Chipped router plane iron

[Mike Cherry]

I demanded that my router plane show a knot who the boss was in a recent dado and my blade paid the price. What are some options for getting this chip out. It's a Lienielsen large router plane. I have access to a bench grinder, plate glass with sandpaper, and my regular waterstones. I saw Derek's post on hollow grinding the bevels, but alas I do not have a drill press or Dremel tool.

[Winton Applegate]

I grind the heck out of my router plane "blades" (bits ?).
I would say save it for making a custom bit, narrower etc. and buy some more bits so you can have many types and sharp when needed.
No big deal.
Or are you asking specific sharpening info ?
Just lightly touch on the grinder maintaining the stock geometry until pit is gone then hone right at the edge with stones.

[Mike Cherry]

I suppose Im having a hard time wrapping my head around how to grind the blade. For clarification purposes the blade and chip can be seen below.307892
307894

[Mike Cherry]

Should I just grind that bevel flat on the grinder and then hone as usual? Like this?
307895

[Jim Koepke]

Should I just grind that bevel flat on the grinder and then hone as usual? Like this?
307895

That would leave you with a lot of work to hone.

Do you have a belt or disk sander available?

Not sure if grinding on the underside would be advisable.

If you have a long flat surface and some long strips of abrasive media you might be able to remove the chip by hand.

jtk

[john zulu]

+1 to belt sander. Just prepare a jig with the sharpening.
If you have the time....... Use the grinding stones like 120 grit or lower.

[Winton Applegate]

Should I just grind that bevel flat on the grinder and then hone as usual? Like this?
Yes you could do that.
(seriously)
In any case you need to grind that top beveled surface down at the same angle that it is to where the blade is sharp and the chip is gone.
I suppose you could put a secondary bevel on that top bevel and get'er done faster.
If you are routing really soft wood then you might have to grind the whole top bevel to get the angle shallow enough for best/smoothest cutting in soft wood.
You could start by using the secondary bevel right near the edge and grind more later.

How to do it ?
I would use the side of the wheel very lightly.
You will have to grind fairly lightly how ever you do it if you are using a power grinder to keep the heat down.

I know, I know NEVER GRIND ON THE SIDE OF A WHEEL shaped like yours.
The problem comes if you are taking a bouncy cut and the surface being ground is irregular and rough to where the work can bounce on the wheel and set up sharp side loading blows on the wheel.
Light smooth applications of force should be no prob.
If you really want to be safe :
take the wheel off and tap it with some metal thing to be sure it rings like a little bell. If not it has a crack in it anyway and should not be used at all.

Alternatively you could set up a sanding drum in your drill press and grind on that. Or a very coarse white or pink drum shaped grind stone in your drill press.
If using the sanding paper drum don't bring the edge to the paper in a way that could dig in and cause a problem.

In any case I would not grind on the under side of the blade just hone that but don't raise up the blade off the stone keep it flat down or nearly so (a piece of paper to ruler trick it).

[Mike Cherry]

That would leave you with a lot of work to hone.

Do you have a belt or disk sander available?

Not sure if grinding on the underside would be advisable.

If you have a long flat surface and some long strips of abrasive media you might be able to remove the chip by hand.

jtk

I do not have a belt sander or disc sander. I may have to borrow my buddies dremel tool I suppose

[Mike Cherry]

well, as luck would have it, I just got off the phone with Lie-Nielsen and they are just going to send me a replacement...just like that! Chris Stevens was the name of the gentleman that helped me. Pretty damn awesome!

[john zulu]

The service btw. LN and LV is comparable. I find them both helpful and friendly.

[Robert Hazelwood]

That's nice that they're sending you a replacement. However you might as well fix that one since it never hurts to have an extra sharp blade sitting around when the one you're using gets dull.

What you were showing with grinding the edge back past the chip is exactly what I would do to start. You need to take little bites at a time, to avoid overheating the steel. Make sure to keep the edge square across as you do this. When you're done with that, you'll end up with a big flat on the end of the blade, where the edge should be. You can use that flat as a target for re-profiling the main bevel.

I would do the bevel work freehand on very coarse 60/80 grit sandpaper. Router plane blades are so awkward that this is really the only way I can see it being done well. I have a belt sander but can't see myself using it for this. You'd have to use it with the belt going perpendicular to the cutter, and the friction from the belt would then try to twist the cutter in your hands. Probably not actually dangerous if you are careful, but you'd tend to end up with random facets I'd think.

Anyways, it's a small area to work and shouldn't take that long by hand with a coarse enough abrasive. Use the flat generated by the grinder to keep your free-handed bevel square (just judge it by eye, as you get close to removing it you see very tiny discrepancies from one side to the other. If the flat is taller on one side, bias your pressure to that side until it's down to the level of the other side). Once the flat is removed and you can feel a burr, then you're ready to hone again.

[ian maybury]

Good to hear you got sorted Mike.

I bought a Lee Valley large router plane last week, and was just thinking about the same issue. Some of the Lee Valley cutters have a detachable foot which fits a fixture supplied with it and permits the use of a stock honing guide - or for that matter the usual hollow grinding on a wheel or flat on the top of a WorkSharp.

Derek Cohen has written up a nice method of hollow grinding one piece cutters on his website followed by hand honing on waterstones: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/SharpeningRouterPlaneBlades.html It requires a true running pedestal drill (not mine) and a sanding drum. The hollow grind if correctly aligned has the advantage of functioning as a built in honing guide.

Chris Schwarz suggests a similar hand honing method: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/video-sharpen-a-router-plane-blade

I have a WorkSharp, and figure it can be used to regrind these cutters off the accessory top surface - using a variation of the fairly simple jig below. It'd work on a sanding disc or belt too. The shank/leg of the cutter would hang over the edge of the disc/belt, while the wooden body (adapted as required) would align off the top table on the WorkSharp, or whatever surface (maybe a vertical one) was available on whatever sander was used:

307993

[Winton Applegate]

Hey,
somebody who can draw.
Nice job Ian !

[ian maybury]

:) Ta Winton. Bear in mind it's as yet unproven...

[lowell holmes]

I would put the iron in vise-grips and grind away. You will have to free hand it, but it's doable. I have done it.

[Rich Riddle]

Is the replacement going to show the know who's the boss?

[george wilson]

Like Winton said,just grind on the SIDE of the wheel. It is often said to not grind n the side of a wheel,but it's o.k. if you don't put a lot of undue pressure on it. That little blade isn't going to be any problem to grind on the side.

[Mike Cherry]

Thanks for the help guys. I sort of wish I had a drill press, but like Robert said this should be a good oppurtunity to learn how to fix it the hard way and at least Ill have that experience from my mistake. I'll also have an extra sharp blade, as Robert pointed out!