I am fairly new to using planes and I have bought a few old Stanleys like a #4, 6, & 7 recently and I have a question about sharpening the blade. I was under the impression that most of the irons should be flat across when sharpening them but I read an article last night about having a slight radius on the 6 & 7 and this is suppose to improve the overall smoothness of the cut. I was wondering if this is customary for most people to do this or out of the ordinary, any input will be appreciated. I thought it might me a good idea but I did not want to go through sharpening the blades I just finished for the 6 & 7.
Thanks
Mike
– Toolfreak
Replies
I put a slight curve to all my bench planes, other than the jointer, which I hone flat. This is because I use it to joint boards and I want a flat surface. I have read about people using a curved iron for jointing, but I've not tried it.
The curve I hone on my smooth and fore plane is so slight that only a crack of light shows at each edge when a straight edge is held to it. I would guess it to be in the .005" range, but I have no way of measuring it. I do this by applying extra pressure at the irons edges while honing on the finest stone, or in my case sandpaper. I know I have it right, when I can take a nearly full width shaving, but it leaves behind no steps or tracks.
Rob Millard
Thanks for the info, I will try it and see how it works out!
Mike- Toolfreak
I bought the 'Using Hand Planes' book a couple of weeks ago and one of the authors said he grinds a slight curve on his irons so the edge won't leave marks, but on the jointer he does this to keep it from wandering. He said the curve was only a couple of thousandths.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
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