Thread: Sharpen a convex finger plane blade

Hi, John - I have two thoughts about this, one you can save for a later plane.

if you have a plane where the sole is flat, you can create yourself a marking knife that will allow flush marking, and lay the knife (or biased awl where the point is on one side so that it would sit flush with the bottom) along the sole of the plane tracing its point across the iron's width. the iron needs to be marked with something so that the scratch line can be seen. Any colorful marker color or marking fluid is nice.

You're dealing with a convex plane, so it's a little different.

I would do this by moving the "wings" at the corners back and then evening out the cut in the middle. It's easier to do this work at the tip as you have it first with a steeper angle. if the plane is bedded at 45 degrees, try to hone a small bevel onto the end of the iron around that same steepness- it will be much faster to do that hand profiling.

Once you have the profile close, you can mark the bevel side with a marker and then re-install the shallower primary bevel as much as is needed to do the steep part. this is easier to do on the diagonal freehand or side honing freehand. It will be difficult to use a honing jig for this. If the iron is too small and it makes your hands hurt, create a small jig to hold it - anything. could just be a stick with a slot cut in it that you temporarily tack to the iron end. Could also be vise grips, though use a buffer as the teeth on vise grips will tattoo anything that's not as hard as them and you'll have a scuffed and dented iron top.

that progression I mentioned is important, I think:
* get the corners just out of the cut by honing them back a little
* then work the center of the blade from the middle out with a very steep microbevel (not steeper than the bed angle or the bevel itself will show higher than the actual blade edge when you sight down a plane)
* do it a little at a time until you've got what feels like a good setup and then hard hone or grind with light pressure on a fine belt, for example...grind the bevel behind the established edge back shallow enough to have cut clearance


the use of these planes is a lot like moulding planes. Once you get the edge in shape the way you want it, the user probably really needs to be able to hone freehand, relatively frequently, and make small adjustments based on how the plane is working. it sounds nuanced, but it's not that difficult once the plane is in use.

Originally Posted by johknee

I offered to sharpen a number of tools for a mate. Had no problem with the block planes and spokeshaves, but then I came to this Ibex finger plane..

Ibex Finger Plane 2.jpg. Ibex Finger Plane.jpg

I'm having a lot of trouble honing a convex edge. I'm using a Veritas MKII guide and I've tried to hone it by putting pressure on the left side, then the right and then the middle of the blade, but I can't get the edge to look/match the underside of the plane; a nice, smooth convex curve. Most probably my bad technique, so can anyone give me some tips?

Thanks


Edit: Found a cool but probably unnecessary mod for veritas guides
20190203_091105.jpg

John, what I do will probably not help you if you are set on using a guide.

I create a hollow grind ...



... and this is then very easy to freehand sharpen (on the hollow).

Now I am not sure if this is the correct orientation for the plane blade you have.

Lastly, the modification for the Veritas Mk I wheels was created with the Mk II about 20 years ago. Sorry

Regards from Perth

Derek

So, the Veritas honing guide cambered wheels can be used on a narrow finger plane?

Probably not; the cambered roller doesn’t give that much curvature.

What I use for all my rounds and similar blades is a Record 161 honing guide; this uses a 1/2” ball bearing rather than a roller and so allows some serious curvature to be applied; however this blade might be too short. Unless you can mount it in a holder; or hot-melt glue it onto a stick.