make do sharpening

[Noah Wagener]

Any tips on sharpening moulding profiles on a scratch stock blade without slipstones? I was thinking maybe sandpaper wrapped around round file?

Any tips on sharpening camber in a plane blade? It feels to me like I need to reduce the angle i present the blade to the stone as i rock it to the sides, to keep the same bevel as the middle of the blade.

What are those toothed blades used for, roughing?


thanks

[Bill Houghton]

Any tips on sharpening moulding profiles on a scratch stock blade without slipstones? I was thinking maybe sandpaper wrapped around round file?
Dowels and suitably shaped bits of wood, all with fine sandpaper. If you get to the blade before it's dull, try planing a piece of pine to the profile, then using it as your slipstone.


Any tips on sharpening camber in a plane blade? It feels to me like I need to reduce the angle i present the blade to the stone as i rock it to the sides, to keep the same bevel as the middle of the blade.
Practice. Think about it, observe, practice. Works for getting to Carnegie Hall.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Assuming you're talking a heavily cambered blade (in practice, for me, at least, something like a smoother is really just "apply more pressure to each side") I just marked the shape on the back of the blade in permanent marker, and hollow ground it - I simply ride both bevels as I rock it as sharpening.

For scratch stocks, I start out with a hacksaw if needed, and then chainsaw or needle files to rough in the profile, and then sharpen exactly as you suggest, with sandpaper on dowels. They don't need to be nearly as sharp as plane blades, but lapping the face helps.

[Jim Koepke]

Noah,

The advice above on cambering is good for many uses of blade camber.

Here is an alternate approach that may be useful if you just want to eliminate tracks at the edge of the blade.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?158373

Toothed blades do give a rough surface that some like for glueing. They can also help in dimensioning stock without creating a lot of tear out.

If you want to camber a blade for a scrub plane, it is better to hone to a radius instead of my quick and dirty trick.

jtk

[Noah Wagener]

thanks guys,

dowels makes more sense then the files i was going to use.

I could not tell what you were doing in those pics on that thread about cambering Jim. Looks like you turned stone on edge? Pretty chisel handles.

i think you are right Bill. Just do it and see what works. Too much info swirling in head when i try and do stuff. like the millipede when asked which foot it moves first.

[Jim Matthews]

Matt Bickford used dowels of various diameter as you suggest. He concentrated real effort on flattening the back of each iron.

Most moldings were cut into soft pine or clear poplar, so the blades should stay sharp for several hundred feet of cutting.

It has been suggested to cut one stout run of each profile (once sharpened) to use as a strop with some honing abrasive. I like the green stuff.

If you're in doubt, Larry Williams has a comprehensive guide on the subject, and companion videos.

They're definitive.