[OP]
Member
A few months ago I acquired a 3" wide New Haven Tool Company timber slick. I'm not sure about the background....it's pretty old steel and the chisel part of it weighs in at about 3lb 11 oz. I have started flattening the back using a block and wet sandpaper up to 7000 grit....does anybody have any advice on forming a bevel...this thing is wider even than my #8 plane blade....here's a photo....thanks in advance for any input.
slick.jpg
Member
Here's how I did mine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKjLkklXcmw&t=4s
Jeff
Contributor
Great video Jeff.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
Setting the bevel is easy. Flattening the back is hard, you might want to make the acquaintance of an automotive machine shop, unless your time is worth nothing.Originally Posted by Joe Crowe
Member
Thanks. Fast and accurate. That slick I reground in that video had a 45° bevel on it. Amazing the effort some folks put into ruining a great tool.
Jeff
Contributor
Sometimes it doesn't take any effort at all.
It seems on hollow molding planes previous owners always did most of the honing on the center of the blade. It can take a bit of work to get them evened out again if you don't have a decent grinder with a narrow wheel.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Great video, Jeff. Can you tell us a bit about your sander/grinder..it looks like a first class machine.
Member
It's just a 2" X 72" belt grinder. I use it for initial bevel grinds on molding plane irons, knife making, regrinding vintage chisels/irons, sanding plane wedges (wooden) as well as a lot of other things. It has the flat platten shown, but I also have a 10" wheel, and small diameter grinding wheels from 1/2" up to 1.5" diameter. Great for inside curves. I use it for roughing out wood parts as well, with belts ranging from 36 grit up to 800 grit, and several different scotchbrite belts for polishing metal parts, too. 2 hp 3 phase motor, run with a VFD, for infinite speed control.
Jeff
Member
Just don't get to carried away trying to flatten more than the last bit of the back if it is curved tip to tail. There is often an intentional belly in a timber slick that among other things offsets the handle from the blade and give some control paring large surfaces.
It is not a requirement and some timber framers prefer flat, but it will take a lot of work and steel to remove an intentional belly if it is there already. Some even have intentional camber side to side.
Last edited by Noah Magnuson; 04-28-2019 at 7:18 AM.
[OP]
Member
Hi Dave, Jeff et al,
I'm pretty good at hand sharpening so I gave it a whirl...flattened the back using wet or dry sandpaper and a scrap block...clamped that bad boy down with a holdfast and a scrap of wood for protection and progressed from 120 grit through 7000....mirror finish and flat back from the edge about 2.5". Today I did the same thing with the bevel and though it's not perfect through the grind (considering the rust etc., no big deal) it is razor sharp with a microbevel that cuts wood like a hot knife through butter.....this is my first timber slick and my "normal" sharpening methods won't work....it was imperative to mount the slick in a fixture and move the sharpening medium rather than the reverse. By the way, Jeff thanks for the video....great stuff. I had a fellow employee at Woodcraft turn a new handle as the old one was too fat for my hands. Now if I can only find somebody to either make a leather holster or figure out how to make one, this project will be complete. Again, thanks for the responses.
Respectfully,
J. Crowe
Member
Joe
Lots of good video's on YouTube for learning a little leather work for making your own sheath. Always a great idea to protect the edge of the tool, especially on one this large that is more time consuming to sharpen.
Noah is definitely correct regarding how slicks are made, with some being more cambered vs. having a flat back. That being said, you need to tailor the setup of the tool to the uses you are going to be putting it too. I use my slick for parking down large tenons and mortises, as well as cleaning up scarf joints on frames to a gauge line. I really won't use a tool that doesn't have a flat back for this, so I setup my slick in much the same way as you would set up a regular chisel. Your mileage may vary depending on you will use the tool. There's nothing particularly rare about these slicks, as there are literally thousands and thousands of them available in the used tool world. Adjusting one to suit your needs gives new life to an otherwise useless tool.
Jeff
Member
I agree with you completely, Jim. I have given up trying to find decent users for molding planes, H&R's, etc.....every one I get my hands on seems to need major profile and iron work, and often the wedges and beds look like they've met the wrong end of a dull beavers tooth.Sometimes it doesn't take any effort at all.
It seems on hollow molding planes previous owners always did most of the honing on the center of the blade. It can take a bit of work to get them evened out again if you don't have a decent grinder with a narrow wheel.
jtk
I have found that it isn't much more effort to make a new plane from scratch, and profile a new iron from an unhardened blank. A small brick 'forge' made from stove bricks, a torch, and some peanut oil, and I'm in business.
Jeff
Member
That makes my 1 3/4" slick look small.
It is a thick slick though and I am not concerned about damaging it. I did have to make a new handle for it when I got it. I took a sink drain pipe and cut a ring
around the top. I made the handle out of oak wood. I made the handle eight sided and then rounded it with a spoke shave.
Last edited by lowell holmes; 04-29-2019 at 10:20 AM.
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