How Long Did It Take You: LN #8 Iron

[Tony Filippone]

From fresh in the blue bag to curly shavings, how long did it take you to flatten the back and sharpen the #8 iron the first time?

Any hints or advice on how to handle the monster?

[Joel Runyan]

A new LN plane blade back is already (or very much should be) dead flat, and consequently shouldn't need to be "flattened" except for removing the burr after honing. The honing should only take a few minutes at most, depending on one's cambering preferences. Other than that, I can't think of much else that needs to be done with a new plane besides get the iron back in and out of the mouth.

Are you looking for general sharpening tips, or were you referring to handling the weight of the thing? Because the best advice I can give there is make sure to use your legs, unless you're Popeye.

[Joel Goodman]

In terms of the plane I saw Deneb (from LN) using a #8 for flattening and he would tip it slightly on the return stroke so as not to drag the plane on the blade but still avoid lifting it. For jointing I think you're lifting and building up those arms. I have an old Stanley #7 and it's heavy enough for me -- but I did like the momentum the #8 build up moving forward -- kinda like a freight train. I've found the LN blades to be reasonably easy to flatten -- easier than the Hock I just got for a #6 which was not very flat and had deep scratches in the back -- a real PITA!

[Tom Henderson2]

That will very much depend on how well the LN folks did when they sanded the blade at the factory.

I've had a couple LN blades lately that required quite a bit of work; whoever flattened them at the factory didn't do a very good job and both had a "low corner" that took me a long time to take care of.

The factory uses a manual process to flatten the backs of the blades judging from the video they were showing at the SoCal handtool event. So some blades will be better than others.

I love my LN tools -- they are awesome. But one area they could improve would be the way they prepare their blades. In addition to having to do more work than I expected to the blade backs, one of them (a 4-1/2) blade was warped so bad that the chip breaker didn't make contact at the business end. So beware of that, also.

-TH

[Tony Filippone]

Thanks for the help and encouragement.

It may be flat, but it's definitely not polished. All the David C. and Chris S. and a raft of others take the back of a plane iron to 8000 grit. Crazy? What do I know?

Out of the box, I started with 220 and moved to 500 and then to 1000 before throwing in the towel (dinner time and I had just finished sharpening 9 new chisels - my brain was mush and my fingers were flat). It looked like there was quite a bit of work to do before a mirror polish was visible. It's a monster iron...

[Narayan Nayar]

This has been said before, but in the end, wood doesn't really care what the blade looks like. I think with one or two exceptions I've always been able to take a new LN plane, hone the bevel (add a secondary bevel, then D.C.'s ruler trick), and get to work (or play).

On a jointer plane, I wouldn't care too much whether the back is polished or not unless the plane wasn't performing well, in which case it would be one of the things I suppose I would troubleshoot. For my part anyway, assuming the chipbreaker and the iron are making good contact and nothing else is visibly awry, the ruler trick is really the only back polishing I need to do.

Chisels on the other hand...

[steve swantee]

I've got a Stanley No.8 with the 3/16" thick LN iron in it. I put a small back bevel on my irons, as I am working mainly with hardwoods and it helps a lot with difficult grain, so I've spent ZERO time flattening the back of mine.

Steve

[lowell holmes]

I don't have a #8, but my 4 1/2 required about 30 seconds. I iron and chip breaker would stay together from suction they were so smooth. If your iron requires any flattening, I would let LN know. IMO LN would be upset at the prospect of an iron getting out needing attention. I have four of their planes.

[Billy Chambless]

If your iron requires any flattening, I would let LN know. IMO LN would be upset at the prospect of an iron getting out needing attention. I have four of their planes.

My thoughts exactly.

[Sean Hughto]

I recently went through the exercise - blue bag to shavings - with a 7. It took about 15 minutes with my stones. The back was flat, but needed the last grit's lines revmoved and a polish imparted. That took 10 minutes using maybe three successive water stones. The bevel edge was quick work - another 5 minutes or less.

[Fidel Fernandez]

Thanks for the help and encouragement.

It may be flat, but it's definitely not polished. All the David C. and Chris S. and a raft of others take the back of a plane iron to 8000 grit. Crazy? What do I know?

Out of the box, I started with 220 and moved to 500 and then to 1000 before throwing in the towel (dinner time and I had just finished sharpening 9 new chisels - my brain was mush and my fingers were flat). It looked like there was quite a bit of work to do before a mirror polish was visible. It's a monster iron...

I hated when my fingers were in pain and flat . I am now using mag-switch magnets to hold the blade . It is easier to handle and my fingers are happy.

[geoff brandenburg]

I've had a couple LN blades lately that required quite a bit of work; whoever flattened them at the factory didn't do a very good job and both had a "low corner" that took me a long time to take care of.

-TH

Slightly OT, thank you for saying that — now I know that I have had at least one. So I'm not crazy after all...