Replies

1. 
   archyii | Jul 18, 2002 03:18pm | #1

   Thanks for the info.

2. 
   benchdogs | Jul 19, 2002 10:14am | #2

   Four words : Garret Hack, "Hand Planes"

   This is an indispensable book for understanding the angles and sharpening of your basic hand tools. Planes, chisels, scrapers. The explanation of what is happening at the point of contact between blade and work is concise. The cutting is a combination of the bed angle of the plane, and the angle of the blade. There is a range of angles into which the two put together fall. These angles provide different attributes for different work. The angle is almost arbitrary to within a couple of degrees. Whatever works for what you do. I usually trust the angle a blade arrives with. The thing that stuck with me is that a hollow ground bevel may sharpen faster by machine and finished with a micro bevel, but a hand sharpened tool on a good flat stone retains all its steel behind the edge. My tools stay razor sharp for a long time. Nobody's making money while sharpening their tools, so I tend to set up in front of the tube on Sunday, and try to be patient.

3. 
   Danford_C_ | Jul 19, 2002 05:43pm | #3

   Archy,

   Paring chisels and plane irons generally should have a 25° bezel, mortising chisels a 30° bezel.

   I hone my bench plane irons and paring chisels at 30°, I find that by putting a micro bezel on sharpening time is greatly reduced and less metal is removed.  All my blocks and specialty planes where the bezel is up will have a 25° bezel; when used for face grain work I'll hone at 30° or 35° depending on the grain for a steeper angle of attack. For end grain they are sharpened and honed at 25°, particularly my low angle block and shoulder planes...Good suggestion on Hack's book.  FWIW.

   Dano

    

    

   "Form and Function are One" - Frank L. Wright
1. 
   JAllen9301 | Jul 22, 2002 04:01am | #5

   Dano I've been wondering for awhile now, what's a bezel? Same as a bevel? One of those to-may-toe/to-mah-toe kind of deals?

1. 
   Danford_C_ | Jul 22, 2002 04:50pm | #6

   JALLEN9301,

   Nah, they're different, check your dictionary....

   Dano"Form and Function are One" - Frank L. Wright

4. 
   Andrew | Jul 19, 2002 07:50pm | #4

   I think the bevel on my block plane iron is around 25 or 30. i don't pay much attention to the exact angle and i freehand sharpen it on my grinder with a hard felt wheel. despite the fact that i pay little attention to getting an accurate angle i can make continuous endgrain shavings with no problem. i just use the bevel that comes on my chisels and plane irons as a guide for sharpening, sometimes i'll change it if necessary. i mostly concentrate on getting a sharp edge instead of worrying about what exact angle i'm sharpening at.