How do you get a plane iron and chipbreaker edge square to the sides?

[Nick Sorenson]

I'm a hand plane rookie and have been having trouble with getting the cutting edge square to the iron's to sides. I also am concerned with getting the edge completely straight. Curious how this is done?

[Jim Koepke]

I'm a hand plane rookie and have been having trouble with getting the cutting edge square to the iron's to sides. I also am concerned with getting the edge completely straight. Curious how this is done?


Nick,

I am curious if you are trying to make the cutting edge square to the sides for using on a shooting board or for another reason.

It also would be helpful to know what model or kind of plane you are asking about.

This is called lateral adjustment. Different planes have different ways of making this adjustment. There is usually either a lever to adjust or on some planes one has to administer a light tap to move the blade from side to side. On some planes, especially low angle block planes, it is easier to just loosen the cap a little and move the blade with your fingers.

One place you might want to look is in the "Sticky" near the top of the conference, Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs at:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?103805-Neanderthal-wisdom-FAQs

There are a few posts with information on using hand planes. Some show setting the lateral adjuster.

For most uses of a hand plane, one wants the blade's edge to line up with the sole of the plane. One would think the sole of a plane would be square with the sides, but this isn't always the case. If the plane is not being used for shooting or rabbeting, then being dead on square isn't real important.

To give the best answer to your question there is some information needed.

What are you using to sharpen your blades?

What hand sharpening set up do you have?

Do you have a grinder?

It would also be helpful to know what planes you have.


jtk

[lowell holmes]

Place a thin board in the vise. Adjust the iron for very thin shavings in the center of the plane. Take a shaving on the left side of the iron and then the right side of the iron. Adjust the lateral adjustment until the outside shavings are the same thickness.

I saw this at a Lie Nielsen boothat a woodworking show. It works for me.

[Nick Sorenson]

Sorry for the confusion, I didn't word that very well late last night. What I'm trying to ask is when sharpening a new plane (Stanley) and the blade is slightly out of square with it's edges (not 90 degrees to the edge but I can see light under one side if held to a square), how do I fix the iron to be square all across. Tool wise, I don't have a grinder but I do have sharpening stones.

[Chris Griggs]

Sorry for the confusion, I didn't word that very well late last night. What I'm trying to ask is when sharpening a new plane (Stanley) and the blade is slightly out of square with it's edges (not 90 degrees to the edge but I can see light under one side if held to a square), how do I fix the iron to be square all across. Tool wise, I don't have a grinder but I do have sharpening stones.

You could put it in a honing guide that holds it square and work the edge on some course sandpaper, which will essentially grind it square. Sometimes, it's helpful to actually "joint" the edge square first - hold it at 90 degrees to the abrasivea and blunt it square.

Unless its really out of square I wouldn't bother though - it doesn't really matter if its perfectly square, since planes have lateral adjusters.

[David Weaver]

Mark the iron with a square and a marker, and see how close you are. If you grind anywhere close, you should be able to hone to square. Don't make too big of a deal out of it, though, if it's not an issue - especially in a plane that has lateral adjustment 6x greater than your error.

[Nick Sorenson]

Mark the iron with a square and a marker, and see how close you are. If you grind anywhere close, you should be able to hone to square. Don't make too big of a deal out of it, though, if it's not an issue - especially in a plane that has lateral adjustment 6x greater than your error.

David and Chris... lateral adjustment. Thanks!

Yes, I had read in books that squaring it up was part of the tuneup and never really gave the why a second thought. But yes, with lateral adjustment, it's easy enough to make it square as long as it's straight.

As far as honing jigs is there one that anyone here would recommend? I have a CMT diasharp stone. Would that be good enough for this application? I believe it's Xtra-Fine (i.e. their name for 1200).

I noticed that this guy actually recommends learning to NOT use a honing guide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbInhTxtRcw

[David Weaver]

Use your judgement about how coarse of a stone you need to set the edge square, or get to a desired level of squareness. If it's taking too long with a 1200 grit type stone, go to something a little more coarse (or glued down sandpaper - it must be glued down though). I don't think I have checked an iron for square - at least one that doesn't go in a rabbet or shoulder plane - for a long time, so don't pull your hair out over it.

Everyone has their favorite in jigs - For thin irons that don't freehand that well, i like the cheap side-clamping jigs best. I have and have had a bunch of different types. Just don't do like charlesworth does in a video and measure the projection with a ruler - build a physical stop of some sort, or you'll wish you had three hands.

I like the veritas jig OK where the side clamp jigs don't work, but it takes longer (for me) to use than the eclipse does where you have stops built for the eclipse, and it's kind of large and bulky feeling, and a lot more money.

I could summarize sharpening as any jig beyond eclipse solves problems I don't have, just like all of my bench stones beyond the one set I have and use the most solve problems I don't really have, either.

[Zach England]

I like to use my benchtop belt sander. It has a miter slot, so I use a miter gauge with a block of wood clamped to it, then set the miter gauge to the angle I want. I touch the blade to the belt a little at a time to avoid too much heat.

[Nick Sorenson]

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=EE-HG-800-1800&Category_Code=THG

This guide looks like it'd be decent. Anyone tried this or have thoughts on it?

[David Weaver]

That's the side clamping type I mentioned. You can get them anywhere. Since they're cheap, I would probably buy one when I was making an order for something else so as not to have to pay shipping.

They are all over the board in price, from $6 to almost $20. I'd consider anyone who is tending toward the latter to be a bit rude to customers or bad at buying their own stock, as HF had them painted purple for $4 for quite some time, but no longer carries them.

[Nick Sorenson]

Yeah, Harbor Freight tends to discontinue things that work many times. I don't get that.

[Chris Griggs]

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=EE-HG-800-1800&Category_Code=THG

This guide looks like it'd be decent. Anyone tried this or have thoughts on it?

Yep those are very functional. Just make a series of stops on a board so you can get repetitive angles. Sears also caries them and typically has them in the store for about $12 if you don't want to order one. A bit more expensive but no shipping.

[Bob Strawn]

Yep those are very functional. Just make a series of stops on a board so you can get repetitive angles. Sears also caries them and typically has them in the store for about $12 if you don't want to order one. A bit more expensive but no shipping.
+1
Joe, at Tools for Working Wood, does not sell poor tools. You may or may not find a better deal or tool than the one Joel offers, but if you have no clue what to buy, buy from Joel or at least compare what you are planning to get to what Joel offers.

Bob

[Terry Beadle]

I'd agree with the recommendation that first you make sure that one side of the blade is straight. Rub it on some coarser sand paper flat on your table saw or jointer surface. Just get it straight enough where when you put a ruler to it and held up to a back light that you see little if any light. None would be ideal but not required. Buff it if you like but straight is more important.

As far as Rob Cosman's recommendations that jig is not required, he is correct. As a newbee you need to learn to sharpen with out aids but that said, having a cheap jig is a great deal of benefit as you are learning the finer points of hand sharpening. The $10 model will get you out of the gate and it will also be a great benefit when you make sure you have a set degree primary bevel ( most of the time it's 25 degrees ). Get the primary bevel set right using a fairly coarse stone, slow speed grinder, file, sand paper on granite or cast iron, sander or what ever metal working tool you prefer or have. The primary bevel should be square to that one edge you spent time on in the first step. I like to use a small machinist square to check as I work. Use a black majic marker to mark the cutting edge area where you are working to make sure where you are applying the abrasive is taking material where you need it removed and not where you don't. Some may use a majic marker and then use the square and a awl to draw a line across the cutting bevel very near the cutting edge to let you know where square to the side is. In any case, you apply more pressure to the areas that you need to remove more steel to get to square and don't apply any pressure to the areas that are already at the square mark.

Then you can use that extra fine diamond stone to put a final cutting edge on the blade. Probably a micro bevel of 2 ~ 5 degrees would be good. That's what Rob Cosman does by hand by just litely lifting the primary bevel off the stone for a few strokes. I would highly recommend you get a 3000 grit and 6000 ~ 8000 grit water stone soon. Get the 6000 or 8000 stone next first as the 2500~3000 grit stone will help the cutting edge but not as much as the higher grit stone will. You will see a world of difference in blades with these additional grits applied on the finish surfaces and on you ability to control the shavings thickness. I also recommend you put $30 in David Charlesworth's pockets and obtain his video on sharpening plane blades with a curve. His methods will take your understanding and sharpening abilities very quickly into well prepared stock which translates in to good joints and fine projects. If you can't afford that, then use youtube and watch the Lie Nielsen free sharpening videos. They are not as good but will get your mind in the right direction.

Last but not least: practice !

Well also last: Be sure to feel the burr as you go through the grits and sharpening processes. If there's no burr or it not consistant across the entire cutting edge, then you haven't done the job right or enough.

Good luck and enjoy the process !

[Jim Koepke]

For every "expert" that tells you free handing with out a guide is "the way to go," there will be an equal number telling you to get and use a guide.

I have mostly done hand sharpening without a guide. I do find a guide very helpful at times.

More important for someone just starting, a guide can cut a lot of steepness from the learning curves.

A guide can also speed up the process. Especially with a blade that needs a lot of work or if you are changing the bevel.

Another aspect of sharpening often mentioned is the raising of a burr. The burr is produced mostly on the pull stroke of a blade on an abrasive surface.

Many times when I sharpen a blade a pull stroke is not used. So if a burr is raised on my blade, it is very minimal.

There are a few ways to test sharpness. A couple of them are discussed here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?158373-My-Camber-Blade-Round-Tuit-Finally-Came

I do not show the shave arm hair method. If a person has never used a straight razor, this method may cause trepidation and injury for those who do not know the ways of controlling a sharp edge against their skin.

Another method is how well a blade cuts end grain on something like pine. Softwoods tend to crumble more than cut with an almost sharp blade.

Of course, all of this improves with experience. Most wood workers will tell you sharpness is a moving target. A few years ago I was just beginning to get to sharp. What I thought was sharp then is not the same as what I want from sharp today. My expectation is that another degree of sharpness is just around the corner.

jtk