I recently had the good fortune to stumble
across a copy of "The Woodworker" annual dated
1918. Amidst the projects designed to be made from
lesser woods (in these straitened times), there
was this, which I pass on.

(from "The Question Box")
Trueing Sole of Plane

E.S.W. (Henley) asks the correct method of trueing the
sole of a plane

REPLY.- The correct method of trueing up the sole
of a plane is by testing it on an engineer's surfacing
plate. We presume that you desire to true up the face
of a wooden jack, trying or smoothing plane. Take a
little powdered dry red lead and mix it with oil to the
consistency of cream. Smear this spareingly on the
surface plate and then rub the sole of the wooden plane
on the surface plate. The high portions of the the sole
of the plane will take colour, whilst the lower portions
will remain clean. Turn the plane sole-upwards  and
grip it firmly in the bench vice. Take a finely set and
newly sharpened iron-faced plane and proceed to plane
away the portions which you have proved to be high. Then
again rub the sole of the plane of the surface plate,
and repeat the operation until a true surface is obtained.
Remember, however, to test the sole of the plane to see
that it is square with the sides by using an ordinary 6
in. try square.

Probably you may not have access to a surfacing plate, and
as a substitute you might use the iron face of a circular
saw bench or one of the tables of a power planing machine.
Should you not even have access to these you will have to
test your work with winding laths and a steel straight edge
and try square.  If you have not got an iron faced plane,
you would be well advised to take it to the workshop of a
practical cabinetmaker, and he would compete the work in
a satisfactorymanner for about ninepence.  The method of
thus up an iron or steel faced plane is by the same method;
that is, testing it on a surface plate and scraping it
down where required.

(end)

Gotta love that last throw away sentence!

It is interesting (with apologies to Messrs Knight,
Clark and Williams) that an "iron faced plane"
is deemed essential for this accurate work, and that
a cabinet scraper is not suggested as an alternative.

     BugBear (who files before scraping)

Which came first... the chicken or the egg?

Who trued the metal soled plane? Who trued the winding sticks? Who made =
the first try square and how did they get it square without another =
square? Why did the Egyptians build the pyramids?

Gary

Gary Roberts
Information Specialist
Wyeth Research, Information Center
87 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140
Tel# 617.665.5114; 

>>> paul womack  11/01/02 04:28AM >>>
I recently had the good fortune to stumble
across a copy of "The Woodworker" annual dated
1918. Amidst the projects designed to be made from
lesser woods (in these straitened times), there
was this, which I pass on.

(from "The Question Box")
Trueing Sole of Plane

E.S.W. (Henley) asks the correct method of trueing the
sole of a plane

paul womack recently...

> ... had the good fortune to stumble
> across a copy of "The Woodworker" annual dated
> 1918. Amidst the projects designed to be made from
> lesser woods (in these straitened times), there
> was this, which I pass on.

[snip]
> "... If you have not got an iron faced plane,
> you would be well advised to take it to the workshop of a
> practical cabinetmaker, and he would compete the work in
> a satisfactory manner for about ninepence. 

Talk about straitened times! It's hard to get anyone to do 
*anything* in a satisfactory manner for ninepence these days....