Registered: 08/13/07
Posts: 430
Loc: Missouri City, Texas, USA
Re: Making a smoother according to the Work Magazine Reprint Project
07/17/12 10:05 PM
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Will the casting still work functionally? It should have no problem planing wood, it will just have holes in the sole, which vary in size from pinhead to peppercorn. All holes are not very deep, maybe 0.060" at the deepest. I guess those holes would fill with mutton tallow or the like, making a self-lubing plane...hmmmm. I hold a high standard though--I wouldn't pay for a casting of the present quality. And if I remember correctly, the author of the Work Magazine article would agree.
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I can think of two fairly reasonable ways to salvage those castings:
1) Fill the holes with epoxy
2) Fill with silver solder
The silver solder approach risks warping the casting due to heat, but if done carefully it could probably be done with success.