Plane Sole Scratches

[Nikolaj33]

HI,

I just got a nice looking Stanley 4 from ebay. I have zero experience with tool restoration though. One thing that isn't looking great is that the sole has some scratches. When dragging my finger going up and down the surface it seems really smooth. I am wondering whether I must try to remove these scratches? Some of them look deep to the eye.

Thank you

 

[Bod]

Remove the blade.
Run a flat oil stone lightly over the sides and sole. Not heavily, just enough to find and remove any burrs, or raised areas, (think of the raised ring around a centre punch dot.)
Sharpen and replace blade, try on an easy flat piece, look for scratches along the path of the plane.
The sole doesn't need to be prefect, just smooth to the feel.

Bod

 

[AndyT]

That looks like ordinary wear. A plane used on narrow edges will be a bit more marked in the middle like that.
So don't assume that it's a problem which needs fixing.
Sharpen the iron and try it out. It will probably be fine. Come back with details if it's not.

 

[Nikolaj33]

Thanks for that. I will continue working on it tonight.

 

[worn thumbs]

Those marks look like the surface of a machining operation to flatten the sole of the plane when it was new.The shinier part of the sole is the part that has become polished by use , indicating a slight hollow.Its a fairly trivial imperfection and please keep in mind that the corrugated sole planes had much deeper channels.Additionally,a mirror finish will increase the amount of material in contact with the wood you are planing and hence increase the friction.

If you feel it is necessary to improve the flatness,it isn't a huge job and does need to be done with care as rocking the plane can produce the much less desirable fault of a convex sole.

 

[Jacob]

HI,

I just got a nice looking Stanley 4 from ebay. I have zero experience with tool restoration though. One thing that isn't looking great is that the sole has some scratches. When dragging my finger going up and down the surface it seems really smooth. I am wondering whether I must try to remove these scratches? Some of them look deep to the eye.

Thank you

Looks OK to me - doesn't need "restoration".
I'd do nothing except sharpen, set, squiggle of candlewax. Then try it out.
Otherwise the thing most often wrong with old metal planes is the frog being out of alignment with the mouth, either by mistake or someone following dubious advice about opening/closing the mouth.
The face of the frog and back of mouth need to be dead flat in line to give maximum support to the blade.

 

[FaecesForBrains]

Might be a bit hollow from side-to-side. But the first thing to do is plane wood with it to see how it works, after sharpening up of course.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Its a fairly trivial imperfection and please keep in mind that the corrugated sole planes had much deeper channels.Additionally,a mirror finish will increase the amount of material in contact with the wood you are planing and hence increase the friction.

The designers of these corrugated sole planed obviously drifted off during physics lessons at school. Friction does not depend on the contact area. If you reduce the contact area whilst keeping the normal forces the same, the force is now spread over less contact area, so the pressure on the areas remaining in contact increases - the area cancels out.

Edited to add - agree with Jacob, candle wax and use is probably all that is required (dare I add it might need a sharpen ? :lol: ) . Bit worried about the two marks visible at either side of the mouth - has someone been at it in order to make a thicker iron fit ? I presume it is pen and not a crack.

 

[Nigel Burden]

I picked up a no4 at a car boot sale for a couple of quid, a bit rusty but generally looked ok. When I got it home and cleaned it up the sole had 1/8 inch cracks on the rear of the mouth on either side and the sole was relatively scratch free. The blade was fairly heavily cambered so I assumed the previous owner used it as a scrub plane, and it actually performs well as such. It actually doesn't seem to mark the wood.

Nigel.

 

[FaecesForBrains]

Its a fairly trivial imperfection and please keep in mind that the corrugated sole planes had much deeper channels.Additionally,a mirror finish will increase the amount of material in contact with the wood you are planing and hence increase the friction.

The designers of these corrugated sole planed obviously drifted off during physics lessons at school. Friction does not depend on the contact area. If you reduce the contact area whilst keeping the normal forces the same, the force is now spread over less contact area, so the pressure on the areas remaining in contact increases - the area cancels out.

Edited to add - agree with Jacob, candle wax and use is probably all that is required (dare I add it might need a sharpen ? :lol: ) . Bit worried about the two marks visible at either side of the mouth - has someone been at it in order to make a thicker iron fit ? I presume it is pen and not a crack.

Possibly, but usually flatter than noncorrugated planes and if not, easier to lap a little flatter. For whatever reason, USA Stanley corrugated planes vs. their plain soled mates from the same era always seem to have a narrower mouth, too. The machining seemed to be a little better.