Hand Plane Surface Grinding

[UpstateNYdude]

With Tablesawtom no longer grinding planes is there anyone else that does this that isn't ridiculously expensive?

[RB61]

Have you talked directly to Tom? It may be true, but this has been a rumor several times in the last few years.

[UpstateNYdude]

Yes I have already PM'd him.

[EricU]

Yeah, he said it in the S&S.  Fortunately, I got the planes I wanted most from him before he quit.

[rwe2156]

I've heard knowledgeable metallurgy people say will re warp even if surfaced due to inherent stress in the metal.

I asked a machinist friend about this once and showed him a plane. He said he wouldn't guarantee anything because the plane goes in tension when the lever is clamped, but mostly, there's a huge issue mounting the plane in a fixture securely without distorting the sides.

To each his own, but for a typical Stanley plane worth $60-75, not worth the investment to have it machined unless you can get it done really cheap, like 25 bucks.

[bandit571]

If a plane is so bad you need it reground.....get another plane.   Have yet to find a plane that needed more than a sandpaper/belt  flattening.....

[Strokes77]

People argue "flatness" the same way people argue "Sharpness".

[Admiral]

I asked a machinist friend about this once and showed him a plane.  He said he wouldn't guarantee anything because the plane goes in tension when the lever is clamped, but mostly, there's a huge issue mounting the plane in a fixture securely without distorting the sides.

That is the specialized skill that Tom brought to the table.  I'm sure he had some learning curve too.

[EricU]

he didn't take much off, one of mine still has the faintest hint of an old owner's name scratched in it.  I thought about trying it, but the prospect seemed rather daunting

[Arlin Eastman]

I've heard knowledgeable metallurgy people say will re warp even if surfaced due to inherent stress in the metal.

I asked a machinist friend about this once and showed him a plane.  He said he wouldn't guarantee anything because the plane goes in tension when the lever is clamped, but mostly, there's a huge issue mounting the plane in a fixture securely without distorting the sides.

To each his own, but for a typical Stanley plane worth $60-75, not worth the investment to have it machined unless you can get it done really cheap, like 25 bucks.

I have a degree in metallurgy and with the older Stanley planes which were cast and then left to season for quite awhile to relieve the stress before they continued refinish the plane.  It is pretty unlikely that they will have any more tension left in them after resurfacing again, nor should the plane be effected by putting the little tension on the leaver cap.
However, if it has been done several times and the metal is a lot thinner they it is anyone's guess.  Also as me being an old machinist he is just covering his back side incase the plane has been lapped several other times and the metal in thin on the bottoms or sides.