Rescuing a Stanley No. 220 block plane: lapping a cupped sole
Popular Woodworking has started a series on bringing an old Stanley No. 220 block plane back to life, and the first part is a good, practical read on the step many people skip: flattening the sole.
The author, Yoav Liberman, was gifted the plane a few weeks before writing. A wooden front knob and a die-cast aluminum lever cap suggest it dates from the 1960s or 70s. It has forward and backward depth adjustment but no lateral adjustment lever, and the sole was badly cupped after years of use without care. He also gives some background: the No. 220 has a 20-degree bed and no adjustable throat plate, the No. 9 1/2 has the same bed angle with an adjustable throat and lateral adjustment, and the No. 60 1/2 has a 12-degree bed with the same premium features.
The method is simple. Check the sole with a straightedge against a window or other indirect light. Then install the blade, retract the edge fully and tighten the lever cap to normal working tension, because lapping an empty body lets the cast iron flex and change shape when the cap is tightened later. Lap on a 120-grit diamond stone with water, flipping the plane and wiping the sole often to see the scratch pattern. After that, move to the 220-grit side and finish on the 360-grit side of a double-sided stone.
What I liked is the realistic target. The toe, the heel and the surfaces just in front of and behind the mouth need to be in the same plane, and minor low spots elsewhere will not matter, so he stopped when about 95 percent of the sole was evenly lapped. Without diamond stones, he notes that wet-dry sandpaper stuck to a granite plate or a table saw wing can do the job.
Part 2, on the blade and throat, is still to come, and I will be watching for it.
Source: Popular Woodworking
The author, Yoav Liberman, was gifted the plane a few weeks before writing. A wooden front knob and a die-cast aluminum lever cap suggest it dates from the 1960s or 70s. It has forward and backward depth adjustment but no lateral adjustment lever, and the sole was badly cupped after years of use without care. He also gives some background: the No. 220 has a 20-degree bed and no adjustable throat plate, the No. 9 1/2 has the same bed angle with an adjustable throat and lateral adjustment, and the No. 60 1/2 has a 12-degree bed with the same premium features.
The method is simple. Check the sole with a straightedge against a window or other indirect light. Then install the blade, retract the edge fully and tighten the lever cap to normal working tension, because lapping an empty body lets the cast iron flex and change shape when the cap is tightened later. Lap on a 120-grit diamond stone with water, flipping the plane and wiping the sole often to see the scratch pattern. After that, move to the 220-grit side and finish on the 360-grit side of a double-sided stone.
What I liked is the realistic target. The toe, the heel and the surfaces just in front of and behind the mouth need to be in the same plane, and minor low spots elsewhere will not matter, so he stopped when about 95 percent of the sole was evenly lapped. Without diamond stones, he notes that wet-dry sandpaper stuck to a granite plate or a table saw wing can do the job.
Part 2, on the blade and throat, is still to come, and I will be watching for it.
Source: Popular Woodworking
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