lambrigger]

I don't have a way to measure the depth of the groove, however, it leaves marks in wood when used. It doesn't have an adjustable mouth, and the length of the groove (scratch) is about an inch and a half or so...

[philip marcou]

All,

I apologize if this has been asked before. I am taking an old block plane to a machine shop because it has a deep groove in the sole. I am going to ask them to grind the sole perfectly flat, and 90 degrees to the sides (cheeks?) Is this a mistake? I have heard about using sandpaper, but I ground it for 30 minutes using 100 grit to no avail. I thought that if they can keep it perfectly flat, and square, I would be ok. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance for the expertise. This newbie really appreciates it.

Dwain,
If you end up taking it to a machinist to be surface ground a competent operator of this machine will ensure:-
1)That the plane is secured on the magnetic table in such a way that the plane is not deformed by any undue clamping pressure. It is normal to hold the work in a precision vice (not the same thing as a drill press vice) and the vice sits on the magnetic table aka chuck.
2)The first surface to do is the sole, which is then used to reference against in that vice when the plane is rotated 90 degrees to do the first side.
3)Once the first side has been ground the plane is set directly onto the magnetic table and the machine will surface this one exactly square to the sole and parallel to the first side-that is if that machine is accurate .
4)That he will at all times take off the least amount of material in order to obtain a uniform surface.
Some other notes:-
a)It does not always follow that sole grinding is going to enlarge the mouth gap- it depends upon the shape of the mouth: if fore and aft edges are "stepped "at 90 degrees before tapering to ramp and mouth opening there will be no effect. Anyway, grinding say 5 thou off the sole will not make a material difference to any mouth opening.
b)Surface grinding a small plane like that is going to extremes-you should be able to lap a small cast iron area like that easily and quickly-but that is another subject....
c)If you decide to go to the machinist it will useful if you can watch-so that you can see what effect your attempts with sand paper had (;).
Philip Marcou www.marcouplanes.co.nz

[Jim Koepke]

Philip gave some good information.

My thoughts is that it may cost more for a machinist to do this job than what a replacement plane would cost. Unless the plane in question is something special, a tour of that old auction site might be a money $aver here.

jim

[Frank Drew]

I agree with Jim that this might end up costing a fair amount of money; machinists rightly charge a good fee for their time and equipment.

[Ben Fleis]

You might also consider lapping the sole "flat enough" to get rid of the scratching burrs, and then hand sand around the groove to make sure it never scratches again. As mentioned, it only matters if the surface is completely stable, and that the plane fore mouth has wood contact across its length.

Also, I suppose it's possible to epoxy fill the groove as well, although I have no idea how tacky the epoxy would be... if you properly wax your plane sole when using, it should be a non factor...

[Chuck Nickerson]

Here in southern California, having that done at the right shop costs $25. For me, that's well worth it.

[Joel Goodman]

Not to hijack the thread -- I'm also in so cal and would like to get the name of a machine shop for surface grinding that a fellow Creeker has used.

[Johnny Kleso]

As for grooves in bottom they make bench planes with grooved bottoms and they cost extra for it...

As for grinding if you can get it done for free go for it but if you have to find a shop and pay you will spend more time driving to the shop I bet that it would take to flatten the sole...

I have ground dozens of bench planes when I was still able to work 40 hrs a week and for big planes its a blessing but for a block plane should not take to long at all with some elbow grease..

[Rob Lee]

Hi -

When we "regrind" the scratched soles on planes - we just swap the body... it costs less to do.... :) :)

Rob
(don't tell anyone.....)

[philip marcou]

Hi -

When we "regrind" the scratched soles on planes - we just swap the body... it costs less to do.... :) :)

Rob
(don't tell anyone.....)


Wot-you mean you don't just melt them down and re-cast?;)

[Chuck Nickerson]

In Southern California: RO-LA Grinding, Culver City, 310-397-9718.
No financial interest, just a very satisfied party.

[Joel Goodman]

Thanks for the referral -- I'm in not too far from them.