Thread: Curved plane irons in old wooden planes

Hard to say for sure without a picture but it sounds like they may be towards the end of their life.

The tapered irons were common (often stamped as "warranted cast steel") but I can't picture in my mind what you mean by curved. Are we talking about moulding planes?

Originally Posted by SteveMcM

They are curved and therefore flattening the back is not a realistic option. Does anyone know how to best deal with sharpening them? Steve

If the back is concave then that is fine, if it is convex that is a problem. However if you had the skill I am sure you could take a hammer to the iron to relive the tension and to flatten the back.

They don't need to be perfectly flat. Just focus on the top half inch or so to be flat and polished. Do what you can but don't spend all day on it eh.

Make shore the heel of the bevel is on the bed. There doesn't matter so much if there's a gap between the blade and bed when its all bound up, as long as the heal of that bevel is firmly into the bed.......else it'll chatter.

etc.