Doug Berch

Well, mainly the big ones.

I have become very frustrated with my beautiful old Stanley/Bailey jointing planes.

They feel great in the hand, have enough weight to add heft to my planing and they are beautiful to behold.

The problem is that I can not get the soles to stay flat. I have spent many hours getting the soles on both a #7 (22 inches) and #8 (24 inches) flat only to find that something as simple as taking out the blade for sharpening and replacing it can cause the sole to become concave.

Many woodworkers think a plane need not be dead flat. I agree, but only for certain types of work. When I am leveling a fretboard or jointing the back  or soundboard for a dulcimer a reasonably flat, long plane makes the job go very quick and easy.

I am aware that these trusty old metal planes were not intended for work requiring this much precision. This is why I thoroughly researched how to tune-up these planes for fine woodworking. I made sure the frogs were well seated. I flattened the sole with the blade installed so the plane would be under the tension as if it were in use. I added thick after-market blades. I chanted mystical incantations, etc.

This has worked well on the smaller planes but the big ones just don’t stay flat.

If anyone has suggestions as to how I could get these big planes flat and get them to stay that way please let me know!

There are currently made metal jointer planes that are made for fine work. They are expensive but friends of mine who have them say they are worth ever penny. I may go that route someday but I hope to resolve the problem by either getting these old Stanley’s to work or switching to wooden jointer planes.

My experience with wooden planes has been very positive. They are easy to keep flat and I like the feel of wood against wood when planing.

I use several wooden smoothing planes, both with high angles and 45° and love the results. I also fixed up an old wooden jack plane that is very comfortable to use. I have an old 22 inch wooden jointer plane that works well but is a bit too bulky for some of the finer work I do. I also would prefer the blade to be at 55 ° ( as I would on several  of my metal planes) so I would not have to sharpen using back-bevels.

I am thinking I will make wooden  high-angle jointer plane. With instruments to finish and gigs to play I probably will not be able to get around it until  next month. It should be fun!

To start off I would like to say that it is my firm belief that nothing is perfectly flat, straight or in tune. Everything on earth seems to always be a little bit off. This includes myself from what I have been told.

That being said, hand-planing the thin stock used for dulcimer tops, backs, sides and fretboards requires a flat bench.

I bought this bench several years ago for a very reasonable price. It is made of some type of tropical hardwood and the top was made by gluing up small pieces, often with finger-joints. It has a descent quick-release vise and a usable but less than desirable tail vise

The core of the top is about 1″ thick with a thicker skirt around the edges. I have leveled it before and I know that being laminated from many small pieces makes following any sense of grain direction just about impossible. Luckily it is a bench, not fine furniture. A little tear-out will not be a problem.

First comes the hard part; clearing all the crap stuff off the bench!

The #7 plane resting on the bench will be doing the brunt of the work. All the planes on this project have back bevels to achieve a 55 degree cutting angle. This leaves a clean and smooth surface but requires more effort to push the plane.

My #8 was the first tool of choice. I recently flattened the sole  but after putting a thicker blade it in is has become untrue. Another adventure for another day.

Next came taking off the vise. This was very easy.

There are no action shots of me planing with the #7 plane. You aren’t missing anything other than watching a sweaty middle-aged guy get a good physical workout. Most of the planing was done cross-grain at varying angles.

I used a #5 plane for a while to clean things up a bit and then switched to a #4 to take down the odd high spot and remove most of the marks left by the previous planes. Again, it is a bench and is already pretty dinged up so I was not going for a furniture quality finish.

The area near the tail vise was significantly lower than the rest of the bench. I did not want to take off too much wood from the top so I chose to scribe a line showing where the low area was. This was not absolutely necessary but there are those fuzzy days when a reminder of where not to go and what not to do can come in handy!

I usually put a piece of wood between the dog in the tail vise and the stock I’m working on so this will not be a problem in practice. The stock will still be over a flat part of the bench.

After that came a coat of oil, some sore muscles and a feeling of satisfaction.

Well, my bench will be out of commission for a good part of the day while the oil dries.  Now what do I do?

Maybe I’ll go for a walk.