Replies

1. 
   gdblake | Feb 06, 2010 05:36pm | #1

   Festerwigy:

   Could you please post some pictures of the plane. It will make it easier for someone to walk you through how to use it. Thomas Lie-Nielsen's Sharpening Book has a description of a simple wooden jigs designed to help with the sharpening of the iron. I'll know next week if Ron Hock's new book, "The Perfect Edge" has more up-to-date info.

   gdblake

1. 
   festerwigy | Feb 07, 2010 09:45pm | #7

   i took some pictures of the plane but have to wait for my granddaughter to show me how to post them.i lived 58 years without a computer and i dont know what im doing.thank you for your input.

2. 
   lwilliams | Feb 06, 2010 11:15pm | #2

   You don't want to start with
   You don't want to start with sharpening the iron. If you do, it's likely you'll have to go through all the steps to do it more than once.

   Assuming your plane is in good shape, and that's a big assumption given some of those I see people think they can get working again, start with re-bedding the iron. Remove the fence and mark the back of the iron with a dry erase marker, I like blue ones. Put it in the plane and seat the wedge then drive the iron out the mouth. This will show where the iron isn't properly supported by the bed. Remove the high spots with a float. I suppose there may be other tools you can use but if you go another way you might want to plan this as a long-term project. Lie-Nielsen sells a joinery float called a large cheek float that will do much of the work but it's also likely you'll need a plane makers' side float as well. Keep repeating this until the iron leaves a solid mark on the bed for 3/8" or more down right next to the mouth. Now you'll probably need to refit the wedge and fitting the wedge is critical. If the wedge doesn't properly hold the iron nothing else will matter. Remove as little as possible from the top edge of the wedge until it matches the front of the escapement and only finger pressure holds the iron pretty solidly. Check the bedding of the iron before you proceed to make sure you haven't changed the bedding. Fix the bedding if needed.

   Next is flattening and truing the escapement side of the plane. You'll have to remove the depth stop and nicker to do this. Remove as little wood as possible, if it's not too far out, just lap it on a flat surface with something like 220 grit sand paper. When the escapement side is true, it's time to true the sole. Make sure the sole is flat and square to the side, again remove as little wood as possible.

   Now you should be ready to start on the iron. Lap it pretty flat and make sure there's no pitting near the cutting edge. Coat the face of the iron across the edge and up the escapement side with machinist's layout fluid. I like the brush on in red. It'll dry quickly and then put it in the plane so that the iron is completely exposed out the sole but just barely where it's at its smallest reveal. It should also be exposed slightly on the side. With a good flat chisel scribe the iron on both the sole and side.

   Grind to these lines at 90º to the face of the iron. This creates a couple flat surfaces and paint these with your layout fluid. Lap the fluid from the face of the iron so that only the flats are coated with fluid. These will act as a guide for grinding the bevel and the relief angle on the side of the iron. You'll want the relief angle to be a few degrees more than the what the skew of the plane makes square to the side of the plane. Remember to leave your line when you grind the side of the iron because you want to end up a couple thousandths proud of the side of the plane so that the iron cuts ever so slightly wider than the plane when the iron is seated against the blind side of the mouth.

   Grind the bevel at 25º until there's just a tiny hair-line left of the layout fluid painted flat. Do the same for the relief angle but I can't tell you what that is because I don't know how much skew your plane has.

   Hone a new edge on the bevel and hone the relief angle until the painted flat just disappears. Finish flattening the face of the iron and raise a new wire edge on the bevel with your fine stone. Remove that wire edge and reassemble the plane.

   You'll also have to clean up and sharpen the nicker before the plane works right but nickers were made in more than just a couple patterns and I don't know which you have. Better plane makers drew back the nickers when tempering so you can shape and sharpen them with a file so try that before resorting to honing stones.

   I'm sure I left something out because there's a lot going on in an old moving fillister and I'm assuming you actually have a moving fillister which are more common than sash fillisters which have some different sharpening considerations.

1. 
   gdblake | Feb 07, 2010 08:46am | #4

   Larry:

   You are the best source for thorough information like this I know of. I'm sure you get suggestions all the time, but a book or video from you on what to look for in traditional wooden planes and how to tune them to achive peak performance would of tremendous help to many of us.

   gdblake

1. 
   lwilliams | Feb 07, 2010 10:52am | #5

   Most of what I posted is already in the two videos I have out. One of the problems I have in explaining this is those who ask for information are often working on limited budgets and, because of what I do, I happen to have pretty good tooling to handle a lot of things. That doesn't mean my budget isn't limited, it's just that the tooling I have is necessary for what I do and has been accumulated over a life-time.

   I didn't mention all one can get into when repairing boxing in the post above. It's not that I don't suspect problems with the fillister mentioned, boxing is often pretty big in moving fillisters and likely to have issues. Repair of boxing can be pretty demanding and the easiest way I've found to get accurate predictable results is to use a milling machine. It's completely unrealistic to say, "To repair your $50 plane you need to go out and buy a $3500 milling machine."

1. 
   festerwigy | Feb 07, 2010 09:42pm | #6

   thank you guys for your input. you are right about a 50$ plane,i should have looked into it closer before i bought it. i'm self taught woodworker that has always used power tools untill recently i got a lie-neilson block plane as a gift .i cant explain the feeling to use that plane the first time and i wanted to try more.i appreciate your help and where can i view your videos?

1. 
   lwilliams | Feb 08, 2010 08:13pm | #9

   I didn't mean to imply you
   I didn't mean to imply you should give up on your plane. There are some really good planes out there for pretty reasonable prices and I've been impressed with what some people have found. In one of the videos I show sharpening of a stunning 18th Century cove/ovolo molding plane. That plane belongs in a museum but I thought the video was justification to tune it up and get it working. It's on the cover of the video. Put your plane back to work, it's worth the effort.

2. 
   gdblake | Feb 08, 2010 08:36am | #8

   Larry:
   I have Don's two
   Larry:

   I have Don's two videos on using moulding planes and your hollows and rounds video. I wasn't aware of the sharpening video, I will certainly check it out. Making some hollows and rounds is on my personal to do list. The way the job market is looking I don't think I'll ever be in a position to order a set from you.

   gdblake

1. 
   lwilliams | Feb 08, 2010 08:16pm | #10

   I believe the plane making video gives all the information necessary to make some very good planes. I'm really pleased to have had the opportunity to be involved in its production. I'm even more pleased when I see some of the planes people have been able to make as a result of the video. If Don's two videos don't provide the motivation to make some, I don't know what will.

3. 
   mvflaim | Feb 06, 2010 11:27pm | #3

   ll