Reply To: scrub plane
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If you get a used grinder, ring the stone before you turn it on, remount it, then let it run for a while before standing in front of it. Actually, you shouldn’t trust a new stone either, really, and should ring test it, too.
There’s a bit of a tradeoff to make. A strong radius will give a plane that digs deeply, but the shavings will be narrow, so it’s like you are nibbling at the wood, even though the cuts are deep. A broader sweep won’t cut as deeply, but will give wider shavings. Some days you’ll want one, and other days the other. You’ll adjust to the work, although there’s a good chance that you’ll find one sweep that does most of your work. The tight radius is awesome for taking down a narrow edge. Once you’re in the general ballpark, you may find that you can make these adjustments with more finesse by hand than on a grinder, but hogging the material off is definitely easier on a grinder. On a super coarse diamond plate (120 grit), I can do this by hand on an old thin iron. It takes a bit of work, but it can be done. I don’t know about doing modern steels or thick O1 by hand.
You probably know this, but I like to get my shape with the blade somewhat near 90 degrees and *not* at the bevel angle. That way, you never are grinding heavily on a thin corner. This reduces the chances of burning the steel. So, I get to shape first, then I adjust the grinder platform to the desired primary bevel angle and work carefully to the edge. Because I have a coarse diamond plate, I don’t even go all the way to the edge and finish by hand.