Sharpening...........

[John Kain]

OK, I've went through the opening chapters of L. Lee's sharpening book. My question to you guys is:

I am really only using #4, #7, and 60 1/2 planers. What bevel angles do you sharpen them at? I'll be starting with the 60 1/2 but want to ask opinions first.

What angle are you all use to sharpen each individual plane at? I have both the original blades and new blades for each plane.


One more thing, I want to say thanks to whomever recommended Lee's sharpening book. Good God, it is an absolute required read for ANY woodworker...........

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi John,

It would help a tad to know what you use to sharpen with. As well, do you use some sort of guide?

In general, I hollow grind plane blades at 25-30 degrees and in daily use via hand honing I add about 5 degrees. Then at some point after the secondary bevel covers the entire primary bevel, I'll hollow grind again.

Take care, Mike

[tod evans]

john, i sharpen very unscientifically, steeper bevel for soft woods, and shallower for hardwoods. i`ll only change the angle if it`s not cutting well, no sharpening jigs whatsoever, i do check for square before honing then back to work. .02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

25 degrees is my standard

[John Kain]

Well, I came into a "bunch" of access money when the Delta X5 planer went on sale. I bought the Veritas MKII jig kit so I have some variable exactness. The veritas system came with a 1000x and 4000x waterstone.

[Tom Saurer]

I usually do 30. But that's me, and I'm a newbie.

[John Kain]

Steve, your picture!

Is that the guy from Cannonball Run?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[John Kain]

****************************888888

[Mike Henderson]

For a bevel down plane, like the Stanley #4 and #7, you don't gain anything by going to a smaller bevel angle, except the clearance angle, and you give up strength in the edge. With a 45 degree frog, a 30 degree bevel gives you 15 degrees of clearance angle which is way more than you need. You could easily do a 35 degree bevel angle and still have lots of clearance angle.

Putting a 25 degree bevel on a bevel down plane blade (with a 45 degree frog) doesn't provide any advantage - the cutting angle is always 45 degrees. All you do is weaken the edge.

I would recommend a 30 degree, or slightly more, bevel angle for bevel down planes. Your edge will last longer than if you use a 25 degree bevel angle.

With a bevel up plane like the 60 1/2, you have a different story - the bevel angle does matter. Here, the clearance angle is the 12 degrees that is the angle of the blade in the plane. You get to decide what cutting angle you want by your choice of the bevel angle, plus the 12 degrees of the set of the blade in the plane. So if you put a 25 degree bevel on the blade, the cutting angle will be 37 degrees. If you put a 30 degree bevel on the blade, the cutting angle will be 42 degrees.

Most people use a 25 degree bevel on a 60 1/2 plane because they're trying to get the minimum cutting angle for end grain work. Note that you can also reduce the cutting angle in use by skewing the plane while cutting.

Leonard Lee covers this in his book but it's not really as clear as it could be.

Good luck.

Mike

[Steve Clardy]

Steve, your picture!

Is that the guy from Cannonball Run?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Jack Elam. My hero, my uncle;)

[Steve Clardy]

For a bevel down plane, like the Stanley #4 and #7, you don't gain anything by going to a smaller bevel angle, except the clearance angle, and you give up strength in the edge. With a 45 degree frog, a 30 degree bevel gives you 15 degrees of clearance angle which is way more than you need. You could easily do a 35 degree bevel angle and still have lots of clearance angle.

Putting a 25 degree bevel on a bevel down plane blade (with a 45 degree frog) doesn't provide any advantage - the cutting angle is always 45 degrees. All you do is weaken the edge.

I would recommend a 30 degree, or slightly more, bevel angle for bevel down planes. Your edge will last longer than if you use a 25 degree bevel angle.

With a bevel up plane like the 60 1/2, you have a different story - the bevel angle does matter. Here, the clearance angle is the 12 degrees that is the angle of the blade in the plane. You get to decide what cutting angle you want by your choice of the bevel angle, plus the 12 degrees of the set of the blade in the plane. So if you put a 25 degree bevel on the blade, the cutting angle will be 37 degrees. If you put a 30 degree bevel on the blade, the cutting angle will be 42 degrees.

Most people use a 25 degree bevel on a 60 1/2 plane because they're trying to get the minimum cutting angle for end grain work. Note that you can also reduce the cutting angle in use by skewing the plane while cutting.

Leonard Lee covers this in his book but it's not really as clear as it could be.

Good luck.

Mike

Isn't Stanleys factory bevel a 25? On #1 through 8's

[John Kain]

For a bevel down plane, like the Stanley #4 and #7, you don't gain anything by going to a smaller bevel angle, except the clearance angle, and you give up strength in the edge. With a 45 degree frog, a 30 degree bevel gives you 15 degrees of clearance angle which is way more than you need. You could easily do a 35 degree bevel angle and still have lots of clearance angle.

Putting a 25 degree bevel on a bevel down plane blade (with a 45 degree frog) doesn't provide any advantage - the cutting angle is always 45 degrees. All you do is weaken the edge.

I would recommend a 30 degree, or slightly more, bevel angle for bevel down planes. Your edge will last longer than if you use a 25 degree bevel angle.



With a bevel up plane like the 60 1/2, you have a different story - the bevel angle does matter. Here, the clearance angle is the 12 degrees that is the angle of the blade in the plane. You get to decide what cutting angle you want by your choice of the bevel angle, plus the 12 degrees of the set of the blade in the plane. So if you put a 25 degree bevel on the blade, the cutting angle will be 37 degrees. If you put a 30 degree bevel on the blade, the cutting angle will be 42 degrees.

Most people use a 25 degree bevel on a 60 1/2 plane because they're trying to get the minimum cutting angle for end grain work. Note that you can also reduce the cutting angle in use by skewing the plane while cutting.

Leonard Lee covers this in his book but it's not really as clear as it could be.

Good luck.

Mike
Nice, thanx for the review..............

I'm just starting out sharpening for the first time and will eventually find my niche. Just wanting to get ahead of the game a little by asking others!!!

[Mike Wenzloff]

Jack Elam. My hero, my uncle;)
Hey Steve--is he really your uncle?

Gosh we've enjoyed every movie he was in. What a character.

Take care, Mike

[Steve Clardy]

Hey Steve--is he really your uncle?

Gosh we've enjoyed every movie he was in. What a character.

Take care, Mike


:D :D Naw. Just had to throw that one out there.:rolleyes: ;) :D
But he is my all time favorite TV guy.:D

[John Kain]

The previous might be the definition of hijacking a thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve Clardy]

Yep! Sorry:o I didn't start it.:o ;) :D

[Mike Wenzloff]

The previous might be the definition of hijacking a thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry. Mea culpa.:o

But at least you had already had the question answered;)

Take care, Mike

[Steve Clardy]

Back to this degree angle.
All my stanleys I have are 25 degrees. Is this stanleys standard?
Does anyone know?
Steve

[Mike Wenzloff]

It probably was. It is Lie-Nielsen's.

However, it is recommended a secondary bevel be honed higher. Once the secondary grows to encompass the entire bevel, regrind to the lower, hone higher...etc...

[John Kain]

I see that Lee recommends sharpening to 24 degrees and doing a secondary bevel 1 degree more to help with honing times. Does anyone do this? I think this is what you are talking about Mike.........???????

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi John,

I pretty much shoot for about 25 degrees and the secondary bevels are upwards of 5 degrees. Once the secondary bevel grows to the full thickness of the blade, I generally regrind down at the 25 degree and start over with the secondary.

As I hand hone, the secondary bevel isn't always 5 degrees. But the issue is both speed of honing and strengthening of the bevel.

Take care, Mike