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4 July 2016 at 8:11 pm #138242
Wow. I just came across some cherry too; someone cut a tree down in their yard. I’m also not quite sure how to process it.
I took a rip saw and sawed down the center of a few pieces that look twisted, and I’ve split a couple of short ones with a hatchet. I then hewed the round back off, and left them in roughly shaped 1″ x 3″ pieces to dry after removing the bark and sealing the ends with glue.
I’ve never done this before, so we’ll see if it works. Most of my pieces are fairly small in diameter though; not much larger than 4-5″, and most around 2-3″. You might want to make some wooden wedges to help with splitting larger diameter pieces. Be sure to process them promptly and seal the ends; they’ll tend to crack when drying, and the cracks tend to emanate from the pith, which should be removed if you split/saw it.
Also, leave them to dry outside. If you bring them inside, the humidity change is too rapid and may cause them to crack.
That’s about the extent of what I know. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in and help us both.
4 July 2016 at 7:35 pm #138239I have seen vintage bits that were not designed with spurs to begin with. So, in some cases it would seem to be by design.
I wonder if this isn’t akin to opening the mouth of a plane; a personal choice made by the craftsman to sacrifice fine finish work for easier rough work.
4 July 2016 at 3:29 am #138232One thing not mentioned:
What angle, roughly, are you sharpening at? I mean, you’re probably using a convex bevel I guess, but what angle near the edge?
I have heard that all steel is prone to failing if you go much under 25 degrees, but this is especially true of hard modern steels such as A1. I sharpen with a slight convex bevel that ends at about 30 degrees at the edge. Occasionally, I go shallower, and have had a chisel sharpened at such a low angle fracture badly when mortising. It could be that the very hard steel combined with a low sharpening angle is the culprit. Try sharpening at 30-35 degrees near the edge before giving up on that particular iron.
Alternatively, it could just be that your steel is too hard. A lot of modern plane irons are made with very hard steel compared to vintage planes, and are prone to chipping as a result. I have a vintage stanley plane, and the iron has never chipped on me; it’s gotten dinged up when hitting very hard knots, but never chipped or fractured.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by lukedupont.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by lukedupont.
29 June 2016 at 6:38 am #138149I have a frog that looks like that in a No. 3 that I bought on Ebay.
For me, it doesn’t wobble or anything, but it does hold the iron slightly skewed in the mouth, and I can’t seem to completely correct the problem however much I fettle with it. The plane still works surprisingly well, and is not prone to tearout, though.
If the plane still works perfectly fine, I don’t think there is reason to be concerned.
10 June 2016 at 5:13 pm #137745It 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!
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