sharpening "round" plane blade

[Howard Pollack]

Hi-
I have a nice, heavy, "round" plane (as in hollows and rounds). The blade of this plane has a nick in it. Can someone suggest a way to sharpen/grind it in such a way that the shape of the curve doesn't deviate (too far...) from the shape of the plane body? Thanks for your help- Howard

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I don't have time to type a lengthy reply, but would suggest getting Larry Williams sharpening profiled edge tools DVD from Lie Nielsen - covers this and much more in really great detail. Well worth the cost.

[Ryan Baker]

I just finished doing that. (And I would agree that Larry's DVD is excellent.)

You need to grind the iron down past the nick first. You can try to just follow the existing shape, but it will work better to mark the profile first. Color the back of the iron with some layout fluid, or a permanent marker. Then scribe the profile of the plane sole with a scriber so you have a clean mark just below the nick. Grind (or use a coarse stone) the iron down to the profile mark. Check along the way to make sure you are matching the sole the way you want. Then sharpen and hone the iron. It's not too hard to do for a round. Doing it on a hollow iron is significantly more difficult, but the steps are the same.

[george wilson]

Just insert the blade and keep grinding and sighting down the sole to see the projecting blade. When I make complex planes,like crown molding planes,I'd mark the blank blade from the sole where it stuck through,and grind down to the line. You could put blue Dykem lacquer on the blade by passing an awl over the blade where it protrudes through the sole,and grind to the scratched line.

[harry strasil]

Use the blade in the plane to make a reverse on/in a piece of scrap wood.

Then clean up the high or low left by the nick.

Next cut a suitable piece with the proper angle on the front and screw in a water closet mounting bolt to hold the blade in place.

Cover the reverse with coarse wet dry sandpaper and start (planing) the blade and holder across the reverse making sure to put most of the pressure on the front where the blade is. You can tell if you are getting it even by looking at the width of the sanded/planed area in the holder.

Keep using finer grit till done, then using a dremel tool with a sanding drum grind in the relief.

Hope this helps, Oh yes keep the reverse for the next time. LOL