Sharpening 101

[silentC]

I received the remainder of my course materials in the mail tonight, to wit: two King brand waterstones of 800 and 4000 grit respectively. I already had a 1200 grit waterstone and a budget roller sharpening guide.

For my first practical, I selected the cutting iron from my Stanley #78 Duplex fillester & rabbet plane. This is an odd shaped blade and my first observation was that it does not lend itself to the use of the sharpening guide.

Putting this problem to one side for a moment, I turned my attention to the back of the blade. It is badly pitted in one corner and not flat. The blade has a slot that runs through the middle section and I believe that a combination of the weakness of the blade at this point and the pressure of the cap iron has caused the steel to deform. It's also possible that it came from the factory this way.

I loaded the 800 grit stone up with water and proceeded to lap the blade. After about half an hour, I was getting nowhere fast. Looking at the back of the blade, I could see that there was a large high spot in the middle just behind the cutting edge. This was evident from an elliptical grey patch forming on the surface of the metal.

Deciding this was going to take a long time at this rate, I decided to attack it the scary sharp way first. I dug out a sheet of wet and dry, puddled some water on my ersatz lapping plate (marble chopping board), and slapped the sheet onto it. I worked away at the blade until the surface was shiny, although the pitting remained in one corner.

I took the blade back to the waterstone and after a few minutes, the first thing I noticed was that, although the high spot was gone, the perimeter of the blade remained shiny. This leads me to believe that the scary-sharp-style lapping had curved the edges.

After another half an hour of this, I was getting closer but there is still a shiny spot in one corner around the pitted area. By then it was 7:00pm and school was well and truly over for the day.

My questions are:

1. Does anybody else bother trying to flatten the back of the iron like this?
2. Is there a more efficient way, or is it just one of those things that takes forever?
3. What do you make of the shiny edges after going back to the waterstone from the scary-sharp?

Phil from MIK says that he uses an 800 grit waterstone for grinding (ie. he does not use a grinder at all). All I can say is that he must have a lot of time on his hands.

[Wood Borer]

Silent,

You are correct in that it will take a long time to flatten something that isn't flat already.

Just make sure the stone is flat though because you are only making the blade the same shape as the stone (I guess in reality there is a compromise between the blade shaping the stone and the stone shaping the blade). You may need to flatten the stone - I use a diamond plate for this purpose after Derek alerted me to this method.

Once the blade is flat though, you won't have to flatten it again until you open more paint tins, or damage it in some other way. :D

I have found the stones cut faster than diamonds.

Phil knows what he is talking about and he knows how to sharpen efficiently however the blades have to be flattened firstly. You could always be a bit slack and flatten it gradually over three of four sharpenings.

It sounds like the scary sharp and the stones are different profiles, perhaps neither of them are flat!

Keep at it, it is worth it in the long run.


- Wood Borer

[silentC]

WB,

Thanks. The waterstones are new, so I'm hoping they're fairly flat. I'm trying to make sure I cover the whole surface of the stone evenly so that it wears flat. I was planning on using one of those mesh sanding sheets to flatten it when the time comes but I'm concerned that it will make it convex like it did with the blade I was sharpening. Maybe I'll have to fork out for a diamond plate after all - was trying to avoid that due to the cost.

[Wood Borer]

Silent,

Use a flat piece of glass and some fine sand and water. A mate uses beach sand which he says is perfect and like you he lives near the sea. He takes his stones and glass down to the beach and does it there. His stones aren't water stones they are Arkansas stones but the same method will work.

Just wet the glass and sprinkle a bit of sand (use a salt shaker with enlarged holes) and then move the stone in circular patterns which will create a slurry. You will quickly see the high spots.

I bought the kit from MIK and sometimes use the grit supplied with the kit but mostly I use the diamond stone.

- Wood Borer

[silentC]

Now that is a brilliant idea. It's a bit cold down there at the moment, so I might just duck down and pinch a bucket or two and bring it back. Why didn't I think of that, surrounded by the bloody stuff :rolleyes:

[derekcohen]

Silent

It is important to flatten the back of the blade for two reasons:

(1) The first is obvious - to ensure that the bevel has two clean sides meeting (which is what makes for sharp).

(2) The second reason is less obvious - to make sure that the blade mates correctly/securely with the frog (otherwise you will end up with chattering).

I would scary sharp if there are such pronounced highs or lows on the blade. Start at about 80 grit and work up to the 800 waterstone. Otherwise you may be there forever.

Make sure the 800 stine has been soaking for at least 24 hours before use. Ditto the 1200. The 4000 only needs 20 minutes, or even just a sprinking.

Make sure the stones are FLAT. Use 220 wet and dry or, better still, 220 drywall mesh on a flat surface. Keep them flat with this or diamond stones afterwards.

I REALLY would resist using sand!!! You have no idea about ther consistency or grit you are using and will likely cause uneven wear.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[silentC]

I'll have you know that Pambula Beach sand is the finest and most consistent sand in Australia, if not the world!! ;)

I might still give it a go with something unimportant to see what happens. It really is very fine sand, similar to castor sugar. Maybe I can find a way of grading it.

The tricky thing with regard to flattening the back of the blade is that this is a bevel-down plane, so it really needs to be flat on both sides. The 'front' has serrations which engage with the height adjustment lever and this is the side that sits on the bed. I suppose it's equally important therefore that the two sides are parallel because the 'back' forms the cutting edge and the 'front' affects the cutting angle. The way my sharpening guide works, the back is the reference point for the setting of the bevel.

[AlexS]

Darren,
Waterstones don't go too much out of flat if you use the whole stone. I flatten mine about once a year, and I'm a sharpening maniac. I use 220 or 240 W&D on a piece of laminated particleboard. Haven't tried the drywall mesh.

I've heard of people flattening their stones by rubbing them on a concrete path, but think I'll pass on that one.

[Dean]

Now that is a brilliant idea. It's a bit cold down there at the moment, so I might just duck down and pinch a bucket or two and bring it back. Why didn't I think of that, surrounded by the bloody stuff :rolleyes:

PSSST do that at night... Word on the street is that pinching sand from beach is not so legal :p

[derekcohen]

Oh, one more thing about beach sand ...

I suspect that it contains salt ... And I supect that this might just have a reaction on steel.. called rust. :eek: Yes ... no ..?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[squizcat]

A nice clean new coarse carborundum stone works fine for flattening all water stones..
A tip I received and follow from a very old man in his sharpening stone shop in Tokyo. That's all he sells and probably all he has ever sold..

Cheers Matt..

[Caliban]

Dean
How could you infer that Darren would "steal"? :eek:
Shame on you. ;)
He's in the IT industry, he meant that he was going to recycle some silicon chips, grade it appropriately and later when it is used to being once again in its natural state, he is going to go down to the beach and release the rehabilitated sand into the wild. He is applying for a government grant to start a sand breeding program program for the endangered Pambula species which is now on the endangered species list.
He was only going down to the beach to get some breeding stock to maintain the biodiversity of the region.
As long as some Queenslander doesn't decide it is worth mining for rutile or something, he should be successful. :cool:

[davo453]

There is an article in the April (this year) edition of Fine woodworking magazine on water stones.

The guy there describes his method of using water stones, he flattens his stone after 100 strokes of the blade. I thought that excessive but I suppose removing a little at a time is better than spending an hour trying to rectify a gran canyon of a dip in your stone.

He uses wet and dry on a sheet of glass to flatten the stone.

Has anyone in Oz received the May edition of fine woodworking yet?

Cheers Dave

[silentC]

Dave, I've got that issue at home. It refers to chisels but I guess the same would apply to plane blades. I'll have to read it again.

All the rest, thanks for the advice. A few options to explore there. Alex, if you saw what passes for footpaths around my way, you'd understand why I agree with you on not trying it. We actually have people from Melbourne who've been here on holiday writing to our local paper complaining about the state of them. From Melbourne!!

Just on the salt, Derek is probably right. I suppose I could rinse it. The thing is that everything in my shed has a good layer of salt on it, so I don't think it would be adding too much to the mix. I barely manage to keep my jointer tables free from rust using UBeaut Traditional Wax and keeping it covered. Same goes for all the other machines.

I fight a loosing battle with everything else. It's amazing how quickly things go rusty if you don't pick them up and use them once a day. I lapped the sides of a plane the other day. I took it outside to show a mate and we watched it turn brown before our eyes. Scary.

[craigb]

Has anyone in Oz received the May edition of fine woodworking yet?

Cheers Dave

The last edition I got was two months ago and featured a plan for a chest, plus a review of belt sanders and an article on MDF along with much more stuff. Is this the edition you are referring to or do you mean the current issue that should be turning up any day now, I hope?

[Ian007]

Darren
I just saw that you are only 8 years old
please stop playing with sharp tools at once and go to your room!

stop!! the shed does not constitute your room.

Ian

[davo453]

Ok confusion over, the last mag I received was the June issue (the one you are referring to Craig). The April issue (which I thought was the last one I received) had been buried in a pile of mag's on the coffee table. I only found it last week totally unread D'oh !!

The June issue is now a well thumbed volume in the reading room (toilet)

Dave

[silentC]

Darren
I just saw that you are only 8 years old
please stop playing with sharp tools at once and go to your room!

stop!! the shed does not constitute your room.

Ian
Awww, but I'm going to be 9 next week. It's not fair, I never get to do anything :(

[derekcohen]

While I don't feel the need to flatten my waterstones between each chisel, I would check the stones after 2 or 3. Some stones wear more quickly than others (e.g. 800 vs 6000), and some brands are harder than others (e.g. Shaptons are much harder than King). All these factors influence the time between flattenings, as well as the medium one uses to flatten the stones. All stones are NOT the same.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Caliban]

The June issue is now a well thumbed volume in the reading room (toilet)

Dave

Does anyone else get into trouble for reading on the toilet?

[Wood Borer]

Does anyone else get into trouble for reading on the toilet?

No trouble unless I keep others waiting too long. I must build a book case in there one day so it looks tidy.

- Wood Borer

[bloggs1968]

He guys,

always an interesting topic.

Over the last 6 months I have upgraded a lot of my hand tools and have had to flatten and sharpen a lot. Tried scary sharp in the early days but graduated to jap waterstones. I am currently using King brand 800/1200/8000 followed by Veritas chromium oxide green stuff on a leather strop - this method is really "scary sharp" as any slip and something gets lopped off in the process.

As far as flattening goes, I have pretty much been using a similar method as outlined in FWW for many months now and find it to work well. I use a sheet of 360/400 grit WD on plate glass to flatten the stones. I tried Rob Cosmans' idea of using each stone to flatten the other but wasn't that happy.

I find if I am flattening the back of a chisel/plane iron, I am flattening the stone regularly - probably no more than 200 strokes on the stone. It is easy to see if this is necessary by using the FWW method of drawing on the stone in pencil and flattening it until it all disappears.

I recently purchased a DMT Duo sharp diamond stone with the coarse/extra fine as I had a bunch of new chisels to do and wanted to get them flat quickly. The DMT worked very fast for the first 1/2 doz chisels then really tapered off. I would not reccomend one of these stones. The extra fine 1200 grit side still seems ok but the 320 grit coarse side actually polishes the steel!

In search of the "holy grail" of quick flattening, I have ordered a 120 and 1000 grit Shapton stones and am looking forward to trying them out.

BTW, last night I was sharpening an old, newly acquired plane. The blade back was very convex and after about 15 minutes on the 800 King stone I thought stuff this and put the plane blade to some 120grit paper on float glass and the back was flat in less than 1 minute. It was eassy to then go back to the king stones and finsh off.

Hey Derek, do you have any shaptons and if so how do you find them?

regards,

Andrew

[derekcohen]

Hi Andrew

No, I've not used the Shaptons myself. Read a lot of very good things about them though. They come highly rated by Steve Knight (USA-based plane maker) and I'd like to get a set in the future. For now I am hanging in with my King stones (800, 1200, 4000, 6000) and finishing with Veritas green rouge. The more I use the King stones, the better they seem to cut. I guess that it is partly down to technique. This also parallels my increasing preference for sharpening without a jig, which not only seems to produce a sharper edge, but takes a fraction of the time.

Incidentally, use the green crayon on an offcut of MDF. Do not use it on leather since this is more likely to round over edges.

I think diamond stones are over-rated. I do own a few and my observations accord with many others. That is, they cut aggressively in the beginning, but then lose this and, while they may continue to cut for years, they remain best used for polishing only. DMT have written about this too.

In another thread I recently suggested going to SS to remove lots ofsteel quickly, rather than the waterstones. Start at about 80 grit.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[bloggs1968]

Thanks Derek,

I'll give the MDF a go with the veritas green.

When I get the Shaptons, I'll post a comparison between the two. I do like my king stones but I am moving to Tassie and sometimes the inside shop temp is below zero overnight.

I have heard that warestones left in water ( as I leave my 800/1200) in sub zero conditions do this funny expansion thing and become useless. I therefore decided to get the shaptons as even the coarser grits only require water at time of use rather than soaking. (which is why I tried the DMT as well).

regards,

ANdrew

[silentC]

Jeez Andrew, moving from Brisbane to Tasmania in one hit is a bit risky isn't it? Maybe you should move to Sydney first and then to Melbourne. Give all your tools (and yourself) a chance to acclimatise. ;)

I read the FWW article again last night. I've got some of those mesh sanding sheets, so I'll give that a go for flattening the stone.

Derek, when you're sharpening freehand, do you establish the angle first some how, or are you just winging it?

[Ben from Vic.]

Could someone tell me what the Shaptons are made of?
Ie. are they water stone, natural, man made, ceramic,etc?

Ta'

Ben.

[silentC]

Ceramic apparently: http://www.shaptonstones.com/stones/Professional-Series.php

[derekcohen]

when you're sharpening freehand, do you establish the angle first some how, or are you just winging it?

Andrew

While freehand sharpening produces a better edge for me, I continue to use a Verital jig (both the angle setter and blade guide) to establish the correct angle and get it all square. It is only once that is done that I go freehand. If I notice that the bevel is getting rounded or off square, then I return to the Veritas to re-establish it all.

Sharpening in an "8", "0", "///" and "\\\" direction helps keep the stones flat for as long as possible, but I always check as it is difficult to get a truly sharp edge otherwise.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[silentC]

Thanks Derek. You can call me Darren or SilentC if you like ;)

[Dan]

I have heard that warestones left in water ( as I leave my 800/1200) in sub zero conditions do this funny expansion thing and become useless.


I think if a waterstone is left out of the water and allowed to freeze it will crack. Same thing happens to normal rocks in nature.

[silentC]

I think if a waterstone is left out of the water and allowed to freeze it will crack. Same thing happens to normal rocks in nature.

The article I re-read last night says that if the temp in your workshop drops below freezing overnight not to leave your waterstones in water as they will shatter. He didn't really say what to do with them in that case. Maybe they need to be wrapped in something. Or you could take them into the house. Not a problem where I live. It gets cold but not that cold. :cool:

[bloggs1968]

Do you think the wife might comlplain if two semi wet waterstones were in the bed keeping warm?????

mmmm..............

Andrew

[silentC]

Do you think the wife might comlplain if two semi wet waterstones were in the bed keeping warm?????

mmmm..............

Andrew
I don't know. I'll let you know tomorrow morning :D

My wife sleeps with her golf clubs next to the bed. I'm not sure if it's because she's afraid someone will steal them, I will hide them, or because she feels safer having a blunt instrument close at hand :eek:.

[Wood Borer]

Wipe them on the curtains before you put them in the bed.

- Wood Borer

[DaveInOz]

You need to set up a tropical aquarium in the shed, all the beauty of tropical fish, and a nice cosy spot to keep your wet stones all snuggly and warm :rolleyes:

[silentC]

After your recent post about jointers and boards, I'm surpised you didn't suggest setting up a hot house in the shed ;)

[DaveInOz]

:eek: I don't like what you're implying Mr SilentC, only a fool uses the shed - thats what the roof space is for :D

once again this is only what I've heard ....

[Ian007]

Darren

Hi I got my latest Timbecon catalogue July 2004 ( thats there little post out catalogue) today and they have the veritas sharpening system on special $69.90 plus postage down from the normal $75.00 plus postage

with what you save you could buy a packet of tic tacs or two :cool:

cheers Ian

[silentC]

Ian,

Thanks for the heads up. I should get one of those in the mail too. Takes a bit longer to get to my mailbox. Oh dear, another thing that I've just got to have. I told the missus a couple of weeks ago that if I bought a dust collector and a bandsaw, I'd have everything I need. There's always something else.

Hey, it's my birthday next week. Maybe you guys could all chip in and buy it for me :D

[craigb]

Ian,
Hey, it's my birthday next week. Maybe you guys could all chip in and buy it for me :D

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA no :D

[outback]

No probs Slinet, just forward your name address and credit card details and I will be happy to buy one for you.

better PM me though, you never know who is out there.

Silly Silent will send me his details then I can buy whatever I want HA HA HA HA HA HA.
(Did I just think that or really post it) DOH!!!!!! :D

[silentC]

:(

[silentC]

Silly Silent will send me his details then I can buy whatever I want HA HA HA HA HA HA

Sorry Outers, but my credit card is on the 'do not honour' list in every commercial establishment between Carbatec Brisbane and Timbecon Perth, or if not, it soon will be ;)

[Wood Borer]

Silent,

I will be away for the first part of next week so happy birthday mate. I hope you get a good present - you deserve it.

- Wood Borer

[silentC]

Put happy birthday next wee instead of week

:D Nearly wet myself when I read that :D

Thanks WB, I appreciate. Hope the missus is reading this :D. Then again, probably wouldn't help at all :(

[outback]

Woodborer,
I liked the unedited version.
:D

[Wood Borer]

It must have been my subconscious at work.

It did look better the original version though come to think of it – what a pi**er!!!! :p

- Wood Borer

[Caliban]

Wood Borer
What with Darren's wetstones, his wife's golf clubs, freezing, lousy Pambula weather and your wish of a happy birthday for next wee, none of them better read the thread on electric blanket safety, especially as Mrs Silent's reading of these posts isn't going to do Darren any good! :D

[Yihang]

on the HNT site, they recommand that u round the corners of the edge so u dont get ridges/lines on the surface, kinda like bending a scraper....

is this recommanded?

[Ben from Vic.]

Yihang.

I have my plane blade rounded just slightly on the very corners.

Does the trick. :)


Ben.

[Yihang]

sweet. ill try that on my newly acquired Mujis.

thanks

[Wood Borer]

On Saturday I was flattening my waterstones using Derek's wonderful suggestion of using drywall mesh. Eastie gave me some earlier in the year but the mesh has lost it's abrasive properties (worn out). It was flattening them but ever so slowly.

I experimented by sprinkling some grit onto the worn out drywall and it worked a treat. The mesh was wet when I sprinkled the grit onto it and I only put a small amount of grit on the drywall mesh - probably about the amount of pepper you would put onto your meal. The grit was part of the MIK waterstone kit and I think find sand would achieve the same result. Possibly worth trying metal flywire instead of the drywall mesh.

By coincidence someone PM'd me today about flattening waterstones and I thought I would share the results of my experiment with others. It seemed to work far better than just grit on wet glass.

I would be interested in any comments or results using a similar method.

[silentC]

On a slightly similar vein, I've found that after flattening your stone, there is a sludge left around and under the mesh. If you let this dry, it becomes a fine powder that can be swept up. I used some of this the other day sprinkled on a wet glass plate to lap a metal tablesaw insert flat. I suppose it would be a similar (if not the same) grit to the waterstone from which it came.

Waste not want not....

[paul.cleary]

Hi,
I flatten the backs of my plane irons using a piece of plate glass with different grades of sandpaper.
I have the photo-spray adhesive which I spray on the back of a piece of sandpaper and then press onto the glass to give a good flat surface. It then peels back off when worn and I clean the glass with min turps to get rid of any left behind glue and ensure the surface is flat.

For speed of flattening, I did some research on types of sandpaper. There is a good one put out by Norton called Norzon which is a ceramic abrasive (zirconia alumina) that cuts very aggressively on metal while remaining sharp for a long time (but it is more expensive than ordinary paper).

I sand the blade backs dry (without any water or oil) and use a bar magnet to regularly declog the sandpaper of the metal filings (hint: wrap a piece of paper towel around the magnet, move it across the sandpaper surface to pick up the filings and then throw the towel away).

It takes time to get the back flat but once done, it improves the blade sharpness greatly + you can dry shave hairs off your arm.
Cheers
Paul

[TassieKiwi]

After reading Bob Smalser's post on sharpening, I got a mental picture of the shearer's sharpening the combs at smoko. They use coarse (about 80 grit) paper stuck on a 350mm wide disc. The combs have very fine teeth, but do not seem to blue.

I wonder how the back of a plane blade would go on this machine? They have a magnet, on the end of a suspended rod, with a sort of gimbal mount so that you can hold the comb square to the disc. If anything, it would lap bloody fast!

Of course, everyone has a spare shearer's kit in the shed:rolleyes:

D

[echnidna]

What, the shearers use a disc sander instead of Scary Sharp????

[Wood Borer]

The holder for the combs and cutters have locating pins as well as the magnet so the combs and cutters don't go into orbit. The marks are a bit course on the combs and cutters for a plane blade IMO. Perhaps a finer emery and jig might overcome the problem.

[outback]

Hate to disapoint everyone but a shearers grinder aint no good.

The disc to which the emery cloth is attatched is tapered from the inside to the outside, only a wee bit, maybe a couple of degrees, but this has the effect of giving the combs and cutters a hollow grind.

The emeries come in 40 & 60 grit, so may just be a bit course. Ohh They also run at about 2500 rpm, so some skill is involved or blue teeth are the result.

[Wood Borer]

Thanks Outback,

It's been a few years since I have ground combs and cutters (city slicker now) but I do recall now you mentioned it the non flat disc.

Once the back of a plane has been flattened though it stays that way forever unless is is abused. The worst plane blade I have ever done took less than an hour to flatten but once done it is OK. Fortunately/Unfortunately it wasn't my plane blade but I ended up doing the work. :mad:

[luther]

Just my opinion on flatting/sharpening methods.
The so calledscarry-sharpening method (attributed to a certain woodworking person) is a very old method of sharpening with a paper grit on glass & it was not discovered--it evolved many years ago.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
My father taught me this method in the middle fourty's & this was my mainstay method untill I designed a slooowww speed-95 rpm-grinderwith a blade holder & a water drip system.

Now the blade back can be flattened & then honed with the second-finer wheel in just a few minutes.

[Andy Mac]

Just on the topic of using sand to dress a waterstone, you can buy carborundum powder in designated grades. We get small tubs of 220grit as part of a process to regrain metal litho plates.

I used it to flatten an Arkansas oilstone on a glass plate on a flat concrete floor, but using kero (didn't think it would matter as light oil was going on afterwards, and the kero flushed out impregnated metal & oil), and it worked really well. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work with water, and using this powder you know exactly what grade it is...no evil big scratches!

Cheers,

[Termite]

Just on the topic of using sand to dress a waterstone, you can buy carborundum powder in designated grades. We get small tubs of 220grit as part of a process to regrain metal litho plates.

I used it to flatten an Arkansas oilstone on a glass plate on a flat concrete floor, but using kero (didn't think it would matter as light oil was going on afterwards, and the kero flushed out impregnated metal & oil), and it worked really well. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work with water, and using this powder you know exactly what grade it is...no evil big scratches!

Cheers,
This reply may be a repeat of an earlier one, its been a while since this subject was last mentioned.
This is the very method advocated by Mr Lee Senior, Rob Lee's father(Veritas, Lee Valley), and is the method I use except that, as suggested by Mr Lee, I use a sheet of self adhesive mylar on my glass plate. You would be suprised how little of the grit you need.
I then flatten my 4000 and 6000 stones on my 800 stone under running water. Ive tried wet & dry paper, drywall sanding mesh etc, and this method is the best and cheapest I have come across.

[Shedhand]

t I am moving to Tassie and sometimes the inside shop temp is below zero overnight.

ANdrew
I hate to drag this up so long after your posting. But, whowever told you Sandy Bay gets below zero temperatures is a dill. Try the central highlands or down south. You might get a subzero (read -1 or -2) about 2 times in 10 years. Never heard of it getting that cold in Sandy Bay though. Its 8.23 pm and I can see Sandy Bay basking in sunshine. If you were in Brisbane its been pitch black for about 3 hours. Gotta love this place. Now you've lived here for a while what do you think and did it reach zero since you've lived in Sandy Bay?;)

[bloggs1968]

Hi Shedhand,

For the last 18 months I was a student at the woodenboat school down in Franklin and yes, we had many mornings of below zero, especially the winter before last. As for Sandy Bay, beautiful one day perfect the next. Never going back to the mainland thats for sure.

regards,

Andrew

[Shedhand]

Hi Shedhand,

For the last 18 months I was a student at the woodenboat school down in Franklin and yes, we had many mornings of below zero, especially the winter before last. As for Sandy Bay, beautiful one day perfect the next. Never going back to the mainland thats for sure.

regards,

AndrewAhh yes...Franklin, my birthplace.:) I've been down to the wooden boat shed. I does get cold down there and damn foggy.;)

[woodhog]

I sometimes use black permanent marker on the areas I'm trying to work on. Obviously the shiny areas indicate abrasion taking place. hope this helps any.

[sailingamerican]

I love how the blogs go.
Question. Do you want a perfect tool collection or do you want to enjoy working? I have been dealing with antique tools for 40 years and have never seen the back of an old iron flattened yet. Not to say that it is not nice to have them that way. I have had several thousand chisels as well and never have seen the backs flattened. If some one can explain to me how it will do a better job I would like to hear it. I have then both ways and it makes no difference that I can see and I was a tool and die maker in the late 60's before I became an architect. All I have ever delt with is machine tools and construction art and design. The wood expands and contracts more than your iron is out. I never try to save a pited iron. Not worth the time. I have a little machine shop in back as well as a shed. I just picked up a surface grinder. With the magnetic chuck I get everything flat in minuets. It cost me less than my tormax. If you woodworkers can find some little home machine shop where you can have them flattened you would be hours ahead. The hours you spend dinking if worked would more than pay for the sharpening etc. Time is mone mates.

[redwood]

all them red dots meens iv missd something with this bloke.

[craigb]

all them red dots meens iv missd something with this bloke.

Oh yes. You have. :p :eek:

[bitingmidge]

all them red dots meens iv missd something with this bloke.
Not a thing.

P
:D

[Timmy]

Hi all,
Given the expertise that has already given their opinion I feel a little loathed to add any ideas. However, here it goes.

When I flatten the back of the irons, I have my trusty old Makita battery drill on low with a small (25mm) grinding wheel. When I find an area that is a little shiny I just give a little touch with the grinding wheel. It takes very little off and you do get a bit of a feel for it after a while. I find it does not take long at all to make it all flat...just impatients as a young lad led me to this. However read it later in a great book on planes (bugger must have been looking over the fence).

Cheers
Tim
Brisbane