Replies

1. 
   philip | Jul 11, 2005 09:15am | #1

   Tele,
   I have a spare set of those cutters for the Stanley #71 hand router which is what I think you are talking about.They are ground to 25*. so i have always honed them at around 30*
   For the spear point I suppose you would just do the same - I don't find any use for it-maybe someone else can tell us something about it.

1. 
   Telemike | Jul 12, 2005 07:14am | #4

   Thanks guys. I was debating between sharpening to a plane iron angle or a chisel angle and I think I'm going to use about a 40 degree cutting angle. I made the cutting edge 90 degrees to the shaft, but I've been planning to thread a set screw into the top of the body of the plane to push the top of the shaft out and angle the iron into the wood.I intend to use the diamond point mostly to help flatten the ground in relief carvings. I have a bent shaft handled tool made with a diamond head that I use to trim the ground on relief carvings. It helps me trim into difficult places. That tool's made from an old circular saw blade and has proven very useful.

2. 
   AlanWS | Jul 13, 2005 06:28pm | #5

   I'm not an expert, but have read that the diamond ones are best for use cross grain, while the straight edged ones are best along the grain. I guess they sort of mimic the shapes of crosscut and rip saw teeth.

2. 
   JohnWW | Jul 11, 2005 04:38pm | #2

   Hate to tell you this, but at least on the Stanley #71 and their smaller #271 router planes, the the straight irons aren't bent at 90 degrees.  On the #71 the bottom of the iron is at a 15 degree angle with the surface of the wood and the iron on the #271 slopes up at about 9 degrees.  The bevel should be sharpened at around 25 to 30 degrees. 

   The diamond edge ones, if memory serves, since I don't have one to check, have the bottom of the iron just slightly relieved, otherwise they wouldn't work for final smoothing.

   John W.

1. 
   philip | Jul 12, 2005 04:57am | #3

   Hi John,
   ...the straight ones aren't bent at 90*"--- I had noted Telemike had said that ,but assume when he mounts the cutter into his homemade wooden router he will see that he needs to have it off vertical by a bit....