Today I went back to trying to sort out a skew mitre plane that I was working on. The original blade wouldn't hold an edge, and I was getting ugly scratches on end grain. I tried everything, and finally gave up and tried another blade. Still the same problem! I set it aside for a month, but went back to it today. Maybe someone can help me diagnose the problem.
Here is what I get on pine end grain:
photo 4.jpg
For comparison, here is my no.4 with a Hock blade.--some faint scratches but nothing I can't live with.
photo 2.jpg
And here is the smoother I just made--no scratches.
photo-163.jpg
I am sharpening at just under 30°, which is as high as I can go (bed is about 39°). After a number of passes, the iron has lots of very small chips that I can see under a 10x lens. I tried to take a pic but the iphone camera can't focus enough.
My main thought is that the iron is too hard, so I tempered it to this color:
photo 1.jpg
Not sure if the photo is that accurate but I would describe it as gold. Anyway, tempering didn't really seem to help. My first guess is that it is still too hard, but at this point I'm doubting myself and don't know what to think. I'd hate to take this one too far and ruin it, so I decided to ask for advice first.
Some other possibilities:
- it's too soft. What would you describe as the characteristics of too soft vs. too hard?
- There are clearance angle problems. Doesn't seem like that would produce scratches, but I don't know.
One other thing: they are both Butcher irons, but from different eras, and one was slotted and the other not. Don't see how that would matter, but wanted to mention it.
Anyway, sorry for the marathon post. If anyone has any great ideas, I'm all ears! Thanks!