How to grind a camber

[Josko Catipovic]

I've been lackadaisical with grinding/honing cambers into my plane blades. Sort of rock it to one side, then the other, done when I don't see the edge of a plane blade mark the piece. Is there a more organized way to do this? I do have the Veritas camber roller, but I don't really know what I'm aiming for.
So, what should be my goal when grinding a camber into a plane blade, and is there a method for getting there? FWIW, I'm talking about jointer/smoother planes, where, I assume, a minimum amount of camber is required.

[Derek Cohen]

Josko, I suspect that you mix up grinding and honing. So ...

There is a Tormek blade holder which is designed to add camber in the grind. David Charlesworth has a YouTube video on this.

However, I really do not advise that one attempts to add camber during a grind for bench planes other than jack planes (10-12" radius) or a scrub plane (3" radius). All other planes receive the camber when honing.

An excellent tutorial for this is one by David Charlesworth. Look it up. While we may progress to other methods, many of us started here, and benefitted hugely from David's teachings.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

The Woodwright's Shop...Hand plane essentials, with Christopher Schwarz. Details how to grind and sharpen a cambered iron for a Jack/Fore plane.

Episode can still be found on pbs.org. About a 1/2 hour show.

Oh, and HOW to use said planes....quite worth the watch...

[Jim Koepke]

Josko, as Derek posted you may have interchanged grinding with honing.

A smoother needs very little camber and can be achieved with a few light honing strokes.

If you are using a plane as a scrub plane then a more aggressive camber may require a bit of grinding.


So, what should be my goal when grinding a camber into a plane blade, and is there a method for getting there? FWIW, I'm talking about jointer/smoother planes, where, I assume, a minimum amount of camber is required.

IMO, (and possibly only mine) the camber should be about equal to the thickness of the shaving. In other words if one is taking a shaving of ~0.002" the edges of the blade do not need to be any more than 0.002" lower than the center of the blade.

Here is an old post of mine about cambering > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?158373

For eliminating tracks on a smoother my first step is to take as light of a shaving as is possible. If tracks still occur, then a swipe or two along the edges with a fine honing stone should help to eliminate them.

jtk

[fritz eng]

is a camber recommended for block planes? Plane tracks also could happen on narrow blades I assume when planing wider surfaces than the blade itself. Appreciate your thoughts

[Tom M King]

I keep two pairs of block planes. One pair with, and one pair without cambers. I'm not suggesting that anyone else do the same. I ended up with two pairs when I found the second pair NOS for cheap. I do use them since I have them though, depending on what I'm working on.

For smoothing plane cambers, I judge by the amount of swarf on the sides while using the stones to make a camber. With planes that need thicker shavings than smoothers, but not as much as Jacks, like no. 6's, there is some guesswork, and testing involved, since the camber is smaller than I want to bother to mark a radius for. Once you get them like you want them, they are easy to maintain there. Just watch what comes off when honing.

[Josko Catipovic]

Thanks guys - I get it. Tiny cambers go on the secondary bevel, larger ones on the primary. Makes sense, and I'll give it a try. The idea of camber equal to shaving thickness really helped me visualize what I'm trying to do.
BTW, I think of grinding as shaping the primary bevel, and honing the secondary bevel. Is this a confusing way to think about it?

[Jim Koepke]

BTW, I think of grinding as shaping the primary bevel, and honing the secondary bevel. Is this a confusing way to think about it?

This becomes confusing because not everyone uses or owns a grinder. Not everyone uses a secondary bevel.

jtk