Restoring a cutting iron of a #4 bench plane
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Tagged: plane iron restoration bevel
- This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 5 months ago by Peter George.
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2 November 2015 at 9:10 am #131949
Hi forum!!
I’m not happy with my plane-iron anymore. I have sharpened it too many times with imperfect stones (and novice skills) which lead to a bevel that is no longer straight- and square. What are the recommendations for restoration of a plane-iron? should I use a file? stones? Should I make a jig that goes with a file/stone? (The back of the iron does not need work, it’s nice flat and polished)
Also the cap-iron needs work.. It’s ‘bevel’ also is slightly rounded and the outer edges have a tiny gap when I mount it on the plane-iron causing the shavings to catch after a while.
I’m watching Paul’s excellent instructional videos and I know I need to toss my water-stones and go for diamond plates (ordering those now), but the harm is done.
- This topic was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Igor Kerstges.
2 November 2015 at 11:36 am #131952If you need to rework the iron, the best way is to use a grinder. Scratch a straight line on the back side and grind down to the line keeping the angle you want. Then use your water stones to sharpen the edge. If you use water stones, you will need a guide. I have never been able to free hand on water stones.
You need to get the cap iron flat and sharp so chips cannot get underneath. Best way is to start with sand paper to get the correct geometry. Then finish on the water stones to get the front edge sharp.
3 November 2015 at 3:50 am #131982Tuning up the cap iron could be tricky if you have a gap at the sides. The whole front edge needs to be straight to mate perfectly with the cutting iron. Normally, I would hold the cap iron along the edge of my diamond sharpening stone (or a piece of glass with sandpaper on it) as shown in the picture and rub back and forth. It is important that the front of the cap iron be raised off the table about 1/2″ and the back of the cap iron should be touching the table. This cuts a “back bevel” on the front of the cap iron so that it mates with the cutting iron at a point.
The part I’m worrying about is this. If you have a belly in the edge of the cutting iron, you would have to be very very careful in this procedure so that the cap iron doesn’t rock back and forth as you rub it along the stone. If it does, you’ll just make the belly worse. I might be tempted to file down the belly first – if I thought I couldn’t hold the cap iron steady. Or maybe rub in a direction perpendicular to the length of the stone until the belly is removed. I hope this was clear.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.3 November 2015 at 8:04 am #131990Hi Brett, Matt, thanks for your replies!
When i check the ‘flatness’ of the cutting iron with my square, it seems perfectly flat, but then again.. There is only 4 centimeter’s width to check. I think i have introduced the rounding due to hollowed sharpening stones. No matter how much I pay attention to rub over the complete surface of my stones, they hollowed out with higher ridges and a ‘gullet’ in the middle. Now my iron tends to develop towards a scrub-iron. 😉
Working with a grinder is not my preferred way, I’d like to stick with basic manual methods: to ‘hone my skills’ so to say.
Matt: your explanation is clear and the picture helps indeed. Your description fits how I work the cap iron myself. Working it perpendicular to the stone seems to work best for me, still a tiny light gap shows at both sides between cap iron and cutting iron. I will pay extra attention to avoid any rocking of the iron while sharpening! Will try to make some photo’s or a short movie clip next time..
Thanks and cheers, Igor
If you’re using water stones, you need to flatten them. There are ceramic stones made for this purpose or you can use a rough grit sandpaper on top of a flat surface. As you’ve found, no matter how you try, water stones will lose their flatness with use. That said, I still use my water stones to sharpen my kitchen knives, but the chisels and plane irons go to the Eze lap diamond stones.
3 November 2015 at 4:20 pm #132000When I was using water stones, I used to flatten them after almost every use. I used 90x lapping compound on a sheet of plate glass, which was quick and effective.
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