Fell down the slippery slope

[Jim Riseborough]

So I posted in an earlier thread about getting a hand plane, and after all relpies, went with the Lie Nielsen 62 low angle jack.

Now, of course I had to get the sharpening stuff with it, the kit had wet sandpaper and the stones 1000/8000 norton.

So to sharpen I needed a flat surface, so I got a 18x24 granite plate. No problems, feel like I am at the Coldstone Ice cream store when using it.

My question, when using the wet sandpaper, do you just lay it out and go at it, or do you tape it down?

I see they make wet sand paper with adhesive backs, but seems that might become a mess removing from the stone.

I bought some lower end stanleys from Ebay too to practice with before I mess with the LN blade. I worked one last night, it was sharp, and worked ok on a butcher block cutting board, I was surprised that it flattened it out.

Now, for sharpening and wet sanding, do you tape the wet sandpaper down, or just let it lay as it its.

any insight if I am doing it right?

[Thom Edwards]

I use spray adhesive. It can become a little bit messy if you spray too much on, but a light spray (meaning *just* enough to hold it) worked well. I keep a paint scraper close by in case I need to scrape any residual stuff off when I am changing sheets. I'm sure there are other methods for removing it, like warm soapy water and a green 3M pad or something, but the scraper has worked for me.

I have some lapping film that adheres to an aluminum plate with just a fine spray of water. It sticks amazingly well, but comes loose when the water dries. (There is a "scientific" name for this behavior that escapes me at the moment.) I've never tried it with sand paper on granite, but maybe the PSA-backed paper would work similarly.

This is all from my somewhat limited experience and a bit of trial and error.

[Mike Cogswell]

I wouldn't start with sandpaper on a high quality plane like a Lie Nielsen. The sole should be fine out of the box - if it isn't, LN will replace it. The blade should only need a light touch of the stones.

If you're going to flatten an old plane, just spray some water on the granite and that should hold the paper just fine. At least it works for me. You need to get most of the water out, but then it'll hold just fine and you aren't getting glue residue all over your surface plate.

[Mike Cogswell]

Oh, I forgot to congratulate you on the LN. Welcome to the slippery slope! I hope you brought your checkbook, once you start using better quality hand tools you'll find you want more of them. Don't neglect the chisels, saws, gouges, braces, marking, measuring and myriad other forms of hand tool addiction you can succumb to. :)

[Jim Riseborough]

Yea, wasnt going to mess with the LN, other than the blade needs touched up, I used it on some pretty rough oak, and didnt fare so well.

I will try spray adhesive if just wetting the stone and paper doesnt work. Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

The LN 62 is a great addition to any shop. My only suggestion is to either make your own or buy the LN hot dog attachment. When mine arrived, the hot dog was a touch tight and needed a couple of swipes with a file to fit properly. A great addition if you plan to use it for a shooting plane.

For sandpaper on granite, my preference is to purchase roll stock with a pressure sensitive adhesive back. Cleaning it off is a bit of a chore. A bit of mineral spirits or other thinner cleans it up fairly quick.

jtk

[Steve Friedman]

For sandpaper on granite, my preference is to purchase roll stock with a pressure sensitive adhesive back.

Excellent advice. The problem with sandpaper is dubbing, so it's critical that the paper be dead flat. PSA rolls eliminate the potential high spots that you can get with spray adhesive.

My favorite PSA rolls are the 3M Gold that Lie-Nielsen sells (you can get them cheaper if you shop around online). The combination of thin A-weight paper and the super thin PSA adhesive leaves a dead flat surface. If you wax the granite, the paper will leave absolutely no residue. By the way, the cost of the paper is one of the reasons I switched to water stones - starting at 320 grit. I still use 80 and 120 grit PSA to repair edges, but am officially a water stone convert.

If you want to use spray adhesive, I would suggest trying "Aleene's Tacky Spray" (available at all craft stores) which is sticky enough and leaves absolutely no residue (just make sure to wax the granite).

Steve

[David Weaver]

I also like the PSA rolls (though I don't use them much).

I get mine off by lifting a corner and then running a chisel bevel down under them (obviously not an expensive chisel, there's loose grit everywhere) and then after pulling the paper off, you can snowplow off any adhesive goop to bare glass / stone and use your hand to check for any loose abrasive grits.

BUT, in the interim, you can just put the W/D paper down and flatten your stones on it. It'll move around a little bit, but no big deal.