How I solved my beginner sharpening problem!

[Alex Liebert]

So last week I posted a thread with my (many) beginner questions, with the biggest sticking point being I just couldn't get my plane blades sharp. They looked sharp and had a mirror polish, and did fine on pine but just wouldn't cut through poplar. I got a bunch of helpful information from you all but still couldn't improve it enough to plane the poplar. Until now...

This is really a story about my beginner naivete. To get to the punch line you need to know a few things:

• My workbench is pretty bad. It's the harbor freight one.
• I haven't had the chance to use a properly tuned plane yet, I've just been fumbling through restoring flea market Stanleys. Making good progress but haven't done any lapping on the soles yet.
• My goal is to edge joint a few poplar boards for a panel. So I've only been attempting to plane edges.

So I went back to the blades, grinding and flattening and honing and hoping, re-reading all the info and still- planed the pine fine, choked up on the poplar. I'd put the pine board in the vise, plane its end while adjusting the blade projection and lateral, all good. Put the poplar board in the vise and try, and the second the blade hit the wood, the bench would screech like a dying robot- every metal part of the vise would start screaming and vibrating and creaking and the bench would start to tip over against the force. This was my indicator the blade wasn't sharp enough.

I go back to the kitchen to wash my hands in the sink, dejected, and my wife is putting away some paraffin wax. I grab a chunk, go back to the garage, wax the bottom of the sole- and boom. Plane shaves through that poplar effortlessly.

Hope someone finds that useful or at least good for a laugh! Yeah, my blade could be a lot sharper I'm sure, and I'll get there...but the problem was friction on the sole! Now I at least have a starting point!

[Steve Kaminska]

Sometimes it’s the obvious...

I had a related problem. My iron would get “dull” so I would pull the plane apart, sharpen, put it back together and get it adjusted properly (still a 10 minute procedure for me) and no change in the plane’s performance. That’s when the lightbulb would go off and I would try waxing the plane’s sole.
I made myself a Paul Sellers style “rag in a can” oiler, and find it works a lot better for me than wax.

[Dom Campbell]

Good work Alex! Glad you have put an end to that frustration, having recently been there myself, I feel your pain.

As Steve says, the ‘rag in a can’ or oil pot is now an essential in my toolbox, and I use it on everything from chisels, saws, to metal soled planes, the difference is worlds apart... everything just feels sharper.

Its also great for anything that may rust... just give it a quick lick every once in a while.

[Alex Liebert]

Sometimes it’s the obvious...


I had a related problem. My iron would get “dull” so I would pull the plane apart, sharpen, put it back together and get it adjusted properly (still a 10 minute procedure for me) and no change in the plane’s performance. That’s when the lightbulb would go off and I would try waxing the plane’s sole.
I made myself a Paul Sellers style “rag in a can” oiler, and find it works a lot better for me than wax.

Thanks Steve! I had a feeling it was going to be a little seemingly obvious thing like this for me, I was just looking in the wrong places. I hadn't done any lapping on the sole yet and I separately wonder if doing so (regardless of flatness) would have smoothed it out and helped in the first place.

Good work Alex! Glad you have put an end to that frustration, having recently been there myself, I feel your pain.

As Steve says, the ‘rag in a can’ or oil pot is now an essential in my toolbox, and I use it on everything from chisels, saws, to metal soled planes, the difference is worlds apart... everything just feels sharper.

Its also great for anything that may rust... just give it a quick lick every once in a while.

Appreciated, I saw that in one of his videos. What oil do you prefer?

The idea of either oil or wax on a surface I plan to finish worries me, but I guess if everybody does this it shouldn't matter. (I do dye / lacquer finishes for anything but teak if that matters.)

[Dom Campbell]

Alex, I use 3 in 1 motor oil - it's cheap, colourless, and doesn't seem to contaminate what I'm working on, given you only need a tiny bit for it to work - YMMV.

However, the oil choice is fairly open, so feel free to try something and see if it works for you. I did try initially a kind of wet bike chain lube (I had it knocking around), but it had a blue tinge - I wouldn't recommend that, although it did smell nice!

I don't use (m)any finishes, so I cannot say if/how the 3 in 1 affects dye or lacquers.

Edit. I do find wax does leave a bit more of a sheen on the surface, but after another pass this tends to go.

[Steve Kaminska]

Yep 3 in 1 oil for me also. I haven’t had any issues with finishes yet, I use BLO, Danish Oil, and/or shellac. I believe that most, if not all, of the affected wood is planed away, so I wouldn’t worry about it. I can see oil trails for the first couple passes with a freshly oiled plane, after that... nothing. Wax probably has about the same result, it’s just harder to see.

[Rob Luter]

I've always been amazed how waxing the sole of my planes makes them so much sharper.

[lowell holmes]

I apply Johnson's floor wax to my hand planes. It prevents rust and also lubricates them for planning.
I am in Galveston County, Texas where rust is a major concern. All of my handsaws get the wax as well.
It does not damage the finish in any way.

[Alex Liebert]

I apply Johnson's floor wax to my hand planes. It prevents rust and also lubricates them for planning.
I am in Galveston County, Texas where rust is a major concern. All of my handsaws get the wax as well.
It does not damage the finish in any way.

Humidity is a huge issue for me at every turn, both with the metal and the wood...over the course of a week (and sometimes a day) the humidity in my garage fluctuates between 60 and 90%.

[Jim Koepke]

Humidity is a huge issue for me at every turn, both with the metal and the wood...over the course of a week (and sometimes a day) the humidity in my garage fluctuates between 60 and 90%.

One of my problems when lining in the SF area was buying lumber and having it go through all kinds of changes if it was bought very far from home.

jtk

[Andrew Seemann]

Don't worry, it happens to all of us, Alex.

Yesterday I was planing some white pine thinking that the #4 I was using seemed a lot heavier than I remembered it. On the way to grab a screwdriver to take off the chipbreaker, I saw the candle and bees wax I use for lubing screws and thought to myself, when was the last time I waxed this plane? I grabbed a gob of paraffin, dragged it on the sole, wiped it with a kleenex, and tried it again. I nearly threw the plane across the room because it slid so much better.

[Marshall Harrison]

Has anyone tried making Paul Sellers style “rag in a can” oiler using gauze? I have a ton of it left over from my fil?

[glenn bradley]

It is amazing what a wipe with a stub of a candle can do for a hand plane. I have a block of Gulf Wax that sets on a shelf in my plane till. It goes to and from the bench with my hand tool of choice.

Plane Till Gulf Wax.JPG

[Robert Engel]

Humidity is a huge issue for me at every turn, both with the metal and the wood...over the course of a week (and sometimes a day) the humidity in my garage fluctuates between 60 and 90%.

You can't leave your hand tools out in an environment like this, unless you want to see them rust, seemingly overnight.

Apply Jotoba or Camella oil after each use. Once a month, take the blade/cap iron apart and coat with oil.

Storing can be as simple as a sealable plastic bin with a cube of camphor.

[Steve Kaminska]

Has anyone tried making Paul Sellers style “rag in a can” oiler using gauze? I have a ton of it left over from my fil?

Marshall, I was prompted to make mine when my wife threw out an old twin sized bed sheet. I bought the cheapest can of tuna they had at the grocery store (the cat wouldn't even eat it) and started rolling and folding strips of sheet into the can. The rag needs to be packed into the can pretty tightly. It took almost half the sheet to fill the can tightly enough that the rag wouldn't fall out.

So, while you probably could use gauze, it would take an absolute ----ton to work properly