Bevel Angle for Smoother

[Jim Foster]

I was looking at Chris Schwarz's sharpening DVD and he mentions he puts a 35 deg micro-bevel on his #4 smoother. He does this so it does not need the blade polished/honed as often as his other planes. I have mine at 25, no micro-bevel and was wondering what other people do? I have been working on Q-Sawn White Oak lately and will be for a while.

[Jim Koepke]

Mine tend to get beveled at 25-30º without a micro bevel.

My understanding is if you get chatter you want a higher angle. Higher than 35º tends to start floating because of not enough relief clearance.

jtk