Bedding a blade without a candle

[Matthew N. Masail]

I was wondering what I can use to fit a blade to it's bed without blackening it with a candle. I don't mind it in dark wood but it makes quite a mess of beech.

[David Weaver]

Any kind of light oil. Mineral oil, camelia oil, whatever..Just put a *light* layer on the iron and try to keep it off the bed until you set it down close to where the iron will be set.

You can also use a dry erase marker, but I think oil is a bit easier.

[george wilson]

I never had a problem sooting gun barrels. You just cut the sooted areas off. It doesn't get all over the CLEAN wood unless you smear it all over the place,which isn't a good thing to do.

Oil will not go away. It will penetrate the wood,and it may become impossible to tell where the freshest spotting of oil is after you have repeated the process a few times.

If anything,I'll suggest that you could chalk the plane iron,BUT,it won't be as sensitive as soot for showing the high spots.

[Mike Allen1010]

I rub the back of the iron withwith pencil lead -- usually a big carpenters pencil. I find it rubs off for easy on the high spots on the bed, stays where you put it on the iron and doesn't penetrate the surface of the wood.

Good luck, Matthew it looks like you're off to good start -- I look forward to seeing pictures of the finished playing.

All the best, Mike

[Matthew N. Masail]

I try not to smear it, and I have no problem with the clean wood because I'll do it before the final dressing of the plane, but it will stay on the bed. how do the pro's like HNT Gordon leave a clean bed? or don't they? I was thinking of lapping the blade flat to match the bed.

Thanks a lot Mike! I fear I might have put the cross-pin too low, I went with 1 1/4 inches as recommended in the Kernov book, so I hope I don't have issues. but I will for sure post pic's of the finished thing (:

[Jack Curtis]

I rub the back of the iron with pencil lead -- usually a big carpenters pencil. I find it rubs off for easy on the high spots on the bed, stays where you put it on the iron and doesn't penetrate the surface of the wood....

Same here, works great, and when the blade is fitted, most of the graphite is gone, as you'd expect.

As to HNT Gordon, I don't really know; but I've never seen any mess on their beds, and I've got 4 or 5 HNT's.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I'll try the pencil method.... should I ask which HB or just leave it .... ;)

[george wilson]

Graphite can be just as messy as soot. Try to keep from touching or smearing either. The gunsmith shop,and I,too,make guns out of nice,white maple,sooted in. You will not see a soot mark when we are done,and a rifle barrel is not only LOOOOONG,but octagonal.

[Matthew N. Masail]

George, just to be sure I understand, sooting is using that black stuff to mark material for a close fit?

[Jack Curtis]

Graphite can be just as messy as soot. Try to keep from touching or smearing either. The gunsmith shop,and I,too,make guns out of nice,white maple,sooted in. You will not see a soot mark when we are done,and a rifle barrel is not only LOOOOONG,but octagonal.

True enough; but at least I don't have to light a pencil, just sharpen it now and then. :)

[Christian Castillo]

Use oil on the back, and then scribble it with graphite, I found this helps more than using either oil or graphite alone.

[george wilson]

I advise you to stay away from oil,which can get really messy,and penetrate. Soot or chalk won't sink into your wood,at least.

[Ryan Baker]

Carbon-paper or transfer paper work well and don't track around too much. Dry erase marker is another good option. Chalk would be harder to work with I think. I would not use oil. You are going to trim off the parts that get marked anyway, so as long as you aren't smearing it around you should be able to use just about anything mentioned.

[Matthew N. Masail]

well.... I don't really trim them I just scrap them with a sharp chisel, removing 0.0X mm at a time. the bed is very flat so there aren’t any bid bumps to remove.

[John McPhail]

I've been using dry erase marker and haven't had any problem with it leaving a mess behind.