Another Plane Blade Sharpening Question

[Roy Lindberry]

Hello friends. Some of you may recall that I posted the topic, "End Grain Tearout Woes on the Shooting Board" a few weeks ago, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...Shooting-Board
and many of you provided your expert advice, which I truly appreciate. It turned out that my problem was (and still is) my sharpening. Shaving hair is clearly not a proper test of sharpness, so now I have a few questions about sharpening. In that previous post, John Coloccia asked:


This great question got me thinking. I have a WorkSharp for the initial Grinding Angle (it's a flat grind vs. a hollow-grind). I also use the Veritas Mk II Honing Guide for use with the WorkSharp and the stones. I also have a mirror-back on all of my blades, flattened initially on the WS, progressively through every sandpaper grit up to 1500, then final-polished on the 13000 stone, which I flattened with the Atoma diamond plate after every ~20 or so strokes of sharpening.

Here's where I need help with my sharpening routine:
1. Am I wasting time with an unnecessary grind, as John questioned? Should I just do an initial Grinding Angle on the WorkSharp, followed by a primary angle cutting on the stones and be done with it? So this would mean,

• Set Grinding Angle on Mk II Jig, grind on Worksharp with 80-grit at 25 degree Grind Angle (for example)
• Then add a 1 or 2 degree microbevel, with turn of thumbscrew
• Switch to stones: PS II 1200 to for primary cutting angle ... 4 to 5 swipes or until wire edge detected (leave wire edge there)
• Switch to PS 6000 stone ... 4 to 5 swipes with high finger pressure (wire edge still there)
• Switch to PS13000 stone ... about 10 very soft swipes for polishing
• Remove blade, flip over, use Charlesworth's ruler trick, on and off 13000 stone, to remove wire edge

When too time consuming (more than 10 swipes on PS II 1200, then re-grind on the workSharp with 80-grit and re-start the process above. This would be faster and more simple than what I'm doing now.

2. OR ... should I keep doing the 1 or 2 degree micro bevel on the blade?

• Set Grinding Angle on Mk II Jig, grind on Worksharp with 80-grit at 25 degree Grind Angle (for example)
• Then set blade in jig to Primary Cutting Angle (example 30 degrees)
• PS II 1200 for primary cutting angle ... 4 to 5 swipes or until wire edge detected (leave wire edge there)
• Then add the 1 or 2 degree Microbevel Angle, do a few more passes on the 1200 stone (with the microbevel dialed in)
• Then switch to PS 6000 stone ... 4 to 5 swipes with high finger pressure (wire edge still there)
• Then the PS13000 stone ... about 10 very soft swipes for polishing
• Remove blade, flip, ruler trick, on and off 13000 stone, to remove wire edge
• When too time consuming to sharpen (more than 10 swipes on PS II 1200, then re-grind on the WorkSharp with 80-grit and re-start the process above.

3. Then what should I do for intermediate sharpenings while working? (a) All of step 2 above (1200, 6000, and 13000)? (b) Or just the 6000 then 13000 on the final micro-bevel only? (c) Or just the 13000 on the final micro-bevel only?

Sorry about the long post... Thank you again for your time!

Sincerely,
Rich

I've started using Paul Sellers' method, and my sharpening is quicker and better now. I don't worry about microbevels or back bevels. Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTcR...NQb7w&index=21

[steven c newman]

And now,if you'll excuse me, Ihave the irons ( from my jack planes) to go and sharpen back up. Should take, maybe 20 minutes for two of them. The third is a cambered one, and needs to be re-cambered a bit more. Say, to about an 8" radius? The other two are just Stanley #5s, I MIGHT try out this "Strop Trick", but haven't figured out how on a cambered iron to do the strop. Sharpening stones are all oiled up, and waiting to go. Three stones, five grits. No ruler in sight, only a Veritas MKI guide. I do the stone work by hand, anyway. Backs are already flat and shiny. Hey, if it works for my #8c to produce so-through shavings in Hickory edge grain......

[Jim Koepke]

A man that picks up a cat by the tail learns a lesson he could not have learned any other way. --- Mark Twain

Nor will his memory of the lesson grow dim from age or time.

jtk

[george wilson]

I was so poor that I had a block,but no plane. All I could do was put it on the floor and stumble over it.

[Derek Cohen]

I was so poor that I had a block,but no plane. All I could do was put it on the floor and stumble over it.

George ... you had a floor?!

Regards from Ottawa

Derek

[Larry Whitlow]

This has got to be really confusing to new woodworkers who are trying to really learn how to sharpen in their shops/garages/ basements/kitchens and no having a clue which of the 10 or so different sides to take in this 'discussion'.

Jeff

Confusing? You think so? If this was a discussion about sex there wouldn't be any more babies

[George Van Aken]

The coffee cup "trick" reminds me of another that has come in handy over the years on my pocket knife.

When you're out and about, and need a quick sharpen, roll your vehicles window almost all the way down and use the TOP of the glass to touch up that blade. Works very well.

[george wilson]

We had a hard packed DIRT floor!!! Like the sod houses on the prairie..!!

It has been stated that double edged razor blades could be sharpened by whirling them around inside a straight sided glass tumbler. I haven't availed myself of this trick,though.

Derek: I had a block of wood on my bench for holding carver's screws. This was when I was open to the public. Sometimes someone in the crowd would ask what it was for. I'd tell them it was a stumbling block,lay it on there floor and stumble over it. If done right,it always got a big laugh!!

[Curt Putnam]

You were so fortunate. When I was a kid we were so poor that I sharpened by 5c chisel (made from a tooth of a Great White that we had to wrestle to the shore ourselves) on the backside of a running/jumping kangaroo, and then stropped it on the sole of a heat-cracked bare foot.

It worked quite well ..

Regards from Ottawa

Derek

Now that's funny right there (with apologies to Larry)

[Peter Hawser]

Confusing? You think so? If this was a discussion about sex there wouldn't be any more babies

Brilliant! Are you sure you are not a professional stand up comedian or writer for David Letterman? I truly laughed out loud. You said it all!

[steven c newman]

Well, despite all the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" advice about sharpening, I still managed to get those two plane iron sharpened back to "Gossemer Shaving" status. I even ground a camber on one of them! Stones made to use a light oil, and then some green stuff on a small buffing wheel in my Dremel. When you can get see-through shavings from a pair of jack planes, yeah, I THINK I might have them sharp enough for a while.


Just marked out the camber on the back of the iron ( Parplus #5 iron) and slowly ground up to the line. The hardest part was stoning that camber, due to small stones i use. I moved my fingertip along where I wanted the stones to hone. But, that is my honing guide, my right index fingertip, right at the edge, and even a bit into the oil. I keep the edge inplace that way, not allowing any gap. Three stones= five grits, and half a can of 3in1 oil ( small "can") Counting the grinding, and honing for two 2" wide irons, about....1 hour.

Confuse anybody???

[Larry Whitlow]

Brilliant! Are you sure you are not a professional stand up comedian or writer for David Letterman? I truly laughed out loud. You said it all!

Naw, I saw a similar comment many years ago about an article on how to perfect your golf swing.