Got me some decent planes at last

[shed9]

Early in my work career I had to do a lot of metallurgical sample preparation and I can tell you based on my experience that trying to hold a flat face on a rotating flat wheel was for me almost impossible.

I did some experiments in diffusion welding where I had to get the mating interfaces flat and parallel and the metallographic rotating wheels just didn't give me a good result.

If I want a flat back to my plane irons I use either a lapping steel or hard water stones.  All of my sharpening these days is with the newer splash and go water stones either the Shapton Brand or the Nubatama Ume extra hard stones.

Jack

I have to say I agree with you here, achieving a flat surface across a spinning horizontal surface just doesn't seem conducive to achieving the levels of precision needed for cutting tools.

Not trying to knock the Worksharp kit as I know there are many very happy users out there who swear by it, however the manufacturers video caused me some concern is all I was saying in regards to that system.

 

[shed9]

Added these to the stable earlier this week;



A #62, a #60 1/2 and chip breaker driver. I noted the above on a UK forum and bizarrely the conversation was all about the driver being extravagant????

Not had chance to fully test drive the #62 but the block plane is just sheer joy to use. Whilst I am still reeling from the cost of my recent splurge I can't help feeling I should have done this ages ago. I should have a Veritas Mk2 guide coming through the letterbox in the next few days but haven't committed to abrasive films or new stones yet.

 

[Tinker]

I am slowly getting more and more into hand planing.  For years, I had no jointer, so i bought only dimension lumber so I did not have to mess around with face planing.  That was when i was working mostly with softwoods.  Eventually, i got into working with hard woods and suddenly, hand planing was no longer fun even when only edge planing.  I just never could get my irons as sharp as I needed. I was using old oil stones and sharpening mostly by eye and feel.  I could never seem to get it right.

I brought home a Tormek and things were getting a little better.  I could put a good edge on my chisels and plane, but still never got hem as sharp as I thougt they should be.  And, I never seemed to get the edges square, and certainly the squareness, or lack there of, never seemed to match the last time I had sharpened.  And, it seemed to take forever to get to a fine edge.

I messed around with several types of stones and grinders, spent lots of $$$ but never seemed to get the edges as sharp as needed for hardwoods.  I have finally settled on a set of diamond stones for the start of a sharpening session.  I finish off with Arkansas hard and translucent using thin oil thru out.  At first, i was ding the diamond sharpening with water, but after seeing a lot of rust when unable to get out side in winter to do a good job of cleaning, i went back to using oil on both the diamond stones and the Arkansas.  Not, i leave a bucket of kerosene out in the barn, if i can't get out to clean the stones right away, no big deal.  I can still sharpen a needed and the tones are never rusty.  It is an easy job to clean the stones and the diamond stones are very quick on the honing operation.

AND, i am getting much better edges than ever.  I did try a Japanese water stone, but don't care for having to flatten them after very few uses.  I like the way the damond stones will stay flat for ... well, I have done a lot of sharpening with the four grit set, and they still do the job as quick as ever and show no signs of wear.  As others have mentioned, it is important to touch up often.  Once I learned that truth, i seldom have to go to the coarser grits on the diamond stones.  In fact, often, all that is needed is a quick touch up with the Arkansas stones.  I also have a Norton oil stone i found in my dad's goodies that works real well for quick touching up. 
Tinker

 

[mouppe]

That Lie Nielsen low angle jack is probably my most used plane. I use it for flattening large surfaces, as a scrub plane (with a toothed blade), on my shooting board, and for low angle work. The only snag is it can be a little tricky to laterally adjust, so it helps if you have a light hammer to tap it.

You'll love it, and the honing guide.

Oh, and I have the exact same screwdriver. Let the naysayers come back to you when your cap iron screw is still in top shape after 20 years!

 

[jacko9]

Added these to the stable earlier this week;



A #62, a #60 1/2 and chip breaker driver. I noted the above on a UK forum and bizarrely the conversation was all about the driver being extravagant????

Not had chance to fully test drive the #62 but the block plane is just sheer joy to use. Whilst I am still reeling from the cost of my recent splurge I can't help feeling I should have done this ages ago. I should have a Veritas Mk2 guide coming through the letterbox in the next few days but haven't committed to abrasive films or new stones yet.

You'll love the Veritas MkII guide it really saves a lot of work to be able to get back to the correct bevel angle time after time.  Japanese water stones have evolved over the years from the early King stones that were pretty soft and needed flattening a lot to the newer stones like Shapton Glass or Nubatama Ume xxhard which retain their flatness for a long time.  I also have the Atoma 140 diamond flattening plate which allows me to get my stones back into flatness after a lot of use.

Using hand tools chisels or hand planes with a sharp edge is a joy and sure makes your finished project look a lot more professional.

Jack

 

[Tinker]

I forgot to mention in my last post that i am also using the Veritas guides.  I haven't committed to either the I or the II yet.  i use both cording to the situation.  do like the II when I want t put a relief at he edges of the plane irons. I agree that the same bevel can be made repeatedly.
Tinker

 

[Bohdan]

Also looked at the Worksharp however all the demo videos show huge amounts of deflection on the wheel which seems counter intuitive when talking about precision bevels.

I have the worksharp and can't understand how a glass wheel can deflect. They also supply a perforated plastic wheel but I only use it go shape the blade angle with very course grit. It does deflect but I never use it for precision bevels.

Could you provide a link to these demo videos which show deflection.

Bohdan, the video I saw is on You Tube and I think one of their own, the one where they show their rep demoing the device to woodworkers who then go on to have go. Anyhow the deflection was not in the flatness of the disc (as I'm aware it is glass) but the whole spindle assembly moves up and down. Given that this will affect the angle of the cut I assume it affects the results (albeit slight) but this didn't sit well with me watching a vendors video showing that much movement on a machine described as precision.

The link is here;



and you can see it at 53, 3.56, 4.41, 5.50, 8.05 and 8.42.

I know there are lots of happy Work Sharp users out there but  not sure I was convinced by the vid.

Had a look at the video and yes the wheel appears to bounce up and down. I don't think that this will affect the angle as it is just the wheel shaft moving up in the bearings and the grinding angle is fixed by the blade support.

Reconditioned an old plane today and noticed that there was no movement in my Worksharp so I think that the video was done with a machine that had been used for lots of demos and the bearings were worn.

My main gripe with the machine is that there are only two glass wheels supplied with it.
if you are starting with a really damaged blade I would prefer to use more intermediate grit grades to do the rough grinding quicker.