Reply To: Sharpening Veritas Router Plane Blades by Hand?

I have a method for accurately sharpening older Stanley/Record/Marples cutters on the 71, 071, and 271 routers without risk of getting them out-of-square, or creating a curved edge with a dome on top.

The Router itself is the sharpening jig.
It clamps the Cutter firmly, and square to the base, during sharpening.

Remove the Depth Adjuster Nut.
Fit the Cutter upside-down, facing rearwards.
Turn Clamp 180° to keep the Thumb-nut out of the way.
Position the Router against a straight edge, at the side of your sharpening plate.
Tip the Router backwards so that the top of the Cutter (now on the underside) meets the top of your sharpening plate.
Extend/retract cutter, or raise/lower sharpening plate, to infinitely adjust.
Run the Router back and forth, tracking against your straight edge.
You’ll maintain a square, perfect cutting-edge at the correct angle, every time.

If you choose to create a secondary bevel, just extend the Cutter slightly and inch the sharpening plate further away, then continue sharpening.

For the underside:
A thin strip of wood screwed to the sole of the router, will tilt the router backwards slightly so that the sole of the cutter is horizontal and parallel with the sharpening plate.
Operate the router in the regular way, over your sharpening plate, to perfect the underside face.
Most people seem to manage this part freehand, but if you’re correcting a wonky grinding for e.g., freehand could be tricky.