Corrugated sole

[Mr T]

Hi

I've just bought a Stanley 5 1/2 with a corrugated sole on ebay. I've not used one of these before and wanted to try one. Does anyone know why they were produced. It seems a good idea, less friction, easier to flatten (but possibly more prone to move). I suppose if they worked well there would be more of them around.

Chris

 

[Paul Chapman]

I think it was to reduce the suction effect where the plane can lift the wood when you get the surface dead flat.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Mr T]

Yes a common problem Paul.

 

[bugbear]

They are widely asserted to reduce friction on resinous woods.

BugBear

 

[Vann]

When I started my apprenticeship in 1973 we were all given Stanley catalogues (probably by someone with a vested interest). I recall seeing corrigated sole planes listed and IIRC they were aimed at people planing wood that still contained sap.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Patrick Leach discusses it on his Blood & Gore site http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Argus]

.


It seems that they were a friction-reduction idea, at an extra cost, but if there's any sticky stuff around they do (in my experience) tend to clog up.

My Grandad's trick was to polish the plane soles with brasso or metal polish occasionally.
I've carried on the trick, but I now use Autosol. In time you get a very slippy, reduced-friction action. with the addition of a little oil from an oil pad, you can concentrate on the cut, rather than wrestling a plane along a surface it wants to adhere to.

Worth a try.

.

 

[jimi43]

Apparently it's friction reduction but I sure as hell don't care because I am not getting rid of my little gem anytime soon...my favourite little No.4 of all time...

...corrugated sole and all...

...a right nice little performer...

Yeh...I know...I've mentioned this loads of times before...but ya just have to don'tcha! 8)

Jim

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Jim, two of my favourites are a no.4 and a no.6 , both corrugated (a little newer than yours, but hey ho! still rosewood)

 

[newt]

I have always understood that surface area is not directly related to friction, the surface condition (coefficient of friction µ) and the pressure are mainly responsible. An A level physics experiment of a body on an inclined plane demonstrated this, however a temperature rise can increase friction and therefore a larger area would dissipate heat faster, so there is some relationship.

 

[dickm]

Agree with newt on this, at least from basic theory. Whether there is a difference in practice, can't tell; there doesn't seem to be any difference between my flat soled Record No 5 and a corrugated sole Stanley 5 ($3 plus sales tax from an "antique" shop in Ohio )

 

[James C]

The coefficient of friction is only independent of surface area when taking into account low surface pressure.

Apparently

 

[Argus]

.

Dunno about all that.

Planes perform better with a little bit of oil to smooth the sole and metal ones work even better with a good ol' polish first.
Less work, you see, and I know, because the arthritis in my hands tell me so.

All best

 

[newt]

.

Dunno about all that.

Planes perform better with a little bit of oil to smooth the sole and metal ones work even better with a good ol' polish first.
Less work, you see, and I know, because the arthritis in my hands tell me so.

All best

Agreed, that is because by lubricating the sole the coefficient of friction has been reduced.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I was always under the impression that they were to help when working resinous woods, so went to have a look in an old Record Planecraft book to confirm this. I was surprised to find, that although resinous wood were breifly mentioned the main reason given was to allow air under the plane so as to prevent a vacuum forming as and I quote ' It is sometimes found that when planing thin and comparitively wide boards that, as the surface becomes true, a suction is created between the surface of the board and the sole of the plane, due to a combination of an accurately machined and practically non-wearing sole and accurate work on the part of the user.' Aparently 'the suction could be enough to lift the board, in favourable conditions.' I know Veritas do some good April fools, but that has to be the best yet!

It does go to show, however, that plane soles must have been machined very flat indeed in 1934. Modern planes having soles ground to a thou is not just a fashion thing, after all.

Mike.

 

[newt]

Hello,

I was always under the impression that they were to help when working resinous woods, so went to have a look in an old Record Planecraft book to confirm this. I was surprised to find, that although resinous wood were breifly mentioned the main reason given was to allow air under the plane so as to prevent a vacuum forming as and I quote ' It is sometimes found that when planing thin and comparitively wide boards that, as the surface becomes true, a suction is created between the surface of the board and the sole of the plane, due to a combination of an accurately machined and practically non-wearing sole and accurate work on the part of the user.' Aparently 'the suction could be enough to lift the board, in favourable conditions.' I know Veritas do some good April fools, but that has to be the best yet!

It does go to show, however, that plane soles must have been machined very flat indeed in 1934. Modern planes having soles ground to a thou is not just a fashion thing, after all.

Mike.

I think you will see that Paul Chapman suggested the suction issue above.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Aparently 'the suction could be enough to lift the board, in favourable conditions.' I know Veritas do some good April fools, but that has to be the best yet!

It's no joke, Mike. I have experienced this suction effect when planing, which is why I suggested that was one of the main reasons for corrugated soles.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbrains]

Hi.

I have always held a board down when planing, simpler to do than corrugating a planes sole to overcome that problem. My main point was to underline the fact that planes soles were in fact flat in the old days. Something many here think was a myth.

Mike.

 

[soulboy]

a corrugated sole Stanley 5 ($3 plus sales tax from an "antique" shop in Ohio )

shouldn't we have had a warning prior to this stealth gloat, Dick?
chris