Recent subsrciber to FWW and a first time poster. Howdy all!
I just finished reworking a #4 Stanley plane. Sole, frog, iron and chip breaker. A 4 hour ordeal using scary sharp method. But the satisfaction was obvious when that tranluscent curl of wood peeled up through the mouth. I have a number of planes to do yet. Once I get the soles and iron backs flattened then it’s a matter of iron maintenance. What is everyone using? How often?
I am considering adding Arkansas stones to a medium and fine diamond I already have. The diamonds are mid scale. Not fine enough for sharp, sharp. And not course enough to remove any metal. But should I just invest in a power system Like Tormek or Veritas. Are they good for maintenance of chiesels and planes? Any other options to consider?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Al
Replies
Scarey sharp works for me.
A fella can spend a whack of cash on sharpening stuff- only to find some one who tells him that some other method is "better", or save a whack of cash with the scarey sharp method.
Which yer gonna have to most likely continue using to rehab the rest of the planes you mentioned. Although you referred to this one as an "4 hour ordeal", that's tempered by your ecstasy when you used it.
When rehabing planes, I've also observed that it can take a long time to get them in really top-notch shape, but then I realized that come a few weeks or months, I would be sharpening them again, so it was obvious that if I didn't polish all the rust off the blade this time, next time I would get more. What I'm trying to say is that you can do the "total rehab" in stages, the prime consideration is to make them useable.
The scarey sharp methodology is pragmatic and inexpensive. Nothin to stop a fella from augmenting it with some really fine stones though.
The biggest advantage to me with the scarey sharp methodology is it's portability. For site work, all I need is a sheaf of various grits, and a scrap of MDF or melamine (hard and reasonably flat), and I'm pretty much able to keep the sharps sharp.
In the shop there is a grinder, surface plate, and a buffing wheel and some leather strops too, and for me they are pretty much essential for the finer edges, but I'd have to add another leaf spring to the truck to take em on site.
Scarey sharp can take you a long way on it's own.
Hope that helps.
Eric
in Calgary
Thanks Eric,
I don't believe I'll replace the scary sharp method totally for all the reasons you listed. As you say however, it's time to augment it with some good stones. I guess I'm trying to find out what to move to. Oil stones or water stones. What are the pros and cons of each. What grits are required for removing a chip or to working up to a final polish for wood working. Knowing the range will help me decide where to begin.
Al
PS. I live a couple hours east of you.
I would ask myself why I am augmenting with some stones? Is it to speed the initial flattening? To achieve a higher degree of polish? You don't like changing paper? Peter in Ontario
Peter,
You might say it's changing paper. I find sandpaper expensive. I go through more on the coarser grits because 1 sheet of 80 grit might last through removing a chip or correcting an angle on a chisel or plane iron. If some the sandpaper grits are re-placed by a good stone and I can still get sharp, then I see it as an investment. Just like many other tools we use.
I dunno, I'm gathering info and will weigh it out and hopefully come up with a decision that makes sense prctically and economically.
I appreciate your comments.
Al
My advice is use water stones. They cut fast and water is a lot less messy than oil. The downside is that you have to flatten waterstones more frequently. . . Nothing is perfect
Regards from Africa
Pine
Hey its amazing how a common plane can be made to work, if you put in the time. I have long considered planes to be "kits" if the casting is good you can make any plane cut like an expensive one you just have to put more time in. Sharpening I have used water stones for some time they cut faster and will leave a mirror finish if you go to the finer grades. I showed one of my chisels to a machinist once and his first reaction was that the edge had been plated. Have fun.
Dic,
That mirror finish is what were looking for. Do the water stones require maintenance and are they always kept under water? I know little about them, just they are an option.
Thanks,
Al
Water stones are man made and the grit is more uniform than natural stones. No you don't have to keep them wet all the time just put the stone in water for about ten minuets before you use it. They wear faster than an oil stone "that's why they cut so well". like all stones they periodically need to be flattened. I have been using water stones exclusively for about 15 to 20 years and haven't't worn any out yet. You do have to protect them from freezing, go to Lee Valley they have a good selection and lots of good information. Have Fun!
Dic,
So what is the process to flatten them and how often?
I take it you have a "set" of stones. What grits are they?
I am quite familiar with Lee Valley and really like the Veritas products they carry. Gives me goose bumps every time I walk into it. Dangerous store, so my wife says.
Al
In answer to your query I have 200, 1000, 4000,and 8000 grit stones you flatten them the same as any other stone if you use good technique, I mean use the whole face of the stone you will not have to very often. I have only had to flatten mine once or twice in many years of service. I agree Lee Valley is a dangerous place I think they should have given me shares lol. Have fun and good luck!!
I use my diamond stone to flatten my waterstones. I just rub the diamond stone over the water stone until it contacts every bit of it. Usually two or three passes is sufficient.
Tony,
How true. And two or three passes take, what, about 5-10 seconds. And that's all for regular flattening. Even if the stones are dished out a bit, it should not take more than 30 seconds.
All the moaning about flattening water stones is becoming a bit tiresome on these pages.
Metod
Better take a close look at your diamond stones after using them to flattening the water stones. The nickel that the diamond crystals is embedded in is pretty soft, and that waterstone slurry will work around the crystals and...ooops, your diamond stone is smooth on the perimeter. In other words, your using $65.00 diamond stone to flatten your $50.oo waterstone. Scary sharp works great to flatten your water stones...and a lot cheaper.
Edited 4/21/2005 11:41 pm ET by Quartersawn
I had wondered about the effect on the diamond stone. Thanks for the tip - I'll use the sandpaper on plate glass I have sitting nearby instead.
Scary sharp ..
Is that sort of like Roy Underhills fingers?
Sorta like your sense of humor.
Harbor Freight sells cheap diamond stones, I buy a set and use them to flatten my Arkansas stone when it needs it. When the diamond stone is shot, I toss itYMMVLeon Jester
I use the set of Norton water stones (four grits - 250? , 1000, 4000, and 8000) with the Veritas roller guide and angle setter. It has an eccentric wheel that allows a secondary bevel of one or two degrees. I know the blade is sharp when I can shave the hair off my arm with only the weight of the blade pressing down. The finer grits allow the edge to retain its sharpness longer.
The gap between the 4000 and 8000 grits is a bit much, and the initial sharpening will take a while. The stones have to be trued every now and then, but the results are awesome. I sharpen all my planes and chisels this way. There was a FW article a few years back with microscope photos of sharpened edges using various methods. The Norton stones yielded the finest results. Cost is about $100 for the stones and 20 to 40 for the sharpening system.
A 4 hour ordeal.........
DAMN YOUR GOOD!
Hello from the Beaver state.
I use Scary Sharp and had some concerns for the cost of the sandpaper vs buying water stones. Lower grit stones are not too bad in price, but can get a bit pricey at the upper grades. A lot of people also invest in a stone holder - more expense.
I found I can get wet/dry sandpaper off of eBay very reasonably up to 2500 grit.
Usually in packs of 50 sheets or rolls. FYI - my wife does some crafting so we buy big cans of spray adhesive so I buy regular not PSA paper and use the spray to secure it to the plate.
For maintinance of my chisels and plane irons, I still use Scary Sharp but start at 600 or 800 and move up from there. Lower grits are for flattening, lapping and removing the occasional nick.
I Do have a couple of water stones and for flattening I use the mesh that sheet rock installers put on their poles for sanding down the joint compound. It is a mesh so does not clog. I even use that for initial, first step lapping on some of the more challenging plane soles.
1 - measure the board twice
2 - cut it once
3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go
4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
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