I am about at the end of my rope with this. I have been experimenting with my fairly recently acquired stash of Stanley planes. I have a #3, #4 and #5. I have lapped the soles, tuned as best I can and sharpened the blades. I have replaced the blades with Hocks.
Most of my practice has been on soft (cheap!) big box wood. I have watched and purchased videos on using and tuning planes. I have not had any personal hands-on instruction, training or even observation.
With all the being said, nothing I have tried has eliminated the predictable occurrence of scratches when I perform what should be the smoothing of a surface. It doesn't matter how thin the shavings are, what angle I plane at or what plane I use (mostly the #3 and #4).
One of the original blades on the #4 had some pretty significant camber on the corners and even that blade leaves scratches in the surface. They are wavy lines. I can't figure out exactly where they come from.
I call myself checking the depth of the blade for consistency and I am pretty sure the soles are flat.
I am out of ideas. I don't want to spend $200 - $300 on a new e LV or LN and still wind up with the same problems. If it's me and my lack of talent (highly likely!), no tool is going to help.
Is there anything I am missing? Is it time to ebay the whole lot of them and go back to sanding? I really enjoy planing and producing shavings. But the end result is less than satisfying.
Thanks.
-Walter