How to FLATTEN Your Hand Plane Sole: The Easy Way
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- čas přidán 16. 12. 2022
- In this video, we'll show you how to flatten a Hand Plane Sole using basic supplies and a quick, easy process. This is a great tutorial for beginners who are looking to learn how to flatten a hand plane sole quickly and easily.
If you're looking for a non-technical way to flatten a hand plane sole, this video is for you! This tutorial is easy to follow and doesn't require any special tools or know-how. By the end of this video, you'll be able to flatten a hand plane sole like a pro!
Hope you enjoy!!
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Another great video. Obession with flatness is something for machinists to do in the privacy of their own workshops.
Thanks, i agree that being flat enough is good enough
When you are working day in, day out, you soon learn that being picky for the sake of it doesn't get the job done on time. 240 grit sharpening and 120 to 240 grit lapping is what we used successfully for decades until new equipment, tools and ideas gate-crashed the market - usually with advice to over spend and over sharpen. I agree with Paul Sellers that DIY magazines (filled with adverts and sponsored articles) have a lot to answer for in this respect. It seems to me that what was once written to make money from hobbyists is now treated as gospel in the trades - such is the impact they have had over the years. I'm not a fan of MDF or Melamine (Conti Board, as we call it) but I do agree that they are totally adequate for flattening a plane sole on - perhaps one of the few things they are useful for, in fact!
A good video. I have to say that I tend to reverse the plane every twenty or so strokes as there is a tendancy to bias to one side as you are leaning over the bench. Reversing the plane helps to balance that force and give a better result. Keep it up !!
Thanks, sorry for the later reply. Thank for the reversing tip i hadn't even thought of that, i agree there probably is a tendency to bias the side closest to you. I will look at integrating this the next time i flatten my plane sole.
Thanks mate. That was very helpful.
My pleasure, glad you found this video useful
I love your honest and practical advise to overcome the intimidation newbies like me face when dealing with initiating hand tools (new or used) like hand planes and chisel. With people touting granite slabs and float glass, nice to see you using plain melamine to achieve similar results.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video
Thanks for another useful video. I watch similar videos by several people; yourself, Rex Krueger, Paul Sellers and a couple of others. They are all similar (by necessity) but each have a slightly different take on the methods and it is good to learn those little differences so that people can find which works best for them. What you say about not being over-picky is absolutely right. One thing I have noticed that it is never mentioned that, at the end of the day, it is the iron (blade) that flattens the wood surface, not the sole of the plane - which simply registers it onto the wood (that is how I was taught 40+ years ago). Obviously, the better it is flattened, the easier it is to get a good register. Another tip is that if a plane has a slight hollow running along the middle and is being worked on thin timber, just slightly skew it so that the trued edges get the register right!
Glad you liked the video. I too watch videos from Paul Sellers and Rex Krueger they make great video content. That is very true about the blade doing the flattering, never thought of including that before, it makes a great deal of sense. I also skew my hand plane when I'm planning thin material subconsciously i guess. I however never thought of doing it to counter a hollow on my plane sole. Great tips! Thanks for sharing
I just saw this tutorial and it is a big help! I am in the process of restoring my grandfather's plane and I learned a lot form this. I have just subscribed today.
Glad the video helped you out. Have fun restoring your grandfather's plane, im sure it will turn out great
Deeply appreciative of you sharing your expertise certainly helps me. Thanks so much!
My pleasure, glad you liked it
This is outstanding work. You go into the details that many overlook. Keep up the good work and best regards from Germany
Glad you liked the video
Great video, thanks
Glad you liked it!
Thanks from Michigan!
Thanks for watching and commenting
Liked and subscribed. Thanks for a very useful and straightforward guide.
Thanks so much, glad you found the guide useful
Thanks from Seattle.
My pleasure
Great video buddy, love your content :3
Thanks, glad you liked it.
If you use a big pink rubber eraser on your sandpaper to clean it, it will lengthen the life of your paper tenfold.
Thanks for the suggestion, much appreciated
First person to understand the importance of the two lateral edges. I just want to add that the front and back edge should be level for concave stocks. Really depends on how you flatten. The space behind the blade becomes actually less important the straighter your blade edge is since it will not even register if your blade has chomped the wood off. Though when you diagonally plane, they can matter. Cheers.
Thanks for the comment and your additional information, much appreciated
@@AussieWoodshed It's a simple video that has seriously good "hidden information" in it. Too many other videos out there propagating myth and legends. It's refreshing to see a tool get treated as a tool for using effectively.
Try a slab of float glass. You will find it works even faster and gives an even better result.
Thanks, i will look into it.
What's float glass
@@fnafplayer6447 Glass that is cast on a bed of molten metal, such as tin. This process gives a uniform and dead flat surface.
Nice video ! D you know what steel the sole is Made of? Or what steel was used at the time?
Cast iron not steel
@@AussieWoodshed Thnx a lot🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻
Great vid! Very informative. I just bought my first block plane and need to flaten the sole...some people have suggested i use float glass, others said i could use granite tile. I have wide piece of laminated mdf 3/4“ panel from a cabinet. Would that work or its not flat enough?
If you put a straight edge on it and it seems pretty flat it should be okay. If the surface is mostly flat it should be ok as any sandpaper being used is going to be less flat than the surface anyways.
There is a lot of false information on CZcams about how flat the sole of a hand plane needs to be, as long as it's mostly flat it should be okay as you saw in this video. At the end of the day the blade is cutting and not the plane sole so being 100% flat is irrelevant.
Back to your question the MDF should be flat enough as long as it's not warped.
@@AussieWoodshed I checked the sole of the plane against the side of the rule from my combination square against the light ... And there is a flat spot right up front of the sole.. light passes through.
@@martinhawrylkiewicz2025 it sounds like it may not need much flattening, which is nice.
what finish did you use on the tote for that plane? its beautiful! ive been having trouble with getting grain to pop like that on the totes i am restoring
I used homemade paste wax for that tote on that hand plane to keep it simple. I often use shellac sometimes tinted, sometimes blonde de-waxed.
I'm not sure what wood that tote was made of but it looked great and the paste wax made the grain pop on this occasion.
+ I have a video where i restored that hand plane found here czcams.com/video/Siruu9bAowo/video.html
+ Here is my Paste wax video if your interested czcams.com/video/GTxraznnTiI/video.html
Hope this helps
The pre-WWII Stanley's were Brazilian Rosewood -at least the ones made in the 'States.
99% it's woodworking not engineering space travel. If it brings you pleasure to get to 99.999% great do it but you are correct 99% is sufficient.
Thanks. Engineering space travel made me laugh.
A tip I'd give is a lot of people get really anal about flattening and squaring the sides as well but it's not needed. If you are concerned for using a shooting board to join planks for a tabletop say then flip one over face down and if your plane is out of square then you're matching the erroneous angle but the other way and they've both match and the top will be flat.
It's a bit more important that the sides have a polish than be flat because of that, the polish is less friction and that helps with the uncomfortable positioning.
Thanks for sharing your tips with everyone, much appreciated
You want to be VERY careful with steel dust. Just brushing it around like that is... not a good idea.
Thanks for your concern
Stopped watching when you got to melamine. It's just not good enough in my opinion.
You're entitled to your opinion. However, every one of my planes i have flattened in this matter are dead flat as melamine is machined dead flat (in fact it's flatter than any glass i have found, even float glass as glass always moves over time as it's not a complete solid). Also sticking sandpaper to any surface makes it less flat as sandpaper has poor tolerances. If you want to procrastinate over 0.0001 of a mm you can, myself i use what works through lots of testing and won't break the bank.
Melamine board should be quite flat actually, but the surface that you placed it on must be flat enough so it doesn't flex under downward pressure.
Furthermore, attention must be paid to double sided tape that could introduce unevenness
This video is similar to Paul Seller's CZcams video 12 years ago. Paul used a scrap piece of granite which could be a good and durable alternative.
Yeah, I’m thinking glass or stone is better, but good suggestions beyond that! Thanks 👍🏿