Popular Woodworking 2005-08 № 149, страница 16

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How Do I Flatten My Jack Plane's Sole?

When flattening the sole, skew the tool left and right to improve your chance of

Shaded areas indicate the critical points of contact between your wood and the sole. Unshaded areas can be concave and won't affect its performance.

Will a Diamond Stone Do the Job?

What is a good way to flatten the sole of a Bailey j ack plane ? A diamond stone has been suggested to me. Although they cut fast, they are also very expensive. Any suggestions?

Ed Williams Delavan, Wisconsin

Generally, jack planes are for rough work: taking down high spots off boards and hogging off material on edges. So sole flatness is not critical with ajack, unlike with precision planes, such as the smoothing plane and jointer plane.

And flattening the soles of longer metal planes, such as the jack, is a challenge for people who have never done it before. More times than not they end up making the tool worse.

Finally, many assume they need to flatten the soles of their planes without ever checking them first. Get out a straightedge and check the sole with feeler gauges before you do anything There's a fair chance the sole is fine as-is. If the sole is flat in front of the mouth and along the long edges of the sole, then you're golden. Don't do a thing. If these areas differ by .006" or more, then you should think about correcting the sole.

If you do want to flatten the plane's sole, you

need a flattening surface that's larger than the sole itself — so a single diamond stone wont do for large planes. You'll end up making the sole banana-shaped. When I resort to flattening a plane's sole, I normally go one of two routes: A long strip of belt sander sandpaper (#80 or #100 grit) adhered to an old (yet flat) spare table saw wing. Or I use kerosene and silicon carbide lapping grit (#90 grit, available from Lee Valley Tools, 800-871-8158 or leevalley.com) directly on the wing, building up an abrasive slurry. Both methods are messy and time-consuming.

Before you begin, color the sole of the tool with a permanent marker to gauge your progress. As you work, be sure to skew the tool left and right during your passes to keep from removing too much material at the toe and heel. Check your work as you proceed with a straightedge.

— Christopher Schwarz, executive editor

How Do You Remove Light Rust From Hand Tools?

I recently opened my chisels and they had rust on them. There also was a little spot of rust on the side of my block plane. I have some Boeshield "Rust Free" rust remover, but when I used that before, the acid left a discoloration.

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Popular Woodworking August 2005