New (old) plane: what's this?

[Mike G]

I bought myself a 5 1/2, in need of a little TLC. As an aside, it had just about the worst possible blade sharpening I have ever seen, being just a little out of square:



.......and having a huge back bevel. This was 3 or 4 mm wide at the widest part, and was approx the same angle on the back of the blade as the proper bevel was on the front:





But never mind that. I sorted that out OK. But when it came to cleaning up the sole, I found these lines. They're not from planing, so I can only imagine that they come from someone's clumsy attempt to flatten the sole, or something like that. Does anyone have any ideas as to the cause? (This is the "after" photo, BTW!!)

 

[AndyP]

Has someone tried to flatten a corrugated sole?

 

[RogerS]

Planing a piece of wood with a load of hidden nails...or misjudging the amount of 'spare' wood before the nail tips were planed ? But they do look perfectly parallel to the plane sides and so maybe a defect in manufacture as I can't imagine anyone planing that perfectly parallel and straight all the way down the sole.

Mind you, it's nice doorstop

 

[Mike G]

It's actually a nice plane. I'll get those marks out eventually (I'm soaking them with vinegar at the moment). I'm working on the assumption that it's some sort of damage from a liquid, or something else it has been left sitting on. There doesn't appear to be any depth to the marks.

 

[Rod]

I wouldn’t bother unless the sole isn’t flat in the right places, they are pointing in the right direction.
Like you said probably sitting on something with wide corrugations that has stained it.

Rod

 

[TrimTheKing]

As you say, they look very uniform in width so I imagine it's staining from something it's been sat on.

 

[9fingers]

If the marks are visual only ie you can't feel them by touch or a finger nail, then they have most probably be caused by storage on/in something with a similar pattern to the marks.
These sort of mark on cast iron are usually where the pores in the CI have been penetrated by moisture or corrosive vapour and the pores have been filled in a contrasting colour. Soaking in vinegar might reduce the but it is likely some traces will remain unless the whole metal surface is abraded away. A lot of work to remove and re-flatten to remove marks that will have no bearing on its ability to prop open a door or even in extremis, to plane wood. :lol:

Bob