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  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

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    Sigh. I just wrote a significant update, accidentally browsed away, and lost it. Oh the shared joy and agony of technology. Anyway, take two.

    WP_20170818_08_39_21_Pro.jpg
    My grinder tool rest and dressing tool arrived on Wednesday from Timbecon (great fast postage. Normally it takes at least a week to get mail ordered stuff to Tasmania). As my grinder isn't permanently mounted to my bench, I mounted both it and the new tool rest to a piece of ply from my off-cuts stash. It now lives in my compound sliding mitre saw trundle box, where it's out of the way, but easily put on the bench when it's needed for grinding service. The top of the tool rest and bottom of the guide both had minor casting bumps and burs which hampered the sliding motion of guide. Less than ten minutes with a fine file and some wet and dry brought it to flat and smooth. A scribble of wax under the guide and it now has a lovely smooth sliding action.

    Onto dressing the wheel. While logic would have suggested it, I wasn't prepared for the amount of dust and grit that were thrown off the wheel as I applied the dressing tool. It ended up everywhere! While I was wearing safety glasses, I will throw on my respirator next time too. Despite a shower later in the evening, I still ended up in bed with a nose full of gunk. The wheel however was beautifully flat and clean. One thing I had read was that when using a diamond dresser, it cuts the surface grit rather than chipping/removing it, resulting in a smoother wheel. It certainly felt a lot smoother. It's not a special wheel, just whatever came with the grinder I'd imagine.

    WP_20170818_08_39_58_Pro.jpg
    Onto the business end of my No. 5 bench plane which had a nick in the blade. Using the guide I was able to put a nice even hollow grind on the blade. There really wasn't anything remarkable about the process. I guess that's a sign that everything was working well.

    After sharpening both my No 4.5 and 5 planes, the 4.5 was taking full width shavings off of Tas Oak with little to no effort. I was really struggling with the 5 though. The mouth kept getting clogged, so for the first time ever, I moved a plane frog, to get the mouth similar to that of the No. 4.5. While that helped, I noticed shavings still getting jammed between the blade and chip breaker. Removing he chip breaker revealed some spot rust under the edge. I gave it a clean on my plates, and once re-installed appeared to have resolved the issue. So it was an evening of learning and firsts.

    As to the actual sharpening, well, for the first time ever I was able to shave hair cleanly and painlessly from the back of my hand! For me that's a real accomplishment, as I've never managed to sharpen any blade (knife, chisel, plane) to do that before. In fact I was so excited, I kept going, and shaved all the hair off up to my wrist. When I when inside to brag and show off to my wife, she looked at me with a "why on earth would you do that" look, and told me I now look like I'm wearing a hair suit on my left arm. Oh dear. Whilst brushing my teeth last night and looking in the mirror, I did notice my left wrist and hand, and unfortunately do have to agree with her. I don't think I'll do that again. Luckily it's winter, so am wearing long sleeves whenever I go out.

    Anyway, the adventure continues, and is bearing glorious fruit.

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  3. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    950

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chief Tiff View Post
    There's no shame in using a honing guide; thin blades used on Bailey pattern planes are quite difficult to consistently sharpen freehand until you have gained a lot of experience and the "muscle memory" that goes with it. Thicker blades are much easier to hone freehand. My personal view is that I would rather use a guide which gives consistent, repeatable results rather than risk dubbing over a previously sharp edge.
    I also find that a honing guide is useful to setup a decent bevel. It's easier to maintain a bevel freehand than it is to create it in the first place.

  4. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

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    Quote Originally Posted by Colin62 View Post
    I also find that a honing guide is useful to setup a decent bevel. It's easier to maintain a bevel freehand than it is to create it in the first place.
    I use the hollow grind method (as described by Derek at http://inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTec...gStrategy.html). Thus the grinder sets the primary bevel, and the sharpening just references off of that. I think attempting to create a primary bevel freehand would be a feat indeed!

    Lance

  5. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

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    Pound a 1" Marples chisel through almost 30' of tile grout.
    The objective was to find the all the cabinet seams for a total tear-down, toss-out kitchen renno.
    The edge might have been 1mm wide at the end.
    Next, fool that I am, I did a free-hand regrind to 30 degrees on oil stones then took that chisel to 800 grit.
    Buy a grinder. Be smarter than me (it's easy).

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