Planing really hard woods
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I’ve been sharpening my plane irons using Paul’s macro camber method and until recently had nary an issue.
I’ve tried planing spotted gum and blackbutt (Janka rating 11 and 10 respectively, Australian hardwoods are fun) and find that the plane just slides over the wood without ‘biting’. If I extend the iron out a lot, it does bite eventually but by that point the cut depth is nearly a millimetre (or thereabouts).
If I sharpen an iron using a guide at 35-40 degrees, the plane performs as expected, even better than expected really, as I can plane without any tearout (spotted gum and blackbutt have a lot of fiddleback) as long as the cap iron is suitably set. I’ve tried to sharpen free hand with my hand starting at about 40 degrees and dropping my hand as I push the iron away from me, then bringing it back up as I pull back, but I still have the ‘sliding’ problem mentioned above.
Am I just doing the macro camber method wrong? I can’t help but think I’m doing something wrong when I’m sharpening freehand, so I was hoping to get other peoples input on this. And yes, I have watched Paul’s videos 🙂 All of my planes are Bailey pattern bevel down.
40° sounds like too high a bevel angle to me. I understand that some planes are made specifically for hardwoods and have a higher “bed” angle, but my understanding is that they have the usual bevel angle of about 30°. If you are trying to get a higher cutting angle by using a 40° bevel, I’m not sure if that is the right thing to do. Typically the bed of a Bailey pattern plane is about 45°. That makes your bevel almost level with the sole (inclined about 5° from the sole). And if your hand sharpening is off by a couple of degrees, you could be dragging the back of the bevel on the wood instead of cutting with the sharp edge at the front of the bevel. I would try the 30° bevel angle, get it very very sharp and try planing the wood again.
I could be wrong – wait until others chime in before making any decisions on what to do.
It sounds like you put the iron down and push away, focusing on dropping your hand, as if you are scooping. I do the camber differently. I put the iron down about 2/3 of the away along the stone, towards the far edge and start to move back and forth with no thought about dropping or scooping. The stroke is maybe 1/3 to 1/2 the stone length. After I have some rhythm, I lengthen the stroke by letting the iron come closer to me. Each stroke or two is a bit closer. At some point, I can feel and hear a change in the honing when the blade is closest to me and this tells me that at the peak of the stroke closest to me, I’m hitting the real edge of the iron. I take a few to maybe 10 strokes when things are feeling that way, depending upon the state of the iron, and then feel for a burr. One way I know I’ve got it is that there is a tendency for the iron to catch and grab on the stone. The feeling is a bit crunchier and the sound is a bit scratchier. Sometimes, I don’t get this feeling after lengthening the stroke. I restart, but start with the stroke a bit further towards the far edge. Sometimes, I might lift a little higher for the starting point.
If you’ve gotten too high on your bevel (sounds like it), this won’t work for you and you should probably get back to 30 degrees with your jig. One you have that, try what I described above. One way to get started is to put down the iron and lift the heel (increasing the angle) while you watch for when the water you squirted onto the stone squirts out of the front edge of the iron as it pinches against the stone. Then start into the lengthening strokes.
Works for me. Don’t think about dropping or scooping. It’ll just happen. And watch out, because it is challenging to keep control when the blade wants to catch (which means you’ve gotten a hair too high). You could cut your lower hand.
It also sounds to me like your angle is too high. Remember, with a cambered iron and a strop, it’s easy to round the edge past the angle you’re shooting for, and 5 degrees of clearance, even with a jig, is very small – which is the case if your bevel is 40 and your bed is 45. I have had problems in Japanese planes that I sharpened at 35 degrees when my bed was 41. It may work some of the time, especially on soft, flat wood, but if you put it to hardwood, or uneven wood (such as rough sawn lumber), it will not cut well and will tend to ride the bevel.
I also sharpen using Paul’s method, and I keep the angles of my camber between 25 and 30 degrees. Generally, if I shoot very roughly for 25, I’ll wind up with 30 degrees near the very edge, which I find to be perfect.
Best of luck and let us know if this fixes your problem!
Matt, Ed, and Luke, thanks for your replies.
I read them yesterday and spent some time today putting 30* bevels on my #6 and #5, and 35* bevel on my #4. The #4 1/2 still has a 40* bevel. All of them are performing well now (smooth surface, no tearout). So the problem is definitely in my freehand sharpening method. Ed – you’re right, I think I am exaggerating the scooping action too much and it is ruining the bevel. And thanks for your description of your actions with the little details that make the difference.
I’ll practice a bit more on a spare #4 1/2 and keep using the honing jig on the other irons. Might even invest in a Veritas honing jig, my Stanley was bought back before I knew what good tools were and is kind of dodgy.
As an aside, I’m not 100% sure why the 40* bevel is working really well on the spotted gum and blackbutt. If I understand correctly, it leaves at best a 5* clearance under the bevel which is not very much at all. Maybe it’s because these two woods are quite dense and hard and don’t compress much?
Umar
You may check out if you can score an old eclipse guide on fleabay.
Probably cheaper than the veritas, since you’re a free hand sharpener.
You just might want to refine your technique a bit.
I’ve found that the table/bench height matters as well for your angles. It’s most easy when you naturally aim for the right angle in a sort of relaxed way and you don’t have to strain yourself to the correct position.HTH Diego
Has it been 8 years since this post… Well an update long overdue in case anyone else runs into a similar issue.
The plane iron wasn’t sharp enough because I was blunting it. When stropping, I was inadverdantly rolling the cutting edge when pulling the iron towards me. Once I realised that and stopped doing it, pretty much all of my planing problems disappeared as the irons were now sharp. Fortunately that realization came about shortly after the post above.
These days no issues with using a 30-ish degree bevel using Paul’s 3 diamond plates and strop method and a closely set cap iron for pretty much all my planing. Sharpness solves (almost) all problems with hand tools!
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