# Can i use 80 grit to lap a plane sole?



## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

I've got a couple planes that 220 just isn't getting flat. It's getting close but I'm running out of paper. Can I use 80? Or will I mess it up?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I have been using 100 grit for the metal removal, does not take long, then change to 150 or 220.

80 grit will remove metal faster, but also leave deeper scratches so you may need to follow with 120 etc. to remove.

I concentrate on the area around the mouth. Your plane seems to be lapped in this important area. I do not try and get the sole flat from end to end. Looks good, but the area in your picture with the reference marks will not make a difference in performance of the plane.


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

I agree with Dave. If that was my jack, it would be good enough.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

I used 80, followed by 120 and 200. The sole of that plane was already pretty badly messed up, though. It came out pretty decent, but I think starting with 100 would have worked almost as quickly, and with less cleanup required later.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Looks to me like there's a smooth riding surface all the way around. You'd have to go deep into that to get the last of it. Ditto Dave Paine = 80 can leave some deep scratches.
I changed a pair of Narex skews from 25 degrees to 20 degrees for carving. There are some 80-grit scratches which survived the entire process (up to 4k and honing). Not pretty, but they do not interfere with the quality of the edge and that's what I care about.


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## Hubbard (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I got it almost dead flat on 80 grit last night, and brought it up to 400. It was just a giant pain.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

For future planes and for others soon to attempt this - a file gets it done much quicker. :yes:

A couple passes to highlight the high areas followed by a file to those areas, then repeat - is a much quicker means of rough flattening the sole.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Any and all times that I use a file, it gets chalked up first. That way, metal parings can't jam in the groove bottoms and cause the file to bump and skip. Of course, it makes the cleaning really easy, too.

Aluminum can be particularly bad for this. Next time, try chalking the file first. I like making aluminum fittings, the file work produces such nice smooth surfaces.


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## Rob Brown (Jul 7, 2009)

*80 grit?*

I have used a 6 inch belt sander with 80 grit to get down to basics. That does it real quick. Then you can move down thru the finer grits to polish off the job. You can have a pretty rough sole cleaned up in just a few minutes. I recently bought a block plane for 4 bucks and had it functional in less than an hour. Granted, it isn't a 200 dollar plane, but it is functional and a good starter unit. I only bought it for parts in the first place.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

i remember seeing a video by a guy who seemed like he know what he was doing who said he uses the back/large part of the plane as a reference to ensure that the plane is flat on the stock. i don't remember who he was or where i saw the video.

is there any validity to that? i mean, it seems to make sense that the flatter the sole, the better, especially for a big old jointer plane.

it seems to me that if that part is curved, one couldn't use that as a reference.

please school me, thanks


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## Gilgaron (Mar 16, 2012)

Robson Valley said:


> Any and all times that I use a file, it gets chalked up first. That way, metal parings can't jam in the groove bottoms and cause the file to bump and skip. Of course, it makes the cleaning really easy, too.
> 
> Aluminum can be particularly bad for this. Next time, try chalking the file first. I like making aluminum fittings, the file work produces such nice smooth surfaces.


I'll have to try this next time I'm filing... just a regular piece of chalk rubbed on the file or do you use chalk dust?


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## Greg in Maryland (Jan 6, 2011)

Here is an interesting article on tuning a wooden hand plane that may have relevancy here. 

His thoughts about how sandpaper wears and what it does is good to know.

Greg


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