Replies

1. 
   mufti | May 20, 2006 11:52pm | #1

                 Well many people rightly grind a slight curve to appropiate irons anyway. I now hone with a hand diamond sharpener, you know the type, comes in three grits. I hone straight blades the same way and find it the most effective way since I can see the results as I work. In fact I do the same with chisels- try it one a blade that does not matter to get the feel.

                 Sometimes I first use a burnisher to workharden the edge after grinding and before honing.

1. 
   eric314 | May 24, 2006 05:37am | #3

   Mufti,I am not familiar with these sharpener. Are they flat?Eric

1. 
   mufti | May 24, 2006 02:42pm | #7

                Sorry Eric I was trying to not advertise, I don't know why!  Eze-Lap or Dia-Sharp hand hones are both made in the USA and are inexpensive and flat. I use a 20X magnification loupe (opticians supply ) to monitor progress and if I cannot see the edge then I am happy.

        Yes I know a scrub is for rough work, but it is intended to be used at an angle to the grain and a really sharp blade does make life easier and reduce tear-out.

2. 
   douglas2cats | May 21, 2006 12:45am | #2

   This might work for you depending on the amount of radius on your blade. It's an attachment that fits on LV's honing guide that just came out. I just ordered mine last night so I cant give you a review yet. It will supposedly work for honing scrub plane irons as well as just putting the slight corner rounding on standard plane irons.

   http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=54181&cat=51&ap=1

   If you build it he will come.

1. 
   eric314 | May 24, 2006 05:39am | #4

   Douglas2cats,This looks like a nice jig but I am afraid it will not accomodate the tighter curve of the blades I am looking for. Thanks anyway.Eric

1. 
   mwenz | May 24, 2006 09:40am | #5

   How tight a radius is the plane you are getting have?

   fwiw, I use the linked jig and cambered roller to hone blades with very tight radii.

   Mike

2. 
   derekcohen | May 26, 2006 10:02am | #11

   This looks like a nice jig but I am afraid it will not accomodate the tighter curve of the blades I am looking for.

   Hi Eric

   The camber wheel for the Veritas Honing Guide Mk II works well for the slight camber on smoothers, the moderate camber on jacks, and the marked camber on scrub planes. However, it is not going to provide a tighter camber than this.

   If you (or anyone else) does have the Mk II guide, you might want to try out my idea which, while looking rediculous, actually works very well. This is to use the Mk II upsidedown! This way it pivots on the brass selection knob, which is rounded, so providing quite a lot of camber. This is illustrated below:

   View Image

   The only modification is to add an extra washer under the knob to increase the height. If using waterstones, as I do, run the knob on a steel card scraper.

   Used this was the jig is closer to honing freehand (which I do with bevel down planes and all chisels), but provides the extra stability for microbevels. It can run a tight radius, much much tighter than the Veritas add-on.

   Regards from Perth

   Derek

1. 
   eric314 | May 27, 2006 08:46pm | #13

   Derek,This is quite innovative! If I do not succeed free-hand this is definitely an option I will consider. Cheers,
   Eric

3. 
   RMillard | May 24, 2006 12:26pm | #6

   I hone curved blades, in the same way I do carving gouges, that is by rocking the iron over the stone in a sweeping arc, moving the tool parallel with the cutting edge. I avoid all jigs for sharpening, they just get in the way of what should be a quick, second nature process.

   Rob Millard

   americanfederalperiod.com

    

4. 
   notDusty | May 24, 2006 04:56pm | #8

    Hi Eric ,

                   I have to agree with Rob Millards suggestion . I use standard flat stones in several grits . When I sharpen either lathe tools or gouges carving tools or any others that are curved I sort of do a figure 8 pattern while rocking the surface so that equal contact is made .

      Longer stones or stones with larger surfaces can be helpful here .

          Follow the angle that is already there then perhaps a final lapping with a leather or what ever you use to polish it up .

              good  luck                dusty

5. 
   lwilliams | May 24, 2006 05:09pm | #9

   Rob has the technique right but there's an important issue that's been overlooked. Will the plane have a rounded sole the iron must match?

   If this is the case, then you must duplicate the profile of the iron to match the sole. I suggest red machinist's layout fluid on the iron then, with the iron installed in the plane to where it protrudes from the plane completely, scribe the profile of the sole on the iron. Expose as little of the iron as possible but make sure the whole iron protrudes.

   Remove the iron and use your most coarse stone at 90º to the face of the iron to bring the iron's profile to the scribe line. This will leave a flat on where the cutting edge will be formed. Coat this flat with layout fluid and flatten the face of the iron enough to remove the layout fluid on the face. This will leave give you a visual reference for what needs to be ground or honed off the irons bevel. When you grind the red colored flats from the edge, avoiding areas where the flats have been removed, you'll have a perfect profile match. Then go to Rob's honing steps.

1. 
   eric314 | May 26, 2006 07:41am | #10

   Thank you all for the sound advices!I just achieved, for the first time, a satisfying edge without a jig (on a flat blade). My previous attempt on the thin blade of my cheap Stanley plane failed because I was rocking the blade. It is much easier to feel the right angle with the thicker blade (3/16") of my new plane!So I will try Rob's and Larry's recommendations. The plane I am getting does have a curved sole so I will have to make sure the curve of the blade does match that of the sole. However it will come well sharpened so I hope that the first honing won't need Larry's more involved procedure until I feel confident enough.All the best,
   Eric

1. 
   RMillard | May 26, 2006 01:18pm | #12

   Eric,

    

   I use to hone my blades by passing them over the stone in a figure 8 pattern to evenly wear the stone, and it worked quite well, if I locked my shoulders and arms and moved only from the waist. That method required too much concentration, so now I just hone the edges of plane irons and wider chisels by passing them over the stone with the motion parallel to the cutting edge, this way it is easy to maintain the proper angle. I use a Norton combination India stone that I purchased in 1979, and it is still flat, but this is admittedly a hard stone, so a water stone ( or a softer oil stone) might get a groove worn in from sharpening this way. After a couple of quick passes on the oil stone, to remove grinding marks, I go to sandpaper glued to a piece of glass, and of course you can't unevenly wear that surface. This method has the other advantage to producing a flat cutting edge for jointer planes, miter planes, block planes etc. If I want the very slight camber for smooth plane, I just favor the edges when honing on the sandpaper.

   Rob Millard

    

    

1. 
   eric314 | May 27, 2006 08:53pm | #14

   Rob,Thanks for the tips. I use waterstones. I also have a glass plate that I use with wet-dry sandpaper to flatten the stones. The very fine waterstone seems quite hard. I will check the flatness more often now. If they wear down too fast I will use the glass-sandpaper combination to hone the blades.Cheers,
   Eric