How do you sharpen hollows & rounds?

[Frederick Skelly]

Several of you have referred to Matthew Bickford's Mouldings in Practice as a good source of learning, so I bought a copy. Early in the book I became convinced I should get a few downstream. Then I realized that I dont really know how to sharpen them. How do you get that same razor sharp edge on a curved blade as you can on a flat/straight blade? (I usually sharpen to 6000.)

Bickford has a small chapter on sharpening them, but Im still a bit skeptical. Seems like it will be much harder to get that fine edge on a curved tool. Is it?

Sorry if this sounds foolish, but I dont know.

Fred

[Keith Mathewson]

Larry Williams has an excellent DVD which is sold at the lie Nielsen website

[Frederick Skelly]

Larry Williams has an excellent DVD which is sold at the lie Nielsen website

Thanks Keith. Maybe Ill just go buy that.
Fred

[Warren Mickley]

For round planes I use bench stones. Oil stones are nice because the curved profile of a round plane can chew up a softer stone. Except for having to roll the iron to get the entire edge, I use the same technique as plane irons.

For hollow planes I use slip stones. These are 4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and have a radius of about 1/8 along one edge and about 3/8 along the other. I would avoid conical slip stones. I use a coarse India, fine India, and Arkansas. I start with the coarse India every time I sharpen and sharpen full bevel. Some companies market much smaller or shorter slip stones, but if you are going to get a good grasp on the stone you need the four inches, not a toy.

[Derek Cohen]

In addition to the slips mentioned by Warren, Lee Valley sell a set of wooden slips ...

http://www.leevalley.com/US/images/item/Woodworking/Sharpening/50m0101s1.jpg

Either buy these or make your own. From LV you can also get self-adhesive micro abrasive sheets in 15 and 5 microns. Add in the green compound, and you can make up sized honing kit for all the hollow blades. Rounded blades can be treated as per flat blades.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Frederick Skelly]

This helped a lot guys. Thank you. Like everything else, it will take time and practice. But I think I can learn it when the time comes. Hollows and Rounds just seem like such a useful thing - something Id prefer over my electric router. I love the feel of a sharp plane taking a cut.

Just now, Im working to learn to properly handle both bench chisels and backsaws. (Definitely too soon for H&Rs, right?) I found a neat plan for a simple Shaker bench at FWW and Ive nearly finished that. It required through mortises and angled cuts - lots of good practice there. Like most newbies, I had some good joints and some gapped joints. But I got better the further along I got on the project. Definitely need to make another so I have a clear goal to shoot for while practising. But I found I really enjoyed cutting those joints by hand, which is a good sign I think.

Many thanks!
Fred

[David Weaver]

I do the same as warren. The only arduous part of using them is the initial setup of the iron. Once you do that, you just do a little bit of sharpening at a time and don't let them get totally dull with a big round wear bevel at the edge. I've never had to reprofile a hollow that was fully hardened (only when making a plane, where the iron is annealed when doing most of the work), so I can't make much of a suggestion there.

The little bit at a time is no big deal, because the amount that you use a hollow and round is sort of over in a blink.

[Roy Lindberry]

Several of you have referred to Matthew Bickford's Mouldings in Practice as a good source of learning, so I bought a copy. Early in the book I became convinced I should get a few downstream. Then I realized that I dont really know how to sharpen them. How do you get that same razor sharp edge on a curved blade as you can on a flat/straight blade? (I usually sharpen to 6000.)

Bickford has a small chapter on sharpening them, but Im still a bit skeptical. Seems like it will be much harder to get that fine edge on a curved tool. Is it?

Sorry if this sounds foolish, but I dont know.

Fred


For rounds, I just use my diamond stones, same as flat irons/chisels. The only difference is that I use a figure-eight pattern and "roll" the iron as I sweep around the circles. This ensures that the entire surface gets honed.

For hollows, assuming the blade cuts even a little bit, (if it doesn't, I do my best to sharpen it until it does) I cut the profile onto the edge of an appropriately sized piece of wood. I can then wrap various grits of sandpaper around the profile and clamp it in the vise. I then hone on it like I would if it was a stone, working my way up the grits. When finished with the sandpaper, I'll charge the piece of wood with some chromium oxide and strop right on the same piece. If the wood was a little rough, because the plane wasn't sharp enough, it is now sharp enough to make a new block that will work great. Then you can use the same piece over and over again.

[Jim Matthews]

I took a taster course with Matt Bickford.

Stropping was stressed, as the steel should never get worn to the point
where reshaping is needed (as mentioned above).

MB made pointed mention of choosing straight grained stock carefully.
He paid particular attention (during the class) to stropping the back of blades
after the stones, and making the back of blades shine.

When it was necessary to touch up a bevel, he used fine sandpaper
on a dowel. His methods may have changed, as this was four years ago.

I would say the most important step stressed was frequent stropping.

[Andrae Covington]

...When it was necessary to touch up a bevel, he used fine sandpaper on a dowel...

A few months ago I wanted to add a bead detail to a project and so I sharpened an old 3/8" side bead, which is not so different from a hollow plane. I put most of my effort into lapping the back, which took care of most of the sharpening without getting into complicated profiles. I then wrapped fine sandpaper around a dowel to touch up the curved edge of the bead. I really didn't have to do much with the sandpaper, just cleaning up the very leading edge of the bevel. It did a fine job in yellow pine.

[paul cottingham]

Like others, I focus on the backs of my hollows and rounds and beaders. I am hesitant to do anything aggressive with the bevel, lest I screw up the profiles. I use a slip or the LV wooden slips for the little I do to the bevel.
Watch the Larry Williams DVD on sharpening shaped edge tools. It's very good, and (as he says in the DVD) he has really shaky hands, and if he can sharpen a profiled edge (with a power grinder, no less!) I guess anyone can. I still lack the courage to try, though.

[Tom M King]

I use the Diamond Lapping Film, that LV sells, on anything (like twist drill bit shanks) that I can find that fits. I dont' peel the backing off, but hold it to whatever I'm using for the shape-except for the small ones where you need to peel off some of the backing. The irons, at least on the old ones, are pretty soft, but take a really sharp edge. You still have to end up doing some by hand and feel. The film cuts very easily, so the hard part is learning to only go away from the edge-not into it. If you have a matched pair, you can use one to make a mating form for the other, but you still have to make it a little smaller to allow for the film thickness. The lapping film cuts so fast that it doesn't take many strokes to sharpen one. It's probably not the cheapest way, since some of the film ends up getting used up, but it is fast. Usually, all you need to do is polish the back and it's close to being ready to go anyway.

[Zach Dillinger]

For round planes I use bench stones. Oil stones are nice because the curved profile of a round plane can chew up a softer stone. Except for having to roll the iron to get the entire edge, I use the same technique as plane irons.

For hollow planes I use slip stones. These are 4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and have a radius of about 1/8 along one edge and about 3/8 along the other. I would avoid conical slip stones. I use a coarse India, fine India, and Arkansas. I start with the coarse India every time I sharpen and sharpen full bevel. Some companies market much smaller or shorter slip stones, but if you are going to get a good grasp on the stone you need the four inches, not a toy.


I do the same as warren. The only arduous part of using them is the initial setup of the iron. Once you do that, you just do a little bit of sharpening at a time and don't let them get totally dull with a big round wear bevel at the edge. I've never had to reprofile a hollow that was fully hardened (only when making a plane, where the iron is annealed when doing most of the work), so I can't make much of a suggestion there.

The little bit at a time is no big deal, because the amount that you use a hollow and round is sort of over in a blink.

+3 to the method detailed by these two fine gentlemen.