Sharpening nickers

[David Ryle]

Purchased a Stanley 45 the nickers could do with some maintenance, what is the easiest way to sharpen them, I've got big fingers holding these things is not easy.
avid

[bridger berdel]

A small pair of locking pliers could be helpful. Also, if these are the 3.wings.with.a.hole type, a small screw in the hole mounting it to a block of wood could be helpful.

[Robert Engel]

I've thought about this too.

How about a longer screw to screw the nicker onto a holding jig?

[steven c newman]

Put a fat fingertip into the beveled/countersink area. Push the nicker around on your stone of choice....hone the flat/back of the nicker. KISS.....

[Rob Luter]

I think that LN has an available accessory for its honing jig. Only $79.95. Or you could do what Steven suggests :D

[David Ryle]

Whoa, take it easy, k.i.s.s. indeed! Good idea about the fat finger though.

[Patrick Chase]

Whoa, take it easy, k.i.s.s. indeed! Good idea about the fat finger though.

Don't forget that nickers are generally soft enough to be filed (Rc50 or so, similar to a quality scraper or handsaw). I generally file mine to shape in a metalworking vise, and then hone freehand on an Ark to refine.

The $79 option from L-N sounds tempting, of course. Knowing them it might actually exist :-).

[David Dalzell]

Most knickers can be held down with the eraser end of a pencil; then slid around on a water or oil stone.

[Dave Parkis]

A pencil is MUCH easier on your fingers. BTDT.

[Patrick Chase]

A pencil is MUCH easier on your fingers. BTDT.

There are two "gotchas" to be aware of with the finger/eraser technique though:

1. Doing significant sharpening by lapping the back as Steven suggested will inevitably thin the nicker. That's OK in a design like the Veritas that has a depth-adjust screw for the nicker, but not so good for the Stanley planes, which require the nicker to be exactly 50 mils thick to register to the outside edge of the skate. If the nicker doesn't reach to that edge then it won't do you any good. Of course you can put a shim under the nicker to bring it back into alignment, but that makes it more of a pain to adjust (been there, tried that, ended up paying for a new nicker).

2. On old planes the nicker bevel geometry is often messed up, and working the back alone won't fix that.

For my #55 I filed the nicker to the shape I wanted (it's the sliding kind so I had some extra metal to work with) and then refined the bevel on an ark. I only lapped the back enough to remove the burr. These things are made a little softer than irons for a reason, and we'd might as well take advantage of it.

[steven c newman]

Overthinking way too much, again.....nickers are about $6 counting shipping...and, in a pinch, the Stanley ones have two other lobes that can be sharpened up...

[Robert Engel]

How about a magnet on the end of a dowel?

[Patrick Chase]

Overthinking way too much, again.....nickers are about $6 counting shipping...and, in a pinch, the Stanley ones have two other lobes that can be sharpened up...

Depends on the style. There were/are 3 major nicker designs for the #45 alone. The newer "3-lobed" ones you describe can be found cheaply. The older-style sliding nicker that I replaced a while back was $15 plus shipping from nhplaneparts.

[Jim Koepke]

Depends on the style. There were/are 3 major nicker designs for the #45 alone. The newer "3-lobed" ones you describe can be found cheaply. The older-style sliding nicker that I replaced a while back was $15 plus shipping from nhplaneparts.

Is it possible a typo above and you mean the #55 had three nicker styles?

My curiosity is going crazy as my understanding is there are two basic style of knicker on the #55. The sliding oblong knickers on the early models and then the cloverleaf design use started some time between 1910 and 1920. What was the third design?

All of my #45s from a type 4 through the later types have the same cloverleaf knicker. The only difference noticed on my planes is the early ones came with one spur sharpened. The later planes came with all three spurs round and dull.

A quick consult with Dr. Google found this spur sharpening video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AhaJmvQCfQ

jtk

[steven c newman]

The "older sliding nicker " was used on planes like the #39 Dado planes. Even the #78 has the 3 lobe nicker....

[Patrick Chase]

Is it possible a typo above and you mean the #55 had three nicker styles?

My curiosity is going crazy as my understanding is there are two basic style of knicker on the #55. The sliding oblong knickers on the early models and then the cloverleaf design use started some time between 1910 and 1920. What was the third design?

The #55 definitely had 3 design revisions per nhplaneparts: A "long sliding nicker", a "shorter sliding nicker" (with lower threaded hole position on the skate), and then finally the "cloverleaf nicker". I *thought* (based on nhplaneparts again) that the same was true for the 45, but it may be that it only used one or the other of the two sliding variants before moving to the clover-leaf design. That would seem odd considering that the 45 predated the 55 in production, though.

Steve, we've already established that you have a newer 45 and that it and its irons differ from older ones. This is one of those differences.

[Jim Koepke]

Is it possible that you didn't notice the distinction between the two sliding designs?

Absolutely, didn't have anything on which to notice it, so it is more like didn't know. That is the reason for my question. Two different sliding nickers makes sense.

jtk

[maximillian arango]

I mostly lurk but what I have done is kept them in the plane and just strike them with a file a few times and turn it. If that isn't good enough for you I use to screw it to a wooden ruler and sharpen it like a chisel but I found that to be over doing it.

[Patrick Chase]

I mostly lurk but what I have done is kept them in the plane and just strike them with a file a few times and turn it. If that isn't good enough for you I use to screw it to a wooden ruler and sharpen it like a chisel but I found that to be over doing it.

Indeed. As I've said over and over in this thread, nickers are made soft enough to file for a reason. I do not understand the fascination with stoning them.

[steven c newman]

Sigh....no wonder I have Patrick on my Ignore list....

[Patrick Chase]

Sigh....no wonder I have Patrick on my Ignore list....

Why, for pointing out that these things are specifically designed to be sharpened in a way that's easier and faster than the one you suggested, and that preserves the one dimension that actually matters (thickness)?

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

I will have to try a file next time I sharpen one. Sharpening those things is a pain.

I sharpened the one on my Record 778 about a week ago using a coarse carborundum stone, it is a cloverleaf type. About half way thru the job I decided it would go better with a band aid on the index finger that held the nicker, pinching it against my thumb. The band aid didn't help hold the nicker, but it did stop the skin from wearing off further, as I hadn't noticed I was rubbing my finger against the stone wearing the skin away to the point it was bleeding a little bit. The skin has not completely filled back in and is still thin there.

Simple advise: Don't do what I did and rub your finger against a carborundum stone.

Regards,

Stew

[Patrick Chase]

Hi All,

I will have to try a file next time I sharpen one. Sharpening those things is a pain.

I sharpened the one on my Record 778 about a week ago using a coarse carborundum stone, it is a cloverleaf type. About half way thru the job I decided it would go better with a band aid on the index finger that held the nicker, pinching it against my thumb. The band aid didn't help hold the nicker, but it did stop the skin from wearing off further, as I hadn't noticed I was rubbing my finger against the stone wearing the skin away to the point it was bleeding a little bit. The skin has not completely filled back in and is still thin there.

Simple advise: Don't do what I did and rub your finger against a carborundum stone.

Been there, done that. Ditto for marking gauge wheels, the blades of smaller marking knives, etc etc. I've tried abrasion-resistant gloves, but they just get gunked up from the cutting fluid (water, oil, whatever). If you do it enough your index finger gets callused. I hadn't had those since I was practicing Cello for a couple hours a day, then I took up woodworking :-)

[steven c newman]

600 Medium India stone works better....

[allen long]

Sorry . . . cannot . . stop . . . myself . . . from . . . asking ..... if you need to sharpening advice because your nickers are in a bind?

[David Myers]

Sorry . . . cannot . . stop . . . myself . . . from . . . asking ..... if you need to sharpening advice because your nickers are in a bind?

Please sir. We'll thank you to take this forum seriously.

Now, as to the question of sharpening knickers, one usually sharpens wearing the same pantaloons that one carries out the work of the day in.

[Patrick Chase]

Sorry . . . cannot . . stop . . . myself . . . from . . . asking ..... if you need to sharpening advice because your nickers are in a bind?

Well played as always.

[James Waldron]

When I was about seven, maybe eight, my Sainted Mother put me in (k)nickers for Church one Sunday. No one thought they were sharp. I got into a fight about 'em, too. A fight at Church! I was grounded for about five years for that. But I did sneak the (k)nickers out of the house and onto a bonfire. Very satisfying.

[ken hatch]

Please sir. We'll thank you to take this forum seriously.

Now, as to the question of sharpening knickers, one usually sharpens wearing the same pantaloons that one carries out the work of the day in.


Well played as always.


When I was about seven, maybe eight, my Sainted Mother put me in (k)nickers for Church one Sunday. No one thought they were sharp. I got into a fight about 'em, too. A fight at Church! I was grounded for about five years for that. But I did sneak the (k)nickers out of the house and onto a bonfire. Very satisfying.

He he he said nickers.:p...I've been waiting for this thread to go south from the start.