Stanley 40 scrub plane help

[Robert Culver]

Hello I just finished up redoing a Stanley 40 scrub plane I re finished and flattened it out it looks fantastic I am incredibly proud of it as it is my first time doing it. I have considered replacing the blade with a new hock blade. The blade that is in it was ground by somebody and is not the proper radius or bevel I am sure it was a complete hack job. I spent a pile of time getting the grinding marks out of the back and have gotten it to a mirror shine but I don’t have a grinder to set the bevel and reform it so I was considering taking it to a local machine shop but don’t know what the proper are can anybody help me out?

[David Weaver]

Have you got a belt sander? If you have one that you could put in a vise, or a stationary one, you have all you need to grind the iron. Just use a coarse belt if you go that route.

draw the profile you want to do on the back of the iron and work into that blunting the edge 90 degrees or just under it until you've met the line, and then grind that to a bevel.

Perfection in geometry isn't that critical with a scrub.

[Robert Culver]

No belt sander the only power tools i have are a table saw and drill long story but now im giong the hand tool rt. I am in the prosses of getting tools togather but am limited at this time. Im hoping to rebuild a few more tools my next will be a disston hand saw but I want to complete the plane first.

[Casey Gooding]

FWIW, you could probably buy a cheap grinder for what it would cost you to pay a machinist to grind it for you. I actually like my little Ryobi 6" grinder. The tool rest stinks (but most all of them do). You can make your own out of scrap.

[Bill Houghton]

I was terrible at advanced geometry and trigonometry, so I'm not sure how to describe the radius. On my No. 40, the center of the iron is 1/8" higher than the corners. I have no idea if this is the factory grind, but it's worked pretty well for me.

I concur with David Weaver - geometry's not that critical. I find myself using the center half of my iron, not the full width; an argument could be made that a milder camber (curve, if you're new to the lingo) would allow you to use the full width of the iron and not waste your sharpening time.

I suspect a lot depends on what you're using your scrub for. If you're doing major hogging off of waste - if, for instance, you find yourself frequently taking a board from 1-1/2" to 1-1/4" - then probably more camber makes sense. If you're mainly taking out relatively minor warp and wind in your boards, then a shallower one would work better. BUT darned near anything will work OK, as long as you can get it kinda sharp. I haven't sharpened mine in four years or so of intermittent use, mostly in softwoods.

Wandering away from your original question, into use: when you're doing major stock reduction, aka hogging (no idea where that term comes from, unless it's a reference to how hogs root for food), plane at 45 - 90 degrees to the grain. This makes a horrible mess, but removes wood at a terrific rate. As you approach your goal thickness, bring the plane around to running with the grain. Also, your strokes when hogging will be short, abrupt, karate-like strokes.

It's a neat tool, and good on you for restoring one. If you can get a camber you like, you'll have a lot of fun doing good work with it.

[Gary Hodgin]

You might consider a LN replacement scrub plane blade ($35). I'm not sure but Hock and LV might also sell replacement blades for stanley scrub planes. I have a LN scrub, but have never had to regrind the original bevel.

[Robert Culver]

Thanks to everybody for the replys I think I have got enough information to work with now. Honestly I have had a very enjoyable time with this it was nice to see it progress through the stages. making the sole flat again was alot of work but hey so is scrubing wood so I guess it was good practice.Maybe once I rework the blade I will try and post some pictures for everybody.

[Adam Cherubini]

DMT XC diamond plate will help. Or find a purple or blue Norzon (or the equivalent) 60 or 80 grit belt sander belt. Slit it open and glue it to any flat-ish surface. Either option is slower than a grinder, but both are safer. Don't send your blade to a machine shop as they may well ruin it. Machinists are accustomed to honing HSS, which they can blue and use.

I would grind a 25 degree bevel on this blade and then hone it up freehand ever so slightly. If you grind 30, you'll end up with too high an angle (because you must hone freehand cambered irons).

Adam

[Robert Culver]

Alright i am talked onto heading back to the flatning plate to shape the blade I woulnt want the machine shop to reck it and I'm conifdent I won't. I am conserned about being able to get the bevel at close to 25 deg freehand though however and advice on that?

[Rob Young]

Find the Lie-Nielsen channel on YouTube. Watch Deneb's videos on reshaping plane irons and sharpening the #40 blade. PSA sandpaper and some granite or plate glass will get the job done. No bluing, no tears! :)

[Tim Lawson]

You'll be surprised how easy it is to file a new profile and bevel on the blade. Mark the radius with a sharpie. Put the blade in vise. Set you hands holding the file to the bevel angle by eye and start draw filing with a mill bastard file - newer the better. Then once you've created a uniform bevel with the file - smooth if with either by using a 1000 grit waterstone in the same orientation or psa paper on a small piece of hardwood.

Put a final polish on the edge of the bevel using finer waterstones in the usual orientation. Rock the blade as you go along the length of the stone - if you do it right you'll pretty much get a straight line from one corner to the other.

Once you practice draw filing - any curved blade becomes much easier to sharpen - not to mention axes and adzes.

Good luck

Tim

[Mike Brady]

If you want, I would be happy to do this to yours .
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee300/finefettle/Japanning009.jpgJust include a couple of bucks for a padded envelope and return postage.

[Harry Goodwin]

My new LV scrub has a 3" radius. Harry