Follow up ? on Charlesworth Planing technique

[Tony Wilkins]

So I've tried a bit of the David Charlesworth's planing technique. So far so good and I like the orderly approach. I've tried my LN LA Jack (14"), my LV 5 /14 (12"), and my LV BU jointer (22"). The jointer is my favorite plane to use anyway and it seems to fit this application well. I have (attempted) cambering the blades on the 5 1/4 and LN LA Jack but not the blade on the jointer. I've read Derek Cohen's 'secret to cambering BU plane blades monograph ( http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/TheSecretToCamberinBUPlaneBlades.html ). I've read it a few time; in fact I should have read it more because I put a 50* micro-camber on the LN LA jack even though I don't face hard Aussie woods.

My question is: Should I go ahead and camber the LV BU jointer with a 35* micro-camber? Any special challenges you all foresee?

More Info: I intend to do this to the 25* blade that came with the plane as I have another 33* plane still in the box.

Or should I just save up for a longer bd plane (i.e. LV #6 fore)?

[Chris Griggs]

Camber in a jointer blade makes is easier to bring down a high side on an edge to make it square with a face. It also makes it nicer to use on face grain.

Straight edge is better for match planing and for getting the ultimate flat edge.

You have two blades, camber one and keep the other straight. Both have their place.

I keep my No. 7 straight and have a fairly moderate camber in my 6. Its nice to have 2 different planes setup for ideal usage but not a necessity. They also both do what the other is more "ideal" for regularly. I have gotten a good match joint with a cambered blade before I have flattened faces with a straight blade before.

[David Weaver]

I'd work with what you have and save purchases for things that are a matter of wants. I don't know what a micro camber is, unless it's intended to mean a microbevel with camber enough so as not to leave marks from the corner of the plane.

I'd camber every plane I have except for a match planing jointer blade (and even then, I'm not cambering as a matter of preference, not as a matter of need to not do it).

A 33 degree microbevel on a plane with a 12 degree bed will leave you with something equivalent common pitch. You could do that, or you could try something slightly more shallow. IIRC, for a while, I was using a bu plane with a 30 degree final bevel and it worked fine.

[Tony Wilkins]

I made up Micro-camber because that's what my (damaged) head understood how I was sharpening a micro bevel/secondary bevel into a camber without first cambering the primary bevel. At least that's what I got from Derek's article - hope I'm right.

[David Weaver]

You're correct - microbevel and camber the microbevel only on a smoother.

[Tony Wilkins]

And basically I'd be setting up the jointer as a super smoother with this blade set-up. Thanks guys.

[Tony Wilkins]

How much more camber should I add on a BU blade as compared with a BD one?

[Jim Matthews]

Our own Derek Cohen has a primer on this topic, here (http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/TheSecretToCamberinBUPlaneBlades.html).

His set up with a piece of wood as a template to hold the blade on a guide bar is slick.
As with so many of his techniques - freely given to hacks like myself - it appears simple because he's worked out the bugs.

I will NEVER sit down to play poker with Derek, it's just a matter of time before he has all the cards ordered in his mind.

Note his use of a standard belt sander with a wider belt. That keeps the point of contact tangent to the arc you're describing.
If a smaller belt is used, it could be displaced and score the steel at the edges of the belt.

[Tony Wilkins]

I've studied that article many times Jim. Maybe I need to back and reread it all to see if it answers my question.