Thank you for this video. I am a novice guitar builder and enjoy hand tools more than power tools in making them. I realize I need to learn about planes and other hand tools and your video was extremely helpful to me.
A very informative video, especially for someone like me who is just starting out. Thank you for your generosity in freely sharing your experience. It is a pleasure to watch a video by someone as articulate as yourself. I eagerly look forward to watching more of your videos. Cheers Wayne
I really appreciate the disclaimer at the end. I've gotten very turned off by woodworkers trying to sell me things. It makes it harder to discern if I'm getting good information or just a sales pitch.
Spot on--the appropriate steps for a quality plane, clealy demonstrated--and a smoother presentation than my youtube on the same topic a few weeks earlier, when I was still pretty incensed about the article. Thanks for speaking up on this. Prostheta: laying planes on their side vs. w/sole on the bench, vs. on a stick vs. on fluffy shavings vs. on a down pillow is a matter of what fits your environment, work habits, and preferences; they can all work fine, none has any moral high ground;)
I was super excited when this video started. I have old "garage sale" planes (hand-me-downs, in my case) and wanted to learn how to set them up, as you said you had done 100s of times. So, you can imagine I was a little disappointed when, instead, you just pulled a new premium plane out of the box and set it up. This video was like a "best case scenario of plane setup"-everything is pretty much perfect and only needed minimal adjustments. I'd love to see this same process, but with an old no-name jack plane that needed it's sole flattened, the chipbreaker set, an old iron tuned, etc.
Hi dough, this is 2 years late, but maybe it still helps. There is a video on CZcams by Paul Sellers called restoring the bench plane. He restores an old Rusty one, sharpens, sets it up and explains along the way how it works. I followed it last weekend. Had a blast. Now I get some pretty nice shavings! I could do with getting more practiced at the sharpening aspect I think. But practice is normal to get better haha, the first result was still pretty good. As a first time user that video worked great for me! P.s. I bet you'll love the rest of his tutorials too
True. I baby my tools especially after the effort of sharpening and a full setup. Generally I end up working in shared workspace where erring on the side of caution is just appropriate.
Hi Christopher. Thank you for this very informative video. I would like to know if the frog has to be moved to from closer to the mouth or 3-4 mm from the mouth is ok ? I hope this question makes sense as I just have began using hand planes
Christopher as usual an informative video, thank you. One question. Using a side fence honing jig, whether eclipse style or the Veritas II which I mainly use, how does one go about sharpening a blade square when the sides of the blade are tapered? So that if the sides are locked against the side fence in the jig as usual it will render the blade edge such that it is no longer perpendicular to the center-line of the blade to be honed? Thanks again
Would like a continuous close up video of the iron to see what you were talking about.... am visual learner... didn’t understand which side was being sharpened etc as couldn’t see it... a continuous close up video would have done so. Good information though.
I've owned vintage Stanley hand planes for years. I recently bought a No. 5 1/2 and No.4 premium planes but can't get the lever cap to stay locked down when I run the blade through it's full cycle. I've taken them both to the point of being too tight to adjust the blade depth - being too loose to hold the cap and iron. When they came I could not remove the lever caps by hand. I had to loosen the screws before that was possible. I can't understand tightening them so tight, I think it damaged something. Yeah, I'm going to call them after the holidays but it is such a pain when you spend that much time saving up for them and now I'll have to mickey mouse around with sending them back across the country. I've never had these problems with the vintage planes but I still second guess myself. So, I guess this is just a rant.
The most important bit: never, no matter the type of the metal plane, try to adjust the iron using the knob or the lateral position lever on a new plane as the tightening screw at the front is almost certainly set too tight. Thanks for the video!
Awesome video!! Ive watched you on the Woodwright Shop. You and Roy Underhill have a great dynamic. I am new to traditional woodworking and want to build a Roubo style workbench. Do you have the plans for your bench?!? Thanks!!!!
Ladson Poole : You may be interested in a book written by Chris entitled "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use", the revised edition, and published by Popular Wood Woodworking Books. Absolutely PACKED with info that will help you in the building of any style of bench. Good luck.
M. Schwarz, What about tuning up the chipbreaker, according to David Charlesworth's advice that even the chipbreakers on premium handplanes (Lie-Nielsen, Veritas) need a little work. I honed the bevel and polished the back of the chipbreaker, and did experience a not insignificant improvement in performance.
I currently study in a large shared shop so I have little control over the environment I am afraid. The same thing applies in that I expect only the worst of any work surface and compensate accordingly. On the plus side, it does mean there is always scrap to hand for propping up planes! I really should make the time to build a luthier's bench based on a split Roubo. Again, thanks go to Chris on this score also!
Excellent video Christopher, thank you! I have to say that I winced every time you put the plane down onto its sole after being set up. Am I being over-sensitive with my own planes by obsessively laying then on a side or propped whilst the iron is advanced for use?
I have an old Stanley No. 4 SB. It has two thumb screws and raise and lower the blade, but it does not seem to have a chip breaker. Am I missing a part? The chatter is unbearable and unless the blade is almost fully retracted I can't get it to shave off a nice slide. Am I doing something wrong? Please advise. Thanks.
Its a piece of old crap and has no chip breaker just a cap iron .Pass it off to someone who doesnt care about quality or refine it to be a scrub plane .Its useless as a quality smoother.
I'm in the process of looking for my first hand planes, and it's been a little confusing to me why they need to be sharpened before it's ever been used?
i recently bought a new stanley and its crap compared to my dads as it gets stuck fairly often and glides as well as being incredibly rough on the bottom. how could i approach this?
It's made to cut wood. He's setting it on wood. It's only a problem if your bench has paint, metal shavings, and other crap on it. It just really depends on your work environment and what you're doing at the time. That being said, I like to set mine on it's side just so it doesn't mess with the set up of the blade and change it's angle.
If the blade is not locked down on the frog with the lever cap so tight as to allow blade adjustment without loosening the cap, how is it tight enough to plane the wood without being moved back up the frog? IOW how can you adjust the blade depth without loosening the lever cap?
***** The mechanism to change the blade depth involves leverage from the screw, so it's like pushing 10-20 times as hard as the pressure you use to turn the depth adjustment knob. You won't get nearly enough pressure when planing to back up that screw. My high school physics is rusty, but I also think any friction on the screw will be magnified, so it would likely take 50-100x as much forward pressure to cause the screw to "unwind".
As I believe I commented earlier, I would also think the yoke acts as a lever with the fulcrum much closer to where it contacts the blade than where it is moved by the adjusting nut. Perhaps that is why many recommend when adjusting blade depth to leave the nut on the forward movement so it is pressing against the blade. However, if you can still move the blade from side to side over the frog how tight can it be ? But, again, that lever also is operated with the fulcrum much closer to the blade than to where you are holding it so the advantage of leverage makes it seem much easier to move the blade side to side than it actually is.
After buying a Veritas smooting plane, the first impression was ... OK it's better then my old 15$ plane. But after watching this video and properly sharpening the iron I'm impressed. A whole other story.
When I was at school (30 odd years ago) our woodwork teacher, 'Wonky' Allen, had a specially prepared piece if 1/2" square baton about a metre long which was nice and flexy. If you put a plane down flat on a bench like you did, you got bent over the nearest bench and Wonk would flick his stick sharpside to your arse. It didn't half sting. He was called Wonky coz he had a wonky nose from playing rugby for Gloucester in his younger days. He wasn't a small man!
i bought a plane recently for 3 dollars it has no manufacurer name but does say made in usa any ideas of what maker it could be the thrift store owner didnt even know what it was.
Call me stupid but the chip breaker ghost on the flat part of the blade not the beveled side... The beveled side goes down so it's underneath at the mouth correct? I just bought a cheap Harbor Freight plane a number 4 and the thing was in pieces in the box with no instructions for assembly I understand how to sharpen the blade which I had to regrind then rehone had no edge whatsoever I've got the blade sharp but I'm not sure about how it goes into the tool any help on this would be greatly appreciated
when you ask about why you can see the scratches better when you only put pressure on the push and not on the pull it s because even if you move you lade half a thou over the width of the stone every line will move
redneek24 you have to sharpen any plane.no matter what you paid for the plane. If you a interested in why you spend 400$ for that. check out a restoring of an old stanley. and then you know why. but also the way of producing is excellent : check out lie nielsen open toolworks
+terrortorn well I got that bit of advice from a time served joiner who would not always have had a handy nice clean wooden bench to hand, think building site. it's a general rule which guarantees you don't plonk your nice plane down on a nail or a concrete floor.
I’m interested in old/antique furniture and looking at the fit and fix of said furniture I never cease to wonder what’s this obsession with going over the top with tools. 1000 and 8000 grit stones when you’re actually working to no better than several 100ths in your cut and fit especially with hand tools. He sharpens to 1000, polishes to 8000 and then puts a curve on the edge by guesswork that he calls “experience” BUT STILL GUESSWORK. Nothing more than 400 needed on hand tools any more is nothing more than elitism and bragging.
Having watched a few of Paul Seller's videos, I'm inclined to agree. He, in fact, argues that anything more than 250 grit is probably needless. For my money, my current sharpening "system" is a set of diamond stones that run to 600 grit. My tools still cut nicely. Waxing or oiling your planes' soles makes a fairly dramatic difference though.
Sorry but id have to disagree, after only sharpening to around 400 on my oil stone for a long time i gave the wet and dry method a go and il tell you now the difference is outstanding, i will always carry on with this method as i doubt there is anything better as ive tried all ways before it, every type of stone, compound ect. i only sharpen to 800 grit even though i have up to 2500 grit paper but i dont feel the need, for parring with a chisel i need to use next to no pressure at all, and i mean a baby could push on it and get an amazing glassy finish like i do, the same goes for my planes, i use old vintage stanley, bailey and record planes and i could feel the difference straight away on all my tools, rough cuts with my 5 1/2 stanley jack plane are now as easy as pushing the plane without the iron being in, its just amazingly easy to use, the same goes for all my tools i sharpen this way now, this method even makes using a cheap no name block plane a dream, its a standard angle one and yet it does brilliantly with really dense end grain on hardwoods. I think you should give it a try before you knock it, youll be plesantly suprised just going to 600 or 800 imho. All the best, Dan.
Also, the higher grit is not to achieve more flatness but to achieve more sharpness, i.e. using smaller abrasive particles to scratch smaller bits off the edge of the iron, creating a smoother and therefore thinner leading edge. The camber (straightness or curvyness of the iron or edge) and sharpness (microscopic fineness through smoothness of cutting edge) are two separate things. A knife with a curved edge, a sickle or a carving gouge can (and should) be as sharp as a straight edged knife or a chisel. You don't need your cheek to be precision flat but you still shave with a sharp razor - not because you want it flat, but because you want it smooth (a "close shave"). The point is sharper irons are less effort to cut with. They have less resistance in the wood and less tear-out because they sever/cut/shave rather than push/crush/splinter the fibers on a microscopic level. That's the reason why they create smoother finishes, not because they're flatter. That's how I understand it, anyway.
What's a "soft arkensaw"? That's why I told Paul Sellers to not bother with US exceptional terms for things that only they use and none of the rest of the English speaking world use, because they never, ever do that for the rest of us in their videos.
Watch him on the 1000 stone run the iron down the edge (taking the flat off the stone) see the colour of the water change. Then he puts the guide on and continues to put the stone out of flat by applying more pressure to the outer edges of the iron see the colour of the water, stone even more out of flat so what’s the sense of working to 1000’ and 8000s when the stone is out of flat by tens of 1000's? A little of what he said I liked but sorry a lot of what he was saying was just pure pish for tool fetishists.
Darryl Adams Ok as simple as this for one I never PUSH and pull any of my cutting edges on the stones, I only pull, or draw as it is commonly called. I have two “dragon’s tongues” (they are Welsh slate) sharpening stones one is two inches the other is three inches wide both about ten inches long, I also have a couple of diamond plates aprox six by two inches these if I remember are 400 and 600. The three inch wide stone I use curiously enough for the wider irons and my open razors as they are also about three inches long in the blade the two inch stone is for the narrower blades. Diamond plates are almost impossible to rub out of flat so any flattening of irons as he does in the beginning or when applying a “secondary” bevel as at 8.15 or sharpening narrower blades like chisels are all done on the plates. I always draw the blades the full length of the stone and never use short sharp movements like he is using in this video all short rubs achieve is taking your stone out of flat faster. I do not apply a lot of downward pressure on the cutting edges when drawing them over the stones it is more of a stroking action, once you have a good edge on your blade it does not take a lot of effort to keep it there. If my stone is wider that the blade I am sharpening I will draw say first down the left of the stone and then the right then the left then the right alternating on each draw this keeps the stone flatter longer so prolonging the time between having to re-flatten the stone. Hope this helps
All of this is achievable with a 35 dollar Stanley. If you cant work with what you have your not woodworking. Not to mention if I spend 400 bucks on a plane I dont want to have to touch a single thing. Sorry I just see no need to spend that much on something you can get with a little love to your current tools
And please, tell me what you'll do when it's dull... you'll have to sharpen the iron multiples times when working with high sillica wood. what does it change to sharpen and flatten it when you receive it ?
No, it is highly unlikely that "all this is achievable with a 35 dollar Stanley." If you want to put $350 of labor into it, have at it. You will still have a blade, that no matter how sharp you get it, will not retain its edge anywhere near a LN or other expensive planes.
This is not a good video on the subject at all.He should have checked the squareness of sides to sole for shuteing,also he should have checked the mouth,and he never showed anyone how to set up anything .This video was completely a misnomer .
Thank you for this video. I am a novice guitar builder and enjoy hand tools more than power tools in making them. I realize I need to learn about planes and other hand tools and your video was extremely helpful to me.
A very informative video, especially for someone like me who is just starting out. Thank you for your generosity in freely sharing your experience. It is a pleasure to watch a video by someone as articulate as yourself. I eagerly look forward to watching more of your videos.
Cheers
Wayne
I really appreciate the disclaimer at the end. I've gotten very turned off by woodworkers trying to sell me things. It makes it harder to discern if I'm getting good information or just a sales pitch.
Thanks for posting this! Great information!
Superb video, mister Schwarz. thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the advice it was very helpful as I am a bit of a beginner.
Regards
Spot on--the appropriate steps for a quality plane, clealy demonstrated--and a smoother presentation than my youtube on the same topic a few weeks earlier, when I was still pretty incensed about the article. Thanks for speaking up on this.
Prostheta: laying planes on their side vs. w/sole on the bench, vs. on a stick vs. on fluffy shavings vs. on a down pillow is a matter of what fits your environment, work habits, and preferences; they can all work fine, none has any moral high ground;)
I was super excited when this video started. I have old "garage sale" planes (hand-me-downs, in my case) and wanted to learn how to set them up, as you said you had done 100s of times. So, you can imagine I was a little disappointed when, instead, you just pulled a new premium plane out of the box and set it up. This video was like a "best case scenario of plane setup"-everything is pretty much perfect and only needed minimal adjustments. I'd love to see this same process, but with an old no-name jack plane that needed it's sole flattened, the chipbreaker set, an old iron tuned, etc.
Hi dough, this is 2 years late, but maybe it still helps. There is a video on CZcams by Paul Sellers called restoring the bench plane. He restores an old Rusty one, sharpens, sets it up and explains along the way how it works. I followed it last weekend. Had a blast. Now I get some pretty nice shavings! I could do with getting more practiced at the sharpening aspect I think. But practice is normal to get better haha, the first result was still pretty good. As a first time user that video worked great for me! P.s. I bet you'll love the rest of his tutorials too
@@danielh12345 Never too late on the Internet! Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate the pointer and I will check it out.
Wonderfully done and executed. Bravo.
Thanks for another great lesson, now I've got at least 5 planes that need my attention.
Very informative. Thank you.
True. I baby my tools especially after the effort of sharpening and a full setup. Generally I end up working in shared workspace where erring on the side of caution is just appropriate.
Hi Christopher. Thank you for this very informative video. I would like to know if the frog has to be moved to from closer to the mouth or 3-4 mm from the mouth is ok ? I hope this question makes sense as I just have began using hand planes
Thanks Chris.
Christopher as usual an informative video, thank you. One question. Using a side fence honing jig, whether eclipse style or the Veritas II which I mainly use, how does one go about sharpening a blade square when the sides of the blade are tapered? So that if the sides are locked against the side fence in the jig as usual it will render the blade edge such that it is no longer perpendicular to the center-line of the blade to be honed? Thanks again
Thanks. Learned something new.
a lots of information thanks ,
Are Woodriver plane’s considered premium? Just curious if it requires more set up out of the box compared to LN or Veritas planes.
I hv read that Wood River planes are middle of the road. Good quality, but not top of the line.
Would like a continuous close up video of the iron to see what you were talking about.... am visual learner... didn’t understand which side was being sharpened etc as couldn’t see it... a continuous close up video would have done so. Good information though.
Does anyone have suggestions for a plane manufacturer? Are the new Stanley's good? How about woodriver, veritas, or Lie Nielsen? Which is best?
I have some old hand plane's I would to set up. I am depending on this info you give ...
Thanks for help
I've owned vintage Stanley hand planes for years. I recently bought a No. 5 1/2 and No.4 premium planes but can't get the lever cap to stay locked down when I run the blade through it's full cycle. I've taken them both to the point of being too tight to adjust the blade depth - being too loose to hold the cap and iron. When they came I could not remove the lever caps by hand. I had to loosen the screws before that was possible.
I can't understand tightening them so tight, I think it damaged something. Yeah, I'm going to call them after the holidays but it is such a pain when you spend that much time saving up for them and now I'll have to mickey mouse around with sending them back across the country. I've never had these problems with the vintage planes but I still second guess myself.
So, I guess this is just a rant.
The most important bit: never, no matter the type of the metal plane, try to adjust the iron using the knob or the lateral position lever on a new plane as the tightening screw at the front is almost certainly set too tight.
Thanks for the video!
Awesome video!! Ive watched you on the Woodwright Shop. You and Roy Underhill have a great dynamic. I am new to traditional woodworking and want to build a Roubo style workbench. Do you have the plans for your bench?!?
Thanks!!!!
Ladson Poole : You may be interested in a book written by Chris entitled "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use", the revised edition, and published by Popular Wood Woodworking Books. Absolutely PACKED with info that will help you in the building of any style of bench. Good luck.
M. Schwarz,
What about tuning up the chipbreaker, according to David Charlesworth's advice that even the chipbreakers on premium handplanes (Lie-Nielsen, Veritas) need a little work. I honed the bevel and polished the back of the chipbreaker, and did experience a not insignificant improvement in performance.
I currently study in a large shared shop so I have little control over the environment I am afraid. The same thing applies in that I expect only the worst of any work surface and compensate accordingly. On the plus side, it does mean there is always scrap to hand for propping up planes! I really should make the time to build a luthier's bench based on a split Roubo. Again, thanks go to Chris on this score also!
Excellent video Christopher, thank you! I have to say that I winced every time you put the plane down onto its sole after being set up. Am I being over-sensitive with my own planes by obsessively laying then on a side or propped whilst the iron is advanced for use?
I have an old Stanley No. 4 SB. It has two thumb screws and raise and lower the blade, but it does not seem to have a chip breaker. Am I missing a part? The chatter is unbearable and unless the blade is almost fully retracted I can't get it to shave off a nice slide. Am I doing something wrong? Please advise. Thanks.
Its a piece of old crap and has no chip breaker just a cap iron .Pass it off to someone who doesnt care about quality or refine it to be a scrub plane .Its useless as a quality smoother.
I'm in the process of looking for my first hand planes, and it's been a little confusing to me why they need to be sharpened before it's ever been used?
it most likely just isn't sharp enough from production.
thanks
i recently bought a new stanley and its crap compared to my dads as it gets stuck fairly often and glides as well as being incredibly rough on the bottom. how could i approach this?
Lewis Conboy sharpen it
I have an old plane with no markings on it, along with that the knife is missing. How do I find a new one and set it up?
Stanley style is commun. Try a Stanley use one
It's made to cut wood. He's setting it on wood. It's only a problem if your bench has paint, metal shavings, and other crap on it. It just really depends on your work environment and what you're doing at the time. That being said, I like to set mine on it's side just so it doesn't mess with the set up of the blade and change it's angle.
Is it necessary to take all planes apart? I bought one today (which had no instructions) and tried to use it. It was shite..didn't work..
Thanks Scott :-)
Seems like he is a nice guy.
Nice to know the Plane was borrowed , he should of charged lie Nelsen for the advertising.
Lie Nielsen must be tight bastards wanting the plane back! They couldn't get better advertisement than this!
Denise Gaul Consider myself told then! :)
If the blade is not locked down on the frog with the lever cap so tight as to allow blade adjustment without loosening the cap, how is it tight enough to plane the wood without being moved back up the frog? IOW how can you adjust the blade depth without loosening the lever cap?
***** The mechanism to change the blade depth involves leverage from the screw, so it's like pushing 10-20 times as hard as the pressure you use to turn the depth adjustment knob. You won't get nearly enough pressure when planing to back up that screw. My high school physics is rusty, but I also think any friction on the screw will be magnified, so it would likely take 50-100x as much forward pressure to cause the screw to "unwind".
As I believe I commented earlier, I would also think the yoke acts as a lever with the fulcrum much closer to where it contacts the blade than where it is moved by the adjusting nut. Perhaps that is why many recommend when adjusting blade depth to leave the nut on the forward movement so it is pressing against the blade. However, if you can still move the blade from side to side over the frog how tight can it be ? But, again, that lever also is operated with the fulcrum much closer to the blade than to where you are holding it so the advantage of leverage makes it seem much easier to move the blade side to side than it actually is.
After buying a Veritas smooting plane, the first impression was ... OK it's better then my old 15$ plane. But after watching this video and properly sharpening the iron I'm impressed. A whole other story.
Do you bring your jointer plane everywhere just to show it off
When I was at school (30 odd years ago) our woodwork teacher, 'Wonky' Allen, had a specially prepared piece if 1/2" square baton about a metre long which was nice and flexy. If you put a plane down flat on a bench like you did, you got bent over the nearest bench and Wonk would flick his stick sharpside to your arse. It didn't half sting. He was called Wonky coz he had a wonky nose from playing rugby for Gloucester in his younger days. He wasn't a small man!
i bought a plane recently for 3 dollars it has no manufacurer name but does say made in usa any ideas of what maker it could be the thrift store owner didnt even know what it was.
Probably a woodworking plane but made in the US of A, as opposed to the US of K?
Call me stupid but the chip breaker ghost on the flat part of the blade not the beveled side... The beveled side goes down so it's underneath at the mouth correct? I just bought a cheap Harbor Freight plane a number 4 and the thing was in pieces in the box with no instructions for assembly I understand how to sharpen the blade which I had to regrind then rehone had no edge whatsoever I've got the blade sharp but I'm not sure about how it goes into the tool any help on this would be greatly appreciated
+izzynutz2000 there are different types bevel down and bevel up another good site to watch about hand tools and planes in Paul Sellers
when you ask about why you can see the scratches better when you only put pressure on the push and not on the pull it s because even if you move you lade half a thou over the width of the stone every line will move
good to know, I thought it was 25 degrees
They should let you keep it
So... essentially you just sharpened the iron.
So if I spend almost $400 on a plane, I still need to do all this. Thanks, saved me almost $400.
redneek24 you have to sharpen any plane.no matter what you paid for the plane. If you a interested in why you spend 400$ for that. check out a restoring of an old stanley. and then you know why. but also the way of producing is excellent : check out lie nielsen open toolworks
Why does everyone who sharpens always have some weird bullshit process
Dude needs to get a room with this thing. Jesus.
Lay your planes on the side when not in use - that way the blade doesn't get damaged by whatever crap you have lying around on your bench.
+deemdoubleu The bench is made of wood. lay them down onto the wood.
+terrortorn well I got that bit of advice from a time served joiner who would not always have had a handy nice clean wooden bench to hand, think building site. it's a general rule which guarantees you don't plonk your nice plane down on a nail or a concrete floor.
+deemdoubleu You don't expose a razor sharp edge. If you have poor facilities you compromise but it isn't a rule.
+deemdoubleu or put a thin piece of wood under the nose to keep the edge off of the bench and not exposed to things being moved around on the bench
I’m interested in old/antique furniture and looking at the fit and fix of said furniture I never cease to wonder what’s this obsession with going over the top with tools.
1000 and 8000 grit stones when you’re actually working to no better than several 100ths in your cut and fit especially with hand tools.
He sharpens to 1000, polishes to 8000 and then puts a curve on the edge by guesswork that he calls “experience” BUT STILL GUESSWORK.
Nothing more than 400 needed on hand tools any more is nothing more than elitism and bragging.
Having watched a few of Paul Seller's videos, I'm inclined to agree. He, in fact, argues that anything more than 250 grit is probably needless.
For my money, my current sharpening "system" is a set of diamond stones that run to 600 grit. My tools still cut nicely. Waxing or oiling your planes' soles makes a fairly dramatic difference though.
Sorry but id have to disagree, after only sharpening to around 400 on my oil stone for a long time i gave the wet and dry method a go and il tell you now the difference is outstanding, i will always carry on with this method as i doubt there is anything better as ive tried all ways before it, every type of stone, compound ect.
i only sharpen to 800 grit even though i have up to 2500 grit paper but i dont feel the need, for parring with a chisel i need to use next to no pressure at all, and i mean a baby could push on it and get an amazing glassy finish like i do, the same goes for my planes, i use old vintage stanley, bailey and record planes and i could feel the difference straight away on all my tools, rough cuts with my 5 1/2 stanley jack plane are now as easy as pushing the plane without the iron being in, its just amazingly easy to use, the same goes for all my tools i sharpen this way now, this method even makes using a cheap no name block plane a dream, its a standard angle one and yet it does brilliantly with really dense end grain on hardwoods.
I think you should give it a try before you knock it, youll be plesantly suprised just going to 600 or 800 imho.
All the best, Dan.
He was using waterstones, which do not run on the same grit system as sandpaper. 1000 waterstone = 700 paper grit, 8000 waterstone = 1500 paper grit.
Also, the higher grit is not to achieve more flatness but to achieve more sharpness, i.e. using smaller abrasive particles to scratch smaller bits off the edge of the iron, creating a smoother and therefore thinner leading edge.
The camber (straightness or curvyness of the iron or edge) and sharpness (microscopic fineness through smoothness of cutting edge) are two separate things. A knife with a curved edge, a sickle or a carving gouge can (and should) be as sharp as a straight edged knife or a chisel.
You don't need your cheek to be precision flat but you still shave with a sharp razor - not because you want it flat, but because you want it smooth (a "close shave"). The point is sharper irons are less effort to cut with. They have less resistance in the wood and less tear-out because they sever/cut/shave rather than push/crush/splinter the fibers on a microscopic level. That's the reason why they create smoother finishes, not because they're flatter.
That's how I understand it, anyway.
What's a "soft arkensaw"?
That's why I told Paul Sellers to not bother with US exceptional terms for things that only they use and none of the rest of the English speaking world use, because they never, ever do that for the rest of us in their videos.
fine oil stones they use for Knifes sharpening arkansas stones.
Watch him on the 1000 stone run the iron down the edge (taking the flat off the stone) see the colour of the water change.
Then he puts the guide on and continues to put the stone out of flat by applying more pressure to the outer edges of the iron see the colour of the water, stone even more out of flat so what’s the sense of working to 1000’ and 8000s when the stone is out of flat by tens of 1000's?
A little of what he said I liked but sorry a lot of what he was saying was just pure pish for tool fetishists.
cupiddstunt Could you be more clear about how you would do it differently? That might actually help me out.
Darryl Adams Ok as simple as this for one I never PUSH and pull any of my cutting edges on the stones, I only pull, or draw as it is commonly called.
I have two “dragon’s tongues” (they are Welsh slate) sharpening stones one is two inches the other is three inches wide both about ten inches long, I also have a couple of diamond plates aprox six by two inches these if I remember are 400 and 600.
The three inch wide stone I use curiously enough for the wider irons and my open razors as they are also about three inches long in the blade the two inch stone is for the narrower blades.
Diamond plates are almost impossible to rub out of flat so any flattening of irons as he does in the beginning or when applying a “secondary” bevel as at 8.15 or sharpening narrower blades like chisels are all done on the plates.
I always draw the blades the full length of the stone and never use short sharp movements like he is using in this video all short rubs achieve is taking your stone out of flat faster. I do not apply a lot of downward pressure on the cutting edges when drawing them over the stones it is more of a stroking action, once you have a good edge on your blade it does not take a lot of effort to keep it there.
If my stone is wider that the blade I am sharpening I will draw say first down the left of the stone and then the right then the left then the right alternating on each draw this keeps the stone flatter longer so prolonging the time between having to re-flatten the stone.
Hope this helps
Too bad your videos didn’t have any close-up of anything you did so we could see it!👎👎👎
All of this is achievable with a 35 dollar Stanley. If you cant work with what you have your not woodworking. Not to mention if I spend 400 bucks on a plane I dont want to have to touch a single thing. Sorry I just see no need to spend that much on something you can get with a little love to your current tools
And please, tell me what you'll do when it's dull... you'll have to sharpen the iron multiples times when working with high sillica wood. what does it change to sharpen and flatten it when you receive it ?
No, it is highly unlikely that "all this is achievable with a 35 dollar Stanley." If you want to put $350 of labor into it, have at it. You will still have a blade, that no matter how sharp you get it, will not retain its edge anywhere near a LN or other expensive planes.
This is not a good video on the subject at all.He should have checked the squareness of sides to sole for shuteing,also he should have checked the mouth,and he never showed anyone how to set up anything .This video was completely a misnomer .
the point was when you spend the cash for these planes you don't have to.