I've noticed that the sole of my Wood River No 6 plane isn't flat; the edges are higher than the center. I used a file to smooth out the high sides, and it's improved a bit, but it still doesn't stack up against my old Stanley No 7 from a century ago, nor does it compare to Veritas planes. I'm really disappointed as it seems like the sole wasn't properly surface ground, especially since I got it used.
2 Answers
I'm curious about how you figured out that the sole was off. If you’re only using a file, it might not be the precision work you think it is. Just saying—you might be missing some fine-tuning there!
It's easy to poke fun at Chinese import brands, but I can assure you that Wood River does surface grind their plane soles. Whether they do it consistently well is up for debate though—they might have cut some corners here. One thing to keep in mind is that cast iron can change over time as its crystal structure stabilizes. If a plane experiences enough drops or temperature fluctuations, that can lead to warping. I own a Stanley No 7 that's seen better days too, so it happens to all brands. But you might find that Veritas or Lie-Nielsen planes are less likely to have these issues due to their stress-release processes during manufacturing.
Just a quick note on that—aren't higher entropy structures actually more stable? I remember my physics class saying something about energy levels.
Exactly! Also, Veritas and Lie-Nielsen have specific stress-release phases in their production to prevent these issues after machining.
Thanks for the clarity! I recently checked my planes too, and my new Stanley SW sole had similar problems, even worse than the Wood River.
I only filed the edges to fix the high spots, so I didn't need to be a machinist to do that. It worked well enough for now.