Effortless Workholding Meets Effortless Planing

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Now that is a sharp, well balanced plane! Check out the video:
http://benchcrafted.blogspot.com/

[Tri Hoang]

I think it has to do more with how sharp the blade is than with the plane. Pretty amazing, though.

[John Coloccia]

Some people are so good you just want to punch them. I'm going to go sit in a corner now and sulk about all my "dull" tools. Grrrrrrr

:D

[Casey Gooding]

Awesome!!!

[jerry nazard]

I can't believe you guys. It's the string, stupid!

[Tri Hoang]

Suddenly, my tools are all dull and sharpening becomes a mystery to me.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

I think the $2k Brese plane has a little sumthin' to do with it...or the master craftsman pulling the string.

If you are interested in how such a sharp edge is achieved, Ron Brese himself offers these tips on another forum:

"Actually I do know the specifics of the sharpening procedure. Jameel and I are always trying new sharpening methods and recently we've come upon a method that certainly helps in creating these kind of results.

The initial grind angle is 25 degrees either hollow or straight doesn't really matter. The iron is then jigged to create a slightly higher angle when creating the primary bevel on 15u psa backed 3m micro abrasive film, the burr is wiped off on a piece of 5u film and then the honing jig is tweaked to increase the honing angle by one degree thus creating a micro bevel on the bevel side with the 5u film and any burr created at this stage is once again wiped off the back on a piece of the 5u film. Then the jig is tweaked to create an additional 1 degree steeper micro bevel that is created on either 1u or .3u film. The iron is worked bevel and back with the finer film and then is not just SCARY sharp it is FRIGHTFULLY sharp.

The idea when using this micro abrasive film is that the finer films don't have the ability to remove a lot of metal across a bigger primary or secondary bevel, but they do an excellent job of polishing a small micro bevel to an extremely fine edge.

You wouldn't want to look at the edge created with this method too long with the naked eye, your eye might start bleeding"

Ron

[martin wilt]

Nothing but wood (maple), the plane, and forward motion here. No chipbreakers, no magic, and definitely no dryer sheets!



Bolding mine.

What does he mean by "no dryer sheets"?

[Ron Brese]

Martin,

The mention of the dryer sheet was in reference to an out take on a video that Jameel shot late one night when we were working on completing the top of my Shaker Style workbench. We used the dryer sheet that had fell out someones pants leg onto the floor of the shop and had picked up just enough dust to make it look like a really wide plane shaving.

It was all in good fun and in the comical video we staged the dryer sheet in the throat of the plane to make it look like it was creating a shaving that was twice as wide as the board that I planing.

If you go back one or two entries in the blog you'll find the video in the post on the Shaker Style workbench.

Ron Brese

[jerry nazard]

I think the $2k Brese plane has a little sumthin' to do with it...or the master craftsman pulling the string.

If you are interested in how such a sharp edge is achieved, Ron Brese himself offers these tips on another forum:

"Actually I do know the specifics of the sharpening procedure. Jameel and I are always trying new sharpening methods and recently we've come upon a method that certainly helps in creating these kind of results.

The initial grind angle is 25 degrees either hollow or straight doesn't really matter. The iron is then jigged to create a slightly higher angle when creating the primary bevel on 15u psa backed 3m micro abrasive film, the burr is wiped off on a piece of 5u film and then the honing jig is tweaked to increase the honing angle by one degree thus creating a micro bevel on the bevel side with the 5u film and any burr created at this stage is once again wiped off the back on a piece of the 5u film. Then the jig is tweaked to create an additional 1 degree steeper micro bevel that is created on either 1u or .3u film. The iron is worked bevel and back with the finer film and then is not just SCARY sharp it is FRIGHTFULLY sharp.

The idea when using this micro abrasive film is that the finer films don't have the ability to remove a lot of metal across a bigger primary or secondary bevel, but they do an excellent job of polishing a small micro bevel to an extremely fine edge.

You wouldn't want to look at the edge created with this method too long with the naked eye, your eye might start bleeding"

Ron

I have some drawers to fit tomorrow morning, so I decided to give this sharpening schedule a try. Millers Falls 4 1/2, Hock A2 blade and chipbreaker. On 5 micron paper, it took only 8 -10 short swipes to create a wire burr on the micro bevels. Rather than risk having my eyes bleed, I did not look directly at the blade, popped it into the plane, and took some shavings. Holy Molly, that's a spicy meatball - pretty darned sharp. Now I need to go find some string....

Many thanks to Ron and Jameel for sharing this, and to Jim for passing it along.

[george wilson]

Great video.Ron. If I decide to sell some big boxwood,I'll definitely let you know.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Ron, Thanks for jumping in here! I didn't know the dryer sheets reference either. I aspire to someday own one of your beautiful planes.
After Jerry's confirmation, I'll have to give this method a try. What's your source for paper? I like the sound of not having to flatten a stone after. Messy, messy.

Jameel added this followup to Ron's method:

"I should add some to Ron's description, since our techniques are slightly different.

I use a Veritas MKII jig and I remove the burr on .3u film after the 15u and 5u bevel honings, and finish the last bevel on the .3u. The final bevel angle is 32 degrees I guess if the Veritas increases by 1 degree per detent.

One other thing. These films last a long time with this technique. I'm still using the same small pieces from a couple weeks ago. I'm guessing I've done at least dozen or more sessions on these pieces. The .3u paper is dark and swarfy (not pristine by any means) and yet I was able to do the string trick off those sheets."

[jerry nazard]

[QUOTE=Jim Kirkpatrick;1385414]Ron, Thanks for jumping in here! I didn't know the dryer sheets reference either. I aspire to someday own one of your beautiful planes.
After Jerry's confirmation, I'll have to give this method a try. What's your source for paper? I like the sound of not having to flatten a stone after. Messy, messy.

Jim,

I get my stuff from Joel at Tools for Working Wood. He ships faster than my wife can throw an iron skillet. :D

I'll follow up on last night's sharpening. The drawers I'm fitting are oak fronts w/ poplar sides and backs. The plane is trimming oak and poplar end grain flawlessly so I'm convinced that it is, in Ron's words, FRIGHTFULLY SHARP! With the massive restraint and self control that I focus on all things, I am avoiding looking directly at the bevel to circumvent immediate eye bleeding and blindness....;)

-Jerry

[Kent A Bathurst]

Uncle!!




101010

[Ron Brese]

I believe Joel at TFWW has the best selection in the PSA backed material and I think using the PSA back material is much easier to manage and could be the difference between good results and so, so results. The adhesive is so consisent that when applied to a surface plate it works very similar to a stone which is not the case with wet/dry sandpapers.

Ron Brese

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Thanks Jerry and Ron, I'll check it out. Ron, I watched your videos again over on Jameel's Blog. The 2 videos that are in your Shaker bench post. Couple of things, first it looks like you have the paper mounted on a nice thick piece of granite, (confirm?) and the paper looks wet, is that oil or water, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?
Second thing that strikes me is at the beginning of the first video, you are using only a few quick grips to clamp your dog strip together. Quick grips?!! Man, that is some well planed wood you have there. I think I'd need about 30 k-bodies for mine, cranked down to the max. Impressive! That's coincidentally, right where I am in my Benchcrafted build.
Link to Blog again. (http://benchcrafted.blogspot.com/)

[Ron Brese]

Thanks George,

Some really old boxwood would be a dream come true for me. Yes everyone,.... I dream about boxwood and other hard to come by infill materials.:) I sort of live for this stuff ya know:D:D:D

Ron

[martin wilt]

Thanks Ron.

I tried to search for an answer, and I feared my google-fu was not strong.

[Ron Brese]

Jim,

In the video on the workbench you probably saw me free hand sharpening an iron on some 5 micron 3m abrasive. It was psa backed and I was using soapy water for a lubricant. Actually we used quite a few clamps on the dog block strip, what you saw was me just drying fitting to see how things were going to go. The parts did fit together rather well thanks to liberal use of the panel plane.

The weeks following Jameel's visit were when we really started experimenting with different sharpening methods with the micro abrasive films. If we shot that video today you would see a much different method.

Today I did some subsequent honing on two irons that had been sharpened using the micro bevel method describe in your earlier post. I had sharpened two other irons on the same pieces of film that were on the plate and I had no trouble pulling a burr quite quickly and then went on to achieve a very refined edge on the irons. You can use this stuff for a while if you're vigilant about using enough lubrication while honing.

Ron

[Rick Markham]

Ron, am I allowed to vote that you and Jameel reshoot the sharpening technique you are describing :o... I'd gladly trade you some boxwood (if I had any ;))

[Ron Brese]

Rick,

I was thinking about that today while I was sharpening. Of course Jameel is in Cedar Rapids (he has the camera) and I'm in Georgia so we have a logistical dilemma. There's only one solution, Jameel will have to do it:p

Ron

[Rick Markham]

Good thinking Ron! Your planes are really amazing, guess I am gonna have to start saving my pennies now... :D

Just out of curiosity Ron, how did you learn your trade? Both metal working and your woodworking.

Do you and Jameel need a third wheel? I'd make an awfully good Shemp LOL

[Jim Barrett]

I think the $2k Brese plane has a little sumthin' to do with it...or the master craftsman pulling the string.

If you are interested in how such a sharp edge is achieved, Ron Brese himself offers these tips on another forum:

"Actually I do know the specifics of the sharpening procedure. Jameel and I are always trying new sharpening methods and recently we've come upon a method that certainly helps in creating these kind of results.

The initial grind angle is 25 degrees either hollow or straight doesn't really matter. The iron is then jigged to create a slightly higher angle when creating the primary bevel on 15u psa backed 3m micro abrasive film, the burr is wiped off on a piece of 5u film and then the honing jig is tweaked to increase the honing angle by one degree thus creating a micro bevel on the bevel side with the 5u film and any burr created at this stage is once again wiped off the back on a piece of the 5u film. Then the jig is tweaked to create an additional 1 degree steeper micro bevel that is created on either 1u or .3u film. The iron is worked bevel and back with the finer film and then is not just SCARY sharp it is FRIGHTFULLY sharp.

The idea when using this micro abrasive film is that the finer films don't have the ability to remove a lot of metal across a bigger primary or secondary bevel, but they do an excellent job of polishing a small micro bevel to an extremely fine edge.

You wouldn't want to look at the edge created with this method too long with the naked eye, your eye might start bleeding"

Ron

So it looks like Ron is using 4 bevels...primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary... :)

Jim

[Bob Jones]

That is the same method described by Brent Beach in FWW a few years back. Works great on fresh paper. I use it, but I seem to get inconsistent results after a few sharpenings on the paper. It may jjust be me, or I may need to throw away the paper earlier.