Just a plain old gloat! - I mean an old plane gloat!!!

[jonathan snyder]

Hi folks

Just recieved some welcome additions to my old tool arsenal. A stanley #7 type 11, a stanley #40, a stanley # 65 low angle, and a 3/8 witherby chisel.

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Everything looks to be in nice shape. I need to clean them up a bit and sharpen the irons.

Anyone have a advise on sharpening a scrub plane iron? I have never had much luck sharpening by hand, but I guess i'll have to learn. I use the LV MKII, but I dont supose that will work for the scrub. What angle should I aim for?

One other question. What should the primary and secondary bevels on the low angle iron be ground at? I plan to use it primarilly on end grain?

Thanks
Jonathan

[Maurice Metzger]

Hi Jonathan,

A scrub blade bevel should have the same angle as any other bevel down plane blade, I think most people use 30°. If it makes sharpening any easier, I don't think the actual radius of the edge matters, of course it should stay curved so you get a gouge like effect.

A low angle block plane is usually sharpened at 25°, that should be your micro bevel. I don't know how much difference you use between your primary and micro bevel. With a bed angle of 12° a 25° bevel will give you a cutting angle of 37°, which is standard for low angle block planes.

HTH,
Maurice

[jonathan snyder]

Maurice,

Thanks for the info. I got the # 7 up and running today, it sure is a kick to use. I need to glue up a headboard for the muprhy bed I am working on, so I will see how the jointer does, hopefully one night this week.

On my bench planes I have been grinding the primary bevel at 25 with the microbevels at 30, 31, & 32 per the recent article in FWW. I was thinking I might grind the primary on the low angle at 20, and the microbevels starting at 25 as you suggest. How much difference do you have between primary bevels and microbevels?

I have not tried sharpening the scrub yet, maybe this weekend. I have really rough chain saw cut 4X6 piece of birch, to test the scrub on.

Thanks
Jonathan

[Maurice Metzger]

Jonathan, if I use a micro bevel it's 5° difference from the primary. I don't use a micro bevel on a scrub blade because it's easier to sharpen freehand without a micro bevel.

I was thinking you might be able to use a honing guide with a narrow wheel like this for the scrub blade:

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but only if you were able to tip it from side to side. I haven't tried it. I think the Lee Valley (Veritas) guide has too broad of a roller.

Or you could try finding something with the right radius, maybe the inside of a split PVC pipe. Or carve the profile into some wood with the scrub blade. You could then put sandpaper inside.

Maurice

[jonathan snyder]

Maurice,

Thanks, I have one of those guides, I will try it with the scrub iron.

I was not thinking about micro bevels on the scrub iron, but rather on the Low angle block plane. I will try the primary bevel at 20 and microbevel at 25 and see how that does.

Thanks Again
Jonathan

[Maurice Metzger]

I was not thinking about micro bevels on the scrub iron, but rather on the Low angle block plane.
Thanks Again
Jonathan

Oops, that is what you wrote. Yes, I think 25 would be good, you could then do 25, 26, and 27 with the honing guide. I only use a single micro-bevel so I stick to 25.

In any event enjoy your new tools!

Maurice

[Jay Davidson]

Lee Valley has an camber attachment to its Mark II Honing Guide: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=54181&cat=1,43072,43078&ap=1

[Alan DuBoff]

Lee Valley has an camber attachment to its Mark II Honing Guide: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=54181&cat=1,43072,43078&ap=1Mike Wenzloff actually came up with that idea, and Rob Lee was able to get a leap frog to develop it. Mike definitely deserves not just some, but all of the credit for thinking of it and creating a prototype, that's the hard part IMO.

[jonathan snyder]

Hi folks

Has anybody tried the LV camber attachment for the MKII? It is my understanding that it was created for a smoother blade. I wonder if there is enough camber for a scrub blade? It does not seam like it, but I'm not sure what the proper arc should be for a scrub blade.

Jonathan

[Maurice Metzger]

Jonathan, you might want to try sharpening the scrub blade freehand. It's not that hard, the thick blade makes it easier to keep the bevel flat on your sharpening surface. One good description of how to do freehand sharpening is here:

http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/

(No connection to site)

I just concentrate on keeping the bevel flat, it sort of 'clicks' into place and you don't want to lose that position. With the scrub for me it's easier to sharpen by moving the blade in a sideways motion while moving along the radius. Doesn't turn out too pretty but it's sharp:

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(note the irregular radius and the chunk missing from the edge, seems to work fine anyway, I don't take a big enough shaving to make contact with the chunk.)

If you want to use a sander to get your initial bevel Derek Cohen shows a jig on a belt sander in this article (about halfway down):

http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Ederekcohen/reviews/scrubplane/index.htm


HTH,
Maurice

[jonathan snyder]

Maurice,

Thanks, I'll check out both of those links. I have not tried to sharpen the scrub iron yet. I did however get the 7 & the 65 tuned up. I'm in the middle of a murphy bed project right now, I will get around to playing with the scrub when the bed is done!

Jonathan

[Ruston Hughes]

I've had good luck sharpening my scrub plane iron with the jig Maurice has pictured above. I did use a microbevel because using the jig will not allow you to keep a constant bevel angle across the width of the blade. This doesn't seem to matter much since the blade is bevel down anyway. Also, you will get a small flat spot in the center of the radius where the jig wheel sits flat. This doesn't seem matter either.

[Phil Hirz]

Jonathan,

I have used the camber attachment on the MK II to sharpen a scrub blade. I sharpened a Lie-Nielsen blade which has a 3" radius camber. It is a little bit tricky to get the full camber and to get the very edges I had to move the jog to one side of the stone or the other so that the sides of the jig wouldn't rub on the stone.

It worked fine for honing a microbevel but it would be a pain if you had to get rid of a chip in the edge. I believe that in one of David Charlesworth's books he shows how he made a jig to put a large camber on a blade using a tormek. I would try that if I had to regrind it.

Hope that helps,
Phil

[jonathan snyder]

Ruston & Phill - Welcome to the Creek!

Thanks for the info. I think I will either try the scrub iron freehand or using the jig with the narrow wheel. I just picked up the Lie-Neilsen book on sharpening from Taunton. Havent gotton to the section on sharpening scrub irons yet, but I know its in there.

Phill, how do you like the camber attachment for you smoother irons? Is it difficult to get a uniform microbevel? I read the instructions and it sounds like to takes some practice to get the hang of it.

Thanks
Jonathan

[Phil Hirz]

Jonathan,

The camber attachment does take a little time to get used to. It definitely looks and sounds easier to use than it is in practice. However, after using it a couple of times now I am happy to say that I am starting to get the hang of it.

My biggest problem when I first started was that I was only focusing my attention on finger placement and pressure on the blade itself. As it turns out, the location and pressure of your thumbs on the back of the jig makes a significant difference in how easy the jig is to control. When I want to put more pressure on the left side I put my index and middle fingers on the left side of the blade and both thumbs towards the left side of the jig. If each thumb is placed on opposite sides of the jig then when you are concentrating pressure on one side or the other it can get a bit wobbly.

I usually verify where I am cutting by the marks made on the waterstone. With a little bit of practice it is possible to place one thumb on each side and one index finger on each side and then make one smooth pass as you pull the jig toward you and rotate pressure from one side to the other.

Overall I am very pleased with the camber attachment and I prefer it to the eclipse style honing guide that I previously tried using for cambering.

Hope this information is useful to you.
Phil