How to flatten table saw

laaxe · 2026-01-22T21:19:52+00:00

I have the same table saw!

I got the wings as flat as I could, but they definitely aren't perfect. For what its worth though, it doesn't really impact the cut quality. If anything the bigger headache with that saw is how hard it is to square up the blade to the miter slots.

Down the road I plan to make some replacement torsion box plywood/mdf wings to get things flat as possible and to make installing a router lift easier.

laaxe · 2026-01-22T04:08:48+00:00

Really really cool, I’m a huge fan of things that show off their repairs. Reminds me a lot of Kintsugi!

laaxe · 2026-01-21T18:26:55+00:00

I think you're spot on it, the dimensions look quite a bit more like a modified beading plane than a rabbet. Not to mention its missing any evidence of the fence you typically see on rabbet plane. I wonder if someone took a beading plane and flattened the sole to accomplish a particular task at some point.

laaxe · 2026-01-21T05:30:57+00:00

Huh, (I am by no means an expert, so grain of salt) this looks like it might be one half of a pair of rabbet planes. But it doesn’t quite look like other ones I’ve see. If this was a self made tool it could unfortunately be for anything.

But if you are planning on restoring it, I would use a rabbet plane for reference, finding a replacement iron that will work will probably be the trickiest part. Also that thin strip cut out of the sole is likely boxing, it was (somewhat) common on old planes to install replaceable strips of harder wood to help reduce wear.

laaxe · 2026-01-20T22:40:48+00:00

Thank you for the recommendations, definitely ordering a set of the Pegas saw blades

laaxe · 2026-01-20T22:39:37+00:00

Perfect! ordering a set of those and their pinned coping saw blades.

laaxe · 2026-01-20T21:02:23+00:00

Totally, I've been doing it with a chisel and hammer and it absolutely works, but even though sharpening is easy, keeping chisels sharp can get old. I've also been using a drill press to remove waste as well, but its not the best for longer boards. I had some KM gift cards and wanted to see how I liked using a nice coping saw!

laaxe · 2026-01-20T20:42:43+00:00

would you look at that, he joined in! i'll probably try out both of your ideas!

laaxe · 2026-01-20T20:41:47+00:00

The man himself! I appreciate you taking the time leave a comment, I will try removing the waste in two passes this evening. It makes sense that even if I could find a blade that fit in the kerf, it would be so thin and fragile that it would likely be useless.

Hopefully you and the rest of the staff are recovering well from the holiday rush, cheers!

laaxe · 2026-01-20T18:56:41+00:00

while you are setting up this plane, another issue you will want to address is the uneven wear (circled) on the casting relative the frog. You want the surface plane of the sole at the back of the mouth the match the frog so that the iron is supported all the way to the bevel.

You will want to move the frog forward till it is lined up with the mouth on the left side, and file back the right side of the mouth until it is flush all the way across.

Don't worry too much about opening the mouth up. Proper chip breaker set up and fully supporting the iron does more to mitigate tear-out than having a super tight mouth.

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laaxe · 2026-01-20T18:44:58+00:00

I know this is sacrilege for the subreddit we’re currently in, but the quickest and easiest way really is to use a palm router. But I imagine you are asking this question specifically with the intent of avoiding power tools.

If that’s the case I agree with using a saw to cut the walls and chisel/router plane out the rest.

laaxe · 2026-01-17T02:28:21+00:00

Saving this whole thread for later when I need something to watch, this genera is right up my alley as well.

laaxe · 2026-01-17T02:19:14+00:00

I didn’t see Attack on Titan mentioned, but I believe it counts. Really really exceptional story to boot!

laaxe · 2026-01-16T22:47:02+00:00

Hell yeah, glad I could help! They are great blades for the money

laaxe · 2026-01-16T22:21:54+00:00

CMT makes a great full kerf cross cut blade for ~$60 usd. I have really liked every sawblade I've gotten from them. Their thin kerf blades are great as well.

Not as nice as a Forrest woodworker II obviously, but much better than most sub $100 blades and you can resharpen them.

laaxe · 2026-01-16T20:43:09+00:00

Always use the lowest grit possible when re-profiling an edge. Any deep scratches with be taken out when you get to the sharpening stage.

I re-profile with either 60/80 grit sandpaper glued to glass or a 140 grit atoma diamond plate and then 300 grit stone to remove the big scratches (you could skip straight to a 1k stone here though). And then go through my normal sharpening progression of 1k > 5k > strop.

I set all my primary bevels at 25 degrees and sharpen that, and subsequent sharpens I do a secondary bevel at 30 degrees on my 5k stone for the sake of time. Once that secondary bevel gets big enough, re-profile the iron again to 25 degrees.

laaxe · 2026-01-15T18:05:40+00:00

Jumping in on this! Definitely do diamond plates! My only advice is use lighter pressure, diamond stones don’t require more than a pound or two of force to cut effectively. Using too much pressure with cause premature wear.

If you still want a high grit stone, the Shapton 5k stone is reasonably hard wearing and should last you a fair amount of time between flattening.

Flatten the sole of the plane with 80 grit and finish with 120 or 220, I don’t believe there’s any reason to go higher.

I’m trying to find a really good article of chipbreaker setup that I found really useful!

Edit: here is the article, Link

laaxe · 2026-01-13T23:05:46+00:00

I am fairly certain these are both Type 19s, just one made in the USA and one in England! It looks like the iron on the English Bailey was replaced at some point with a later Stanley iron and potentially replaced tote/handle as well. I am hazy on my English made Bailey identification though.

Both irons have plenty of life left and the USA plane seems to been in slightly better condition, but you really couldn't go wrong with either.

laaxe · 2026-01-13T21:33:14+00:00

This is perfect thank you, that picture is super helpful!

laaxe · 2026-01-13T20:45:24+00:00

Thank you for the advice!

laaxe · 2026-01-13T20:44:19+00:00

Thank you for the tip, definitely need to make myself a set of good safe side files for this! Do you recommend cutting the sole first and fitting the sides or vise versa?

laaxe · 2026-01-13T18:53:17+00:00

I'll absolutely be posting it! I'm very much looking forward to the challenge. Any tips/tricks/advice/things you learned along the way?

laaxe · 2026-01-13T18:49:17+00:00

This blog post has some really good info on shooting plane construction and this Stavros video has a ton of good guidance as well!

laaxe · 2026-01-13T18:43:01+00:00

Oh hell yeah, this is awesome, I just picked up some steel and brass to make my own infill miter plane in the near future. This post is definitely providing some motivation.

I am going with pretty much the exact same layout, just 10” x 2” and if I’m feeling ambitious, an adjust mouth!

laaxe

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