Sharpening (and planing) out of square.
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- This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 9 months ago by mitown.
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I’m sure I’m doing anything wrong. After learning Paul’s technique on sharpening plane blades and chisels, I can get a razor-blade sharpening. My blades cut now a hair in the air, but they finish out of square. Yes, not very out of square, but a little. My stones are flat (I’ve checked them and I’m sure of that), the camber I get is beatiful, but they are out of square. The same thing with chisels, although here I can get nice results wortking with them. Reding the Garrett Hack’s book he says that is a problem that can be fixed doing circular movements over the stone with the blade, but when I’ve tried I have got a very slightly rounded cutting edge.
Afterwards, I’ve done a plane setting to compensate the blade. I get shavings of the same thickness on both sides of the cutting edge (Paul’s method again), but after a few passes my wood is out of square. The side that is on the vice side is always lower than the other, no matter wich plane I use (I have three ones, and one of them has a square blade). I suppose that is a problem of planning technique, but I’d thank some orientation. Is it a problem of planning technique, a question of practise, or both?
- This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Julio T..
- This topic was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Julio T..
5 July 2017 at 1:15 pm #313534Sharpening out of square is a common “problem” especially in thin chisels and the like.
Whats most likely happening is that your dominant hand applies more pressure then your other hand, or vice versa, removing slightly more material on one side and going out of square.Another things beginners seem to do is use way too much Pressure, depending on the grinding medium you use you may need barely any pressure at all.
So one way to counteract the whole thing is try and use little pressure and focus on applying it evenly with both hands.
Another is to use one hand only apply pressure with one hand while the other keeps the angle constant without adding to the pressure.
Really depends on your own preference and whats easier for you, if you ask 12 people you’ll get 12 different ways to sharpen. You’ll just have to try out and experiment what works best for you.As for planing have you checked that the shaving are still even? if yes then its your Technique if no then you got your culprit right there.
Might be a similar thing that happens you’re applying pressure to one side of the plane and getting out of square. Or you’re just taking too many passes on one side.Just keep on Practicing and let us know if the problem persists.
If the shavings coming out on both sides are equal in thickness, it sounds like you have the iron presented squarely. In that case it is probably not the plane that is out of square but your technique. I often think I’m planing perfectly flat/square but sighting down the board will tell me I am planing out of square. Ironically, I think it is worse the harder I try. It is more of an issue for me when planing a thin edge vs. a face. Practice and sensory engagement…
Thank you very much both of you for your answers. I’m almost sure that the problem is a technique problem. It’s true that I trend to make much pressure when I’m sharpening. I will try to do it softer (and perhaps slower) and I will tell you about my progress.
Here in Spain we have a sentence. I don’t know if there is an equivalent in english, but a direct translation would be: “the devil knows more for being old than for being devil”. With this, it’s time to practice, at least to avoid the idea that perhaps the final problem is that I’m a non-woodworker with more will than talent… 🙂
- This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Julio T..
- This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Julio T..
Sharpening out of square is really common. When sharpening, one hand wraps around the blade and the other hand rests on top. You can place the hand resting on top wherever you need. In fact, you can deliberately place it off-center. Do this deliberately on the side that is too long. You can do this either to achieve balance to come out square or you can do it to deliberately correct the angle. Sometimes, my “hand on top” will be two finger tips all the way out on the side. That all being said, every now and then I toss the blade in a guide and hog it back to straight and square. In any case, whatever feels natural and balanced to you really isn’t.
If you have a camber on your blade…an arc from side to side, then it is possible to set up the iron such that it takes equal shavings on the left and right side of a narrow test piece, but still causes the edge to go out of square. If you have a camber on the blade and run the plane off center on your work, one side will cut slightly more than the other. With repeated passes, you end up out of square. If your left side is high, run your plane with its left side hanging off the work and vice versa for the right. This will bring you back to square. Make your final pass(es) down the middle.
If your blade is straight (not cambered) and centered, putting more pressure on one side of the plane than the other can cause it to cut out of square, especially if you aren’t centered. If your low side is on the side of your hand that grips the knob, this may be your problem, especially if you hang your forward hand off the plane via your thumb. That’s a fine thing to do, but if you bear down with that thumb, you weight one side of the plane. Again, that can be useful, and moving the plane to hang one side or the other off the work lets you correct being out of square (or you can shift your thumb and apply pressure to either side).
In short, if you are out of balance, it transfers to the work. You can use that to help you, but you must be aware of it or it will sneak in.
Having in recent years retired and come back to woodworking I too have had difficulty in planing squarely. I don’t remember this being a problem some 42 years ago when I was at school!
I too had the same problem with more than one plane. I checked that the jaws of my vice was fitted correctly to ensure it held the work vertically when clamped. It didn’t. Correcting it eliminated that as an issue and once I practiced and improved my technique a little I started to find it easier (still wouldn’t say easy) and quicker to square work pieces.
I think also my work bench maybe a little high and could be affecting a fully natural feel to way the plane is presented to the workpiece. I’ll be dealing with this issue soon too.
Finally, eyesight. I’m older and the eyesight in one of my eyes is quite poor, which would affect my 3D vision. So what looks like a squarely presented plane to the woood, may in fact not be! Can’t do much about this other than be aware of it and learning to compensate through practice.
Above are just a few other ideas to look at as well as ensuring blades and planes are set up correctly. -
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