Handplane Restoration #9: Stanley Bailey #3 Type 10 Clean-up

Great start. And tutorial for all to follow.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Great post Wayne. Can you go into more detail about lapping with the grit on glass in another post sometime? I’ve never read or heard about that… Seems cool because I have only used Scarey Sharp to do my irons and have been pleased with that. The only thing I know of is the emery paper on the jointer bed trick for soles.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Thanks Karson and Caliper.

Float glass is very flat and like the bed of a Jointer is a good candidate for flatening a plane. Lee valley sells the plate I have in the photos above. They also sell adhesive plastic sheets can are applied to the glass and the carbide grit. Info on this can be found in the link in the blog entry.

I found that the grit can be found for less money at a lapidary supply store. I belive the grit I purchased was $2.60 per pound.

In his video, Ernie Conover uses a large piece of glass that he epoxies a piece of lamanent. This helps the grit cut as I understand it. This is a pretty good video for the $10 asking price.

Basically you pour some grit on the lapping plate and wet it with water. You then rub the sole or side against the plate until you have an even scratch pattern across the entire surface. You then wash the plane off and then can air dry it using your compressor or rags. You need to be careful and wear eye protection if your using the compressor to keep from getting any grit in your eyes.

I actually think I prefer sandpaper for lapping. I did not feel like digging it out this morning. (It goy burried in the garage a couple of weeks ago). I also have a Granite Surface Plate from WoodCraft. I normally use it with sand paper. I will do the next plane with that.

Oh and did you see these Calipers in my shop?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

That is cool! What does one measure with a caliper that size?

I like the sign behind as well. Thanks for the process description.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Your welcome. I belive it is from the lumber or railroad industry. I happened across it on one of my tool hunting trips. It said it needed to find a place on my wall. The sign was a good 50 cent garage sale find. I still need to organize the shop and get things displayed approprately.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Do you use those calipers to measure your turnings? Handy for measuring the wall thickness of bowls, and when your pens are just about the right size ;)

-- The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation. -- Wood T's: http://www.printfection.com/snbcreative

I had joked to my wife about them being weight watcher’s calipers…. I just put a tape measure to them. They are 33 1/2” long (closed).

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Those are profit calipers, right WayneC?

-- Jesus is Lord!

Love those fettling jobs!!! Guess I need to move up in the world and get a float glass and try it. I have used my TS top, jointer bed and last few years a peice of MDF. It’s very flat and has worked fine. Guess I’m too cheap…lol
I also do a final lapping with the plane put together, (iron adj up). This emulates all the stress points as if I were using the plane. Not sure it makes that big a deal. Got the info from Garrett Hack’s The Handplane Book.
That #3 is gonna be sweet!!! Can’t wait to see the finished product.

LONG LIVE KNUCKLE DRAGGERS!!!

-- Jimmy

Wayne,

I was always told you should set up the plane for use (blade retracted, of course) before you lap the sole and sides, as you’re applying tension to the plane that is otherwise not there. If you lap the sole flat first, and then add the frog and apply tension, you’ll then end up with a sole that isn’t flat anymore.

Have you done any tests on that, comparing one technique vs. the other? If so, what are your thoughts on the issue?

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I’ve seen arguments on both sides relative to lapping with and without the frog in the plane. I’m not sure if it really makes a difference. I’ve got another 5-6 planes to lap before I’m done. I’ll try it both ways and let you know if I can tell the difference.

This number 3 was really not a very good test. It’s sole was pretty flat to begin with and it is fairly small.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov