My Plane's Edge
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- This topic has 13 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 9 months ago by Doug Finch.
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25 July 2018 at 12:38 pm #549580
What brand of plane do you have, and is that the chip breaker we’re look at on top with the cutting iron underneath? Have you initialized the cutting iron yet? The cutting edge should be square and straight and yours doesn’t appear to be. Notice I said “should” because that edge doesn’t have to be perfectly perpendicular to the sides but it needs to be closer that yours is. The edge can get skewed when you sharpen freehand if you’re putting more pressure on one side of the blade than the other. A honing guide helps avoid that, but if it happens, it’s not too hard to straighten out – might take 15 or 20 minutes to do. I’m sure you’ve watched Paul’s instructions on sharpening but in case you haven’t I recommend having a look.
25 July 2018 at 1:53 pm #549582I’ve never used a Luban but I have heard of them and they seem to have a very good reputation. Looks like you just need to sharpen the blade and I would go all the way through the process beginning with flattening the back. If you’re new to this, to get that edge straight I would recommend using a honing guide. That way, you can be sure you’re getting the 25 degree primary bevel angle correct and it will definitely help you get the cutting edge square. You may even want to flatten the sole of the plane depending on what kind of condition it’s in. Again, Paul goes through all of this in one of the videos about plane restoration. Good luck with it!
25 July 2018 at 3:01 pm #549600You flatten the back of the plane iron.
Lay it on the stone upside down and polish it until you see an even sheen all the way across the blade behind the edge. This will take your bevel to a zero point all the way across. and you wont see any light reflecting off the edge when you look at it in the light25 July 2018 at 3:13 pm #549601That does look better! I was talking about the back side of the blade when I made that comment about flattening. If the back side of the blade is polished it’s already been flattened and it’s most likely okay as it is. But I see a little discoloration very near the cutting edge so you might want to work on the back of the blade a little just to be sure.
I went back and looked at the first photo you posted, and that discoloration on the plane iron may have been where the chip breaker (cap iron) had been sitting. But I also noticed that there appears to be a lot of scratches on the plane iron itself, so I would suggest you definitely flatten the back of the plane iron. You’ll never get a smooth cut if the back side isn’t flat and polished. The cap iron should sit about 1/16″ +/- back from the cutting edge but that isn’t very critical and it doesn’t need to be perfectly aligned either. I’ve moved them all over the place and seen little or no change in performance.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by harry wheeler.
The chip breaker does not need to be perfectly parallel to the blade. You can center it on the blade at the cutting edge, but then have a little twist to counter an edge not being perfectly square. There’s enough slop (extra width) in the cap iron slot to allow this twist (sometimes twist plus a bit of offset). Eventually, you’ll want to square things up more, but skewing the cap iron a smidge can keep you going and reduce the frustration of requiring perfection. In short- mount the chip breaker with its edge parallel to the actual blade edge rather than focusing on lining up their edges like a deck of cards. The angle adjustment lever gives the fine adjustment.
It looks like you’ve sharpened to a straight edge with the corners taken off. If you see track lines in your work, revisit your corers and try to make them not have any sharp angles. You may be okay, so work with it and see what you get, but it may need some fairing.
Would you please post a photo of the blade plus cap iron assembly taken from the side?
25 July 2018 at 4:57 pm #549627That’s what I thought it was Mark. The cap iron isn’t like the original Stanley Bailey design. It’s thicker steel and pretty similar to the one in my WoodRiver 5 1/2 plane. That design works very well.
Have to say I really like the feel of the Luban. True I’ve not used other planes but the Luban feels heavy and solid and I like how it feels.
I’ve got two Stanley no. 4s too, both need some care and attention. I’m going to convert one to a scrub plane and the other will stay as a ‘4’.
Thanks all again for the advice.
@mark68 Yup, perfect. I wanted to make sure there was a gap that ensured that the cap iron meets the back of the iron at the edge with tension. Looks fine. There is some refining you might do over time, but not right now while you’re starting, as long as your shavings are flowing well and not jamming.
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