Replies

1. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Feb 23, 2004 09:29pm | #1

   reepenstien,

   no problems - but it needs to be done freehand.

   How good are you at freehand sharpening?

   eddie

1. 
   foose89 | Feb 23, 2004 09:39pm | #2

   Fair to middlen, but I still hone anything above 4000 grit, with a jig.  Any suggestions?

1. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Feb 24, 2004 12:25am | #3

   Hi again,

   Here's a link to a summary of how I sharpen freehand from a previous post.

   http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages?msg=13980.5

   Also another discussion on this same topic:

   http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages?msg=11364.1

   Cheers (work started 30sec ago)

   eddie.

1. 
   foose89 | Feb 24, 2004 12:46am | #4

   Thanks, I'll take a gander and go from there.

2. 
   Alan | Feb 24, 2004 03:38am | #5

   reepenstien,

   I do it regularly, and I use a jig.  Actually I use one of three jigs; they all do the job.

   All I do is to press down on one corner, and nowhere else, and then press down on the other corner, move a finger's width towards the center of the iron, press there...ad nauseam.

   The only iron I haven't been able to sharpen this way is the one in my ECE scrub plane.  The arc is simply too great.  That iron I have to do freehand.

   Alan

1. 
   MarkRoderick | Feb 24, 2004 03:46pm | #6

   Not too long ago I posted the same question because I needed to hone my ECE scrub plan, like Alan. I was pleasantly surprised to fine that I could do it quite well by hand. Try it.

1. 
   foose89 | Feb 24, 2004 06:17pm | #7

   Alan, Mark, thanks..I'll give it a shoot this weekend.  My only concern is that a scrub plane doesn't need to be particularly sharp...therefore the comparison is suspect.

1. 
   ChasStanford | Feb 24, 2004 08:49pm | #9

   The motion is no different; simply progress to ever finer grits of whatever you use - stones, sandpaper, etc.......

   FWIW, a really sharp scrub plane iron is certainly not an outright hinderance to the job it does for you.  It is true, however, that you can spend a little less time on it and get good performance.  But I would not take this notion to a ridiculous extreme.

2. 
   MarkRoderick | Feb 24, 2004 09:00pm | #10

   I suppose a scrub plane doesn't NEED to be as sharp as say, a #4, but I can assure you that when I was finished honing the iron it WAS as sharp. In fact, it was probably a little sharper because I spent more time with it to make sure.

1. 
   foose89 | Feb 24, 2004 09:08pm | #11

   Ok, good counterpoints. I'll hide out in the shop this weekend and see what I can do,  thanks to all for the responses. Feel free to add any new thoughts.

3. 
   ChasStanford | Feb 24, 2004 08:46pm | #8

   Once you learn to do these freehand, and you really should, you'll want to do all your honing freehand.  Save the jig for those times when you need to re-grind a primary bevel.