So you haven't tried actually using the plane yet? You should sharpen the iron, stick it back in the plane, and use it for a while. Then decide if there's still a problem, based on _performance_, and work from there. This will potentially save you a boatload of time. In fact, it will take barely any time at all.
BTW, how do you measure the flatness of a 24" plane with a 12" bar, and how do you know the bar is straight? Likewise, how do you know the marble threshold is flat, with a 12" bar? You could be introducing a systemic error to all your planes.
I don't remember that editorial by Chuck. I agree that flat is good enough and that is all I want with my #8. Can I do it by hand like I have done with so many other planes? I don't think so. So I'm hoping Tom will get it flat and then I can make it shiny, sharpen the iron, and put it back to making shavings. And that will put my happy face back on.
Makes me wish I had a big jointer because my tablesaw isn't much bigger then the length of the #8.
Stay away from the edges of your plane if your going to lap it on a surface plate, otherwise you will make the sole convex.
Tom
Since this thread keeps going, could the OP please post a picture with a straightedge to illustrate how big the hump is and where it is located?
Last edited by Pat Barry; 08-08-2019 at 5:50 PM.
I did try the plane out of the box with the iron as I received it. It made shavings on pine. I want to clean it up and make it shiny like all the planes I have done.
The 12" flat bar is a precision 12" one I got from Lee Valley. It rocks when it is placed behind the mouth of the plane which I take to be a hump. As for the marble threshold, I have never checked it for flatness. It looks and feels flat and I use it as it is. I haven't had any problems with the other planes I have rehabbed on it and I have done 41 so far and I have 6 more waiting to take their turn on it.
Plane soles don't need to be flat.
If for some reason you want it flat, you need to know how to check it for flat.
And to check for flat you need to have reference surface.
You can scrape, grind, or sand, it doesn't matter what way you remove excess metal.
Scraping can be done with an electric or manual scraper, you can buy or make a manual scraper.
Grinding can be done on a surface grinder, it can also be done with an angle grinder, a die grinder or a little Dremmel grinder.
You need to understand what flat is, and what you are trying to do, it would be nice if you had a reason for doing it, because it has nothing to do with the function.
Buy a granite surface plate with a certificate, would be a start. (Not that it is absolutely essential)
A good (full length) straight edge would be sufficient.
why not just buff it if all you need is nice and shiny
here's the German take on plane flatness and how to measure it:
https://www.fine-tools.com/rechtwink...ei-hobeln.html
People who buy our planes quite often complain about the flatness of the soles and their perpendicularity to the sides of the planes. When we come to check these planes we find that in most cases the complaints are unfounded because the planes are perfectly alright. How do these discrepancies arise?
Exactly. I posted up a thread in General woodworking titled ‘metrology for the cabinetmaker’. It takes at least a surface plate, an accurate square that is checked for accuracy (not scribe and flip method, but checked against a true reference like a cylinder square) and feeler gauges.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
I have tried to post pics but I can't. I don't know why but SMC for whatever reason doesn't recognize my pic files.
Will do but hopefully I'll get it ground before that happens.