In my quest to learn something about handplanes, I find plenty of reference to camber, as in “camber isn’t the same as radiusing the edge”, etc, etc, and that it’s an important concept for the serious user of handplanes.
I recently experimented with radiusing the edge of my iron to 8″ in order to convert a 1960’s vintage Stanley #4 from smoother into scrub plane. That works, but is probably way too aggressive – think that I’ll change that to about 10 inches, or even 12″ – but with the stock Stanley blade, there is no way that I can camber it to achieve a more aggressive cut.
This got me thinking – even with a nice thick LV or Hock blade, I have trouble imagining that I could camber the blade sufficiently to equal the aggressiveness of even the 10 inch radius.
So, apparently, I misunderstand the purpose of cambering. I rock the blade of my smoother as I sharpen it to easily add a little radius to the edge and avoid corner dig. Is that all there is to camber, or is there a more aggressive approach, and if so, what is it, and where is it used, and why not just radius the blade?
Mike D
Replies
Camber is such a slight radius that it amounts to barely a whisker by the time it reaches the corners. I find it primarly helps ensure nice wide shavings that are slightly thicker at the center with no plane tracks on the board being planed.
Mike,
It's probably not technically cambering, but I usually just knock off the corners a little at the end of my sharpening session to avoid plane tracks.
For what it's worth, the Veritas MKII honing guide's camber roller has a flat in the middle.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris,
FWIW, in my experience, just knocking off the corners - as opposed to cambering the entire edge to a barely perceptible radius - takes care of the worst tracks (literal cut steps), but can still leave sort of skids when smoothing. A camber makes for a better shaving and finish. YMMV.
This is going to seem silly, but...
what is the technique for actually cambering the entire edge / blade?
I do it something like this:
http://www.leevalley.com/shopping/Instructions.aspx?p=54180
Very clear, thanks!
Mike D
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