Hand plane honing

[Dangermouse]

hi guys

after a lot of chronic lurking, I'm in need of some advice on honing hand plane blades. The recent threads on these gizmos has inspired me to thrash the credit card and get myself a veritas low angle jack plane, a high angle blade and a honing guide. the bottle of red I just knocked off probably had something to do with it as well, but the less said about that the better...
only thing I cant figure out (being a newbie and all) is what grade of whetstone to get myself to keep the blade in first class condition- any advice from the experts out there?

cheers

[Dan]

A 1000/6000 grit combination stone would be a good start, or you could get individual stones if you want. The stone I have (bought it years ago) is a 1200/4000 combination I think, but they don't seem to be available any more.

[johnc]

You'll get plenty of opinions, so this is just that. Having used carborundum stones for years this forum convinced me to try waterstones for the first time and the results have been worth the upgrade. I ended up with 800 grit, 6000 and 8000. However I would have prefered swap the 6000 for a 4000. There a few combination stones available as well which might be worth looking at, Norton and King both get a few mentions and King is the brand that inhabits my shed.

John.

[Dan]

Sorry, forgot to mention the above recommendations were for water stones.:o

[NewLou]

YEr its just like skinnin rabbits

Theres pleanty of ways of doing this n no perfect solution/combination other than what you end up deciding to use and mastering the use of it.

I'm presently using a 1200 6000 n 10 000 waterstone combination which works for me n leaves a beautifully sharp n polished edge.

The Veritas MII Honing guide gets a lot of wraps here but also has a few bugs to iron out N you must be mindful of technique when using it otherwise you might end up with dings outta your beloved waterstones!

WHat ever you decide practice practice practice n learn to use your chosen "Kit" effectively N economically

Regards Lou:)

[Dangermouse]

Thanks guys

looks like the 1000/6000 waterstone combo is going to be the next retail therapy item. ta for the heads up on the honing guide - hopefully I wont stuff up the stone, got an old blade for a number 4 that will provide some practice honing my skills. er.. bad pun... :rolleyes:

[Mirboo]

The Norton waterstones have already been mentioned. They make a 1000/8000 combination stone which would be a good start. You would use the 1000 grit side to do basic grinding of the bevel and then use the 8000 grit side to hone a microbevel. Lie-Nielsen Australia (http://au.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=WS) have them or you could order one from Lee Valley (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=3&p=51817&cat=1,43072,43071&ap=1).

I've got the full set of Norton Waterstones (220, 1000, 4000 & 8000). I haven't used them a lot yet but so far they seem fine. I chose them over the King waterstones in part because they are a little bit wider. I have a No. 8 bench plane which has a 2-5/8" wide blade so I thought the 2-7/8" wide Norton stones would be a good choice.

[Ivan in Oz]

Thanks guys

looks like the 1000/6000 waterstone combo is going to be the next retail therapy item.
got an old blade for a number 4 that will provide some practice honing my skills. er.. bad pun... :rolleyes:

DM,
The REAL therapy is when you start sharpening, AND TAKING your time.
You might end up with BALD hands, arms and parts of your Legs:eek:

> bad pun...
NAh!
Good pun, they'll get Better;)

Ivan,
Not Russian,
NOT in a Hurry