what's wrong with some pitting?

Jo, I’m not an expert, but my understanding is the pits collect sawdust/chips/gunk and can change your plane sole from flat to skewed. Now, the groves in some planes run length wise the full length of the plane so the chips/sawdust/gunk collect the go out the other end with out sacrificing the flat sole to wood integrity. To fix the problem some pits can be taken out of the bottom of a plane through refinishing and there are several articles floating around on how to do that (FWW, and I think someone did one here somewhere). Anyway, that’s my understanding hope it helps.

-- Jim Hallada, Chesterfield, VA

That certainly makes sense. I guess I’d be less concerned with pitting on the sides of a plane body, than if the pitting was on the sole. Great explanation. Thanks for the insight.

Could you drop some epoxy or something into a pit and then smooth it out to repair it?

Pitting means poor condition to a collector. A deeply pitted plane
may be in danger or cracking or breaking but I don’t see how pitting
alone would affect a plane in use badly.

What matters is that the part that slides on the wood is smooth enough…
if the sole is grimed up with a lot of oxidation that’s no good.

I would avoid paying more than a few dollars for a bench plane that
had more than moderate surface rust though… and a badly pitted
iron is not worth the work to make it usable.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online businesses - http://COPYMATCH.COM

I have a couple of very old hand planes that are pitted. I filled the pits with bondo then flattened them and waxed them. they work fine. mine are heirlooms [grand fathers] but not collectables. :-]

-- hey honey! watch this!

Thanks,
I’m trying to start a small plane collection (collection of planes to be used, not admired for appearance). I bought a #5 and #7 so far. Now I’m looking for 3 and 4. I think those should give me a good start to my bench planes.

Sometimes the pitting seems to be worse on the sides because the planes may have sat flat on a shelf, which maybe protected tthe sole from oxidation a bit more (just guessing).

From an asthetic perspective, I’d like them to not look like they are held together with duct tape and chewing gum, but for the most part, if they function, I’ll be very happy.

Thanks again and it anyone else has more thoughts, I’d love to hear those as well.

#3 and #4 planes are plentiful, so don’t sacrifice quality.

If you are buying these planes to use, minor sufrace pitting shouldn’t affect the operation. If you are buying the plane as a collect: don’t waste your money. If the pits really bother you, fill them with any method mentioned here or even add some weld to the holes and re-surface the plane wher it has been welded.

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

Yes, as a user of old planes, I can tell you that the pitting will get worse over time if you don’t fill them. I will mine with epoxy and sand flat, otherwise, the wood dust accumulates in the pits, which attracts moisture and makes the pitting worse.
I found this out thje hard way when I took about 8 months off of woodworking (my wife was pregnant). When I started woodworking again, I noticed small bits of rust had formed in those pits. I wax my planes (along with all other cast iron surfaces) on a regular basis too.

fill sand smoothe and paint. [sides and tops] I use epoxy appliance paint from a spray can. they look fine and as I said before they are users. I use automotive body filler [bondo] soles are waxed. pitted irons get replaced.

skeez

-- hey honey! watch this!

Anyhow, you don’t need a flawless tool to do good work. I have
a lot of old planes and it has never occurred to me to fill them with
Bondo. I guess several of my planes have some minor pitting here
and there but I’ve never had sawdust get caught in pits.

If you live in a humid part of the world pitting might be more of an
issue.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online businesses - http://COPYMATCH.COM

I leave my planes on a shelf I made for them. Initially, I thought it was cool but as I wood work, everything exposed gets covered with sawdust. I’m pretty sure that’s how the saw dust get caught up in the pits. An enclosure has been on my todo list (for the last 5 years).