Thanks for watching! The adhesive is called spraymount, but I think that’s a brand name. It’s found in craft shops or Amazon. It’s for temporarily sticking paper etc to a surface if you expect to reposition it. You should get along with it a solvent or “sticky stuff remover” to clean it off afterwards. “Goo gone” is another brand name I’ve used.
Thank you for sharing your expertise. This is a most complete, yet concise, demonstration of what - to me at least - seemed to be a somewhat arcane procedure. Well done!!
Hi again, I'm still hoping you will release part 2 (if you got it). It was a delight to follow and really looking forward to seeing the finishing touches.
Thanks Zarks11. I’m working on it at home. At the moment away for the holidays. It’s proving to be a lot easier with the new app. Hopefully mid January…
Mr Linn, this is an outstanding video! I have a LN #4 and am inspired to take it to the ultimate level of plane functionality. I am really looking forward to part 2.
I love this video, I think I watched it about 5 or 6 times. I keep checking to see if part 2 is up. When will you be doing part 2. I am really looking forward to watching it
Hello Steven; thanks for watching the video! The diamond files are by DMT. I got them as a 3 pack from Amazon, where they are around £30. The blue is coarse (45 micron, 325 mesh), the red is fine (25 micron, 600 mesh) and the green is extra fine (9 micron, 1200 mesh). They used to do a black extra coarse, but I can’t find it anywhere.
@@mrlinnsworkshop watching? Oh boy, I’ll be watching and re-watching this for a while. I’ll be experimenting with your ideas and techniques to see if I can make my planes look like that. Thanks.
Hi, just picked one of these up and I was surprised to find that the sides are not square to the sole but they are consistent on each side. I suspect that perhaps they are designed not to be square for some reason but there you go, it is what it is. It would be interesting to know what your example is like in this regard. I imagine that they are all the same and consistent from one example to the next.
Thanks for watching! I’ve just checked mine again now it’s finished. It’s not bang on, but if anything it’s only a fraction of a degree out; and I mean way less than a tenth. The sole to side squareness isn’t so important to me as I don’t use this plane for shooting.
Even if you used the plane for shooting, you'd just need to adjust the iron with the lateral adjustment lever. The sides don't have to be square to the sole.
@@guillemclapes5587 That’s a good point. Also the work piece can be shimmed with strips of paper to correct any out of square. So, yes I wouldn’t fuss to much over sole/side squareness.
Thanks @robohippy! I definitely am! Maybe it comes from the amount of care I had to take when I was an airline pilot. Also, I always seem to be on the lookout for further tiny gains. Maybe pernickity (British English) or persnickety (American and Canadian English) or loco (Spanish) is engrained!
@@mrlinnsworkshop I picked up a Winchester hand plane at an 'antique' store last week. Spent about 8 hours getting it running smoothly again. I used several of your tips here to help me smooth things out. It looked like some one had taken a grinder to the frog to try to flatten it out. Had to totally take it apart to get it running again. Thanks for the tips!
@@mrlinnsworkshop Next will probably be making some wood planes from scratch. I do have one Stanly #4 that had all the original paint. It needs a fair amount of work. Still not quite right. Having a lot of fun!
@@mrlinnsworkshop thank you! Good detail work. I had the same 2 questions. Adhesive and mag blocks. I found some welding mag triangles and they’re really strong and I worry they bend the blade I’m working on
Would a 12" (~300mm) granite surface plate be large enough to smooth the plane parts or do you recommend a larger size? Also, would a grade B stone work for the fine smoothing outside of the sole?
Thanks Clinton. Yes, I use a 300mm granite surface plate for the smaller planes and for all small parts. You would only need to go bigger for the longer planes, and then plate glass or any suitably flat surface would do. I’m not familiar with a “grade B stone”. Could you clarify your second question please, and I’ll do some research?
Thanks Joe. Bearing in mind the plane works ok straight out the box, the difference in performance is subtle but definite. Everything feels silky smooth to adjust, which means tiny fractions of depth of cut changes and lateral changes are possible. Definitely an advantage in a smoothing plane. Quite a few of the treatments are cosmetic though, so I suppose these could be omitted without a performance penalty. The tiny improvements add up, but it’s impossible to pinpoint one as being necessary or not.
@@mrlinnsworkshopthank you !! And is it M3 Spray mount you’re using or just any old spray contact adhesive? Peeling the paper off, I’ve had to use a heat gun as it was coming off in bits 🤦♂️
@@CabinetFramingUK Yes it’s M3 Spray Mount. I’m not sure why it’s sticking so hard. When I use it on my granite surface plates, it’s low tack and the W&D paper peels off easily. Then I use the solvent and some kind of a scraper to remove the residue. Then clean with meths.
A good work friend (let's call him Ian W) told me about your channel yesterday. When he was telling me about you and visiting your workshop and channel I couldn't help but think one way to help you grow your channel would be to keep an eye on Crimson Custom Guitars. The owner, Ben, loves his hand planes and does a livestream/chat every Sunday around 8pm about all things guitar building - very much including hand planes - and I think some interaction there could really help you get some new subscribers :) Take care and good luck.
@@mrlinnsworkshop time zone is UK and it’s actually Crimson Guitars Extra you want for the livestream. That’s also the channel where he’ll go into more depth on tools and make the odd tool here and there
The surfaces on these planes are machined with CNC milling machines and surface grinders to a very high standard. You will not improve them by sticking sandpaper to a flat surface. Use marking blue and a scraper if you want to make it flat. This plane is now smooth but out of flat.
Thanks for the comment. You are of course absolutely correct. I contend, however that the out of flat is minuscule and the effect minor compared to the advantage of the polish. Everything is a compromise; in these techniques, I’m prioritising smoothness (polish) over flatness to achieve slightly better control. Recently, I’ve been hand planing an oak kitchen worktop with the No4 and the advantage of smooth control under high tension is helping significantly. Have to sharpen a lot though!
My comment seemed a bit unpleasant. That was not my intention. Sorry. Good answer. You clearly know what you are doing, and you’re absolutely right. The “out of flat” won’t have any negative effect on the plane.
Not at all! I took it as a valid point; not in any way unpleasant. I was thinking I hadn’t made it clear in the video. I’ll admit I did ponder for quite a while on the importance of flatness. In such a small area as the frog seat, I don’t think it’s as important as polish. But on the sole, both are important so one should strive to keep flatness as one improves polish. Thanks again for watching!
Hello @purpleyams8738; thanks for watching and your comment. It does seem like it doesn’t it? The thing to remember here is that what I’m doing isn’t necessary. It’s extra to what LN provides. If you bought one of these from LN, sharpened the blade and nothing else, it would do it’s job for ever. This is a way of getting a bit extra performance from it, which is actually discernable. If LN were to do this to every tool, they would be much more expensive because it’s so labour intensive. Hope this helps!
Over and over I see people 'tune' a plane, yet they never use machinist's dye. How do you know your chip breaker or cap iron is touching the blade for its entire width? - or the frog interfacing the blade well? - or the frog interfacing the plane body well...if you don't use dye? You don't! 38 years ago I was tuning planes, using artist oil paint. I got the idea from an old book on carpentry - the author used machinist's dye. ( Too, use water between the back of the paper and your flat surface - sucks the paper flat)
Thanks! I’ve been using marker pens to colour parts where I need to see progress. When I get to finishing the chip breaker, I’ll consider what you’ve said. As far as using water to “stick” the paper, I used to do that when flattening Waterstones with wet and dry. For metal prep, I find it moves around enough to be a pain. Also, I don’t always want water near the part.
Looking forward to part two! Thanks for the upload.
Also what kind of adhesive are you using that lets you break the bond so easily?
Thanks for watching! The adhesive is called spraymount, but I think that’s a brand name. It’s found in craft shops or Amazon. It’s for temporarily sticking paper etc to a surface if you expect to reposition it. You should get along with it a solvent or “sticky stuff remover” to clean it off afterwards. “Goo gone” is another brand name I’ve used.
@@SwedI’ve found brake cleaner is also marvellous at melting away the spray adhesive in the surface plate. Instant
thank you sir. this is worth doing when you love your tools.
Thanks for the comment! I absolutely agree!
I cant wait to see part 2
Thank you for sharing your expertise. This is a most complete, yet concise, demonstration of what - to me at least - seemed to be a somewhat arcane procedure. Well done!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this video. The info is greatly appreciated. Now I have more shop upgrades on the list lol
Thanks Paul! Part 2 is in progress…
Hi again, I'm still hoping you will release part 2 (if you got it). It was a delight to follow and really looking forward to seeing the finishing touches.
Thanks Zarks11. I’m working on it at home. At the moment away for the holidays. It’s proving to be a lot easier with the new app. Hopefully mid January…
Looking forward to Part II brother.
Now I’m going to have to take a look at all of my LN planes, why do I think I’m going to be adding another job to the list. LOL well done.
Thanks Michael; glad you enjoyed it! I’m hoping to do part two soon. Significant project has got in the way of that, unfortunately. I’ll explain soon.
Mr Linn, this is an outstanding video! I have a LN #4 and am inspired to take it to the ultimate level of plane functionality. I am really looking forward to part 2.
Thank you Nicholas! Part two will be along soon…🙂
Wow, very good and usefull tutorial👌thx for posting
My pleasure 😊
I love this video, I think I watched it about 5 or 6 times. I keep checking to see if part 2 is up. When will you be doing part 2. I am really looking forward to watching it
Thanks John! I’m glad you like it. I began work on Part 2 just before the hols. Shouldn’t be too long..
Very nice!
Thanks!
I’m curious about the diamond files you use. What are they and what grits do you use?
Hello Steven; thanks for watching the video! The diamond files are by DMT. I got them as a 3 pack from Amazon, where they are around £30. The blue is coarse (45 micron, 325 mesh), the red is fine (25 micron, 600 mesh) and the green is extra fine (9 micron, 1200 mesh). They used to do a black extra coarse, but I can’t find it anywhere.
@@mrlinnsworkshop watching? Oh boy, I’ll be watching and re-watching this for a while. I’ll be experimenting with your ideas and techniques to see if I can make my planes look like that. Thanks.
Hi, just picked one of these up and I was surprised to find that the sides are not square to the sole but they are consistent on each side. I suspect that perhaps they are designed not to be square for some reason but there you go, it is what it is. It would be interesting to know what your example is like in this regard. I imagine that they are all the same and consistent from one example to the next.
Thanks for watching! I’ve just checked mine again now it’s finished. It’s not bang on, but if anything it’s only a fraction of a degree out; and I mean way less than a tenth. The sole to side squareness isn’t so important to me as I don’t use this plane for shooting.
Even if you used the plane for shooting, you'd just need to adjust the iron with the lateral adjustment lever. The sides don't have to be square to the sole.
@@guillemclapes5587 That’s a good point. Also the work piece can be shimmed with strips of paper to correct any out of square. So, yes I wouldn’t fuss to much over sole/side squareness.
My, you sure are persnickitive aren't you? Why yes, yes I am! That is a word you don't hear much any more. I like your attention to detail.
Thanks @robohippy! I definitely am! Maybe it comes from the amount of care I had to take when I was an airline pilot. Also, I always seem to be on the lookout for further tiny gains. Maybe pernickity (British English) or persnickety (American and Canadian English) or loco (Spanish) is engrained!
@@mrlinnsworkshop I picked up a Winchester hand plane at an 'antique' store last week. Spent about 8 hours getting it running smoothly again. I used several of your tips here to help me smooth things out. It looked like some one had taken a grinder to the frog to try to flatten it out. Had to totally take it apart to get it running again. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for the comment! Isn’t it satisfying to take something almost unusable and turn it into a tool? Well done! Let me know if you do more?
@@mrlinnsworkshop Next will probably be making some wood planes from scratch. I do have one Stanly #4 that had all the original paint. It needs a fair amount of work. Still not quite right. Having a lot of fun!
Very curious to see how far you can take your No 4. Cool stuff!
Thanks James; so am I! Just bogged down in our extension project at the moment, racing against the weather to get it weatherproof.
Hi, The magnetic grippers looks very useful. Where did you get them?
They’re called Magswitches. I got them years ago but they’re quite expensive now. You can get two of the small ones on Amazon for £73.
@@mrlinnsworkshop thank you! Good detail work. I had the same 2 questions. Adhesive and mag blocks. I found some welding mag triangles and they’re really strong and I worry they bend the blade I’m working on
Would a 12" (~300mm) granite surface plate be large enough to smooth the plane parts or do you recommend a larger size? Also, would a grade B stone work for the fine smoothing outside of the sole?
Thanks Clinton. Yes, I use a 300mm granite surface plate for the smaller planes and for all small parts. You would only need to go bigger for the longer planes, and then plate glass or any suitably flat surface would do.
I’m not familiar with a “grade B stone”. Could you clarify your second question please, and I’ll do some research?
What’s the difference in performance after this super tuning?
Thanks Joe. Bearing in mind the plane works ok straight out the box, the difference in performance is subtle but definite. Everything feels silky smooth to adjust, which means tiny fractions of depth of cut changes and lateral changes are possible. Definitely an advantage in a smoothing plane. Quite a few of the treatments are cosmetic though, so I suppose these could be omitted without a performance penalty. The tiny improvements add up, but it’s impossible to pinpoint one as being necessary or not.
Wicked
What did you use to remove the spray mount off the surface plate? Can’t get it off 😅
Hi MD; it’s called Mulitsolve and is made by CT1. Other stuff I’ve used in the past and which works very well is Goo Gone and Sticky Stuff Remover.
@@mrlinnsworkshopthank you !! And is it M3 Spray mount you’re using or just any old spray contact adhesive? Peeling the paper off, I’ve had to use a heat gun as it was coming off in bits 🤦♂️
@@CabinetFramingUK Yes it’s M3 Spray Mount. I’m not sure why it’s sticking so hard. When I use it on my granite surface plates, it’s low tack and the W&D paper peels off easily. Then I use the solvent and some kind of a scraper to remove the residue. Then clean with meths.
@@mrlinnsworkshopthank you!!
A good work friend (let's call him Ian W) told me about your channel yesterday. When he was telling me about you and visiting your workshop and channel I couldn't help but think one way to help you grow your channel would be to keep an eye on Crimson Custom Guitars.
The owner, Ben, loves his hand planes and does a livestream/chat every Sunday around 8pm about all things guitar building - very much including hand planes - and I think some interaction there could really help you get some new subscribers :) Take care and good luck.
Thanks for that, Anthony. What time zone is that? I’ll have a look at his channel…
@@mrlinnsworkshop time zone is UK and it’s actually Crimson Guitars Extra you want for the livestream. That’s also the channel where he’ll go into more depth on tools and make the odd tool here and there
How much time did you invest? Brilliant work. Your Smoothing Plane would be very expensive if you would calculate your work.
Thanks Achim. You’re right! But it’s just for fun…
The surfaces on these planes are machined with CNC milling machines and surface grinders to a very high standard. You will not improve them by sticking sandpaper to a flat surface.
Use marking blue and a scraper if you want to make it flat. This plane is now smooth but out of flat.
Thanks for the comment. You are of course absolutely correct. I contend, however that the out of flat is minuscule and the effect minor compared to the advantage of the polish. Everything is a compromise; in these techniques, I’m prioritising smoothness (polish) over flatness to achieve slightly better control. Recently, I’ve been hand planing an oak kitchen worktop with the No4 and the advantage of smooth control under high tension is helping significantly. Have to sharpen a lot though!
My comment seemed a bit unpleasant. That was not my intention. Sorry.
Good answer. You clearly know what you are doing, and you’re absolutely right. The “out of flat” won’t have any negative effect on the plane.
Not at all! I took it as a valid point; not in any way unpleasant. I was thinking I hadn’t made it clear in the video. I’ll admit I did ponder for quite a while on the importance of flatness. In such a small area as the frog seat, I don’t think it’s as important as polish. But on the sole, both are important so one should strive to keep flatness as one improves polish. Thanks again for watching!
David Charlesworth was ahead of his time essentially talking about marginal gains (for marginal planes 🎉)
I like that, thanks! I think it’s up to us now to keep the concept going…
nice "taffing"!
😂thanks!
For its price, I’m very surprised you had to do this much prep just to flatten and finish polish what should already be done.
Hello @purpleyams8738; thanks for watching and your comment. It does seem like it doesn’t it? The thing to remember here is that what I’m doing isn’t necessary. It’s extra to what LN provides. If you bought one of these from LN, sharpened the blade and nothing else, it would do it’s job for ever. This is a way of getting a bit extra performance from it, which is actually discernable. If LN were to do this to every tool, they would be much more expensive because it’s so labour intensive. Hope this helps!
Over and over I see people 'tune' a plane, yet they never use machinist's dye.
How do you know your chip breaker or cap iron is touching the blade for its entire width? - or the frog interfacing the blade well? - or the frog interfacing the plane body well...if you don't use dye? You don't!
38 years ago I was tuning planes, using artist oil paint. I got the idea from an old book on carpentry - the author used machinist's dye. ( Too, use water between the back of the paper and your flat surface - sucks the paper flat)
Thanks! I’ve been using marker pens to colour parts where I need to see progress. When I get to finishing the chip breaker, I’ll consider what you’ve said. As far as using water to “stick” the paper, I used to do that when flattening Waterstones with wet and dry. For metal prep, I find it moves around enough to be a pain. Also, I don’t always want water near the part.
A little ridiculous that hand planes of this quality (and cost) require "tuning" out of the box!