I was reading this great web site by Brent Beach on sharpening

http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/Sharpen/bevels.html


he suggests a 3 deg. micro-bevel on the back side of plane blades. After reading the web link and looking at the graphics, it seemed this is a GREAT idea. With a flat back, when a knick occurs, you must remove a lot of the front micro-bevel to remove the entire knick, eating a lot of material and taking a lot of time. Brent mentions a symptom of this, which is when you start with a new plane blade, which cuts ultra sharp, then re-honing never quite gets you back to that new like condition. I must admit, I have experienced this.

With the 3 deg micro-bevel on the back side, the knick at the edge, now becomes easy to remove, and will re store a perfectly sharp edge in very little time. He mentions the back bevel method will allow you to re-hone by using 10x less material to restore the edge, saving time, the blade, and your stones! The concept seemed so obvious, I am surprised its not utilized more often. I remember Derek mentioning this on his web site also.


How many of you back bevel you plane blades? How do you get that back bevel on the blade? (probably the trickiest part of the process, so as re-honing does not become cumbersome) Brent offers some great suggestions for this....

Thoughts?