Thread: Sharpen Stanley spokeshave 151 blade

Most jigs won't hold these blades as they are very short. Veritas made one for the Mk1 honing guide; the 05P3203 "small blade holder" but I'm not sure if it's still in production. They have however just released a spanking new jig with bells and whistles; I received an alert about it from the Lee Valley website. $60 US plus usual shipping and tax pains. I'm pretty tempted myself...

Anant also make a cheap pressed steel version but it's probably only available from India; I don't think they have any resellers in Aus anymore.

I use my Sheppach Tiger 2000 to sharpen my spokeshave blades using an adjustable tool rest table thing and then hone them freehand. I'm not normally a fan of freehand honing as I find it just too damn easy to accidentally dub the edge but the short length of spokeshave blades makes it a lot easier to avoid stuff-ups.

I just use a bit of 2x1 with a saw cut across the end grain in one end about half the depth of the blade. Place blade in vice, half way down, sharp edge down, drive the slotted 2x1 onto the blade that is above the vice. Once sharp, don't be tempted to try and hang onto the blade and pull the handle away, it is a shaw way to cut yourself. Instead, drop the blade back into the vice and pull the handle free.

Found a couple of videos which show the blade is fixed to the end of a long piece of timber. Looks quite doable and safe. Only problem is the timber gets wet, so jig probably will not last long. I particularly liked the brass locating pins used by Paul Sellers to keep the blade square. I have some 3.5mm diameter brass rod which is a perfect fit

Spokeshave Sharpening Holder | Paul Sellers - YouTube

How to Sharpen a Spokeshave - Honing a Dull Blade - YouTube

Originally Posted by Dengue

The Stanley 151 spokeshave blade is 55mm wide and the straight sides are 45 mm.
Can anyone please recommend a good jig for sharpening this blade ?
i have access to an old Tormek 2000. Would there be any Tormek jigs for that blade

Dengy, Veritas have brought two new guides, one being a guide for small blades.

I've been playing with the pre-production versions for a while (actually, began using the Eclipse-type about 5 or 6 years ago).

The short-blade guide is very useful for small spokeshave blades. In this picture is the blade from a Stanley#84 .... which is about the narrowest blade I could find. If it can do this, then it can work with any spokeshave blade!





Another view (along with the Veritas LA Spokeshave) ...


How about a skew blade from a side rebate plane?



Regards from Perth

Derek

Yep; that’s the one I linked to earlier. Didn’t know it could handle the blades out of side rebates; that’s useful!
Derek; will you be posting a review on this guide (and maybe the side clamping one too?) on your website at any point? I think I’m going to invest in one regardless but it would still be good to read an honest review beforehand. Apart from the usual range of spokeshave blades it looks ideal for small plane and rebate blades, like the LN 100 or Record 75 and 077.

I made mine when I was an apprentice, fifty years ago, out of a scrap of teak. It still gives good service. Pick your timber and water is not an issue. Metal fasteners in the timber are fine but I have never found the need. If the cut is tight the blade will hold and the water will keep the timber swollen so the slot remains thin.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Yep; that’s the one I linked to earlier. Didn’t know it could handle the blades out of side rebates; that’s useful!
Derek; will you be posting a review on this guide (and maybe the side clamping one too?) on your website at any point? I think I’m going to invest in one regardless but it would still be good to read an honest review beforehand. Apart from the usual range of spokeshave blades it looks ideal for small plane and rebate blades, like the LN 100 or Record 75 and 077.

Here are some photos I posted on Sawmill Creek ...

There is no issue with a tapered plane blade ...




A 3/16" thick Veritas BU plane blade, high position ...



... and low position ...



And perfectly square (this is taken with my phone and gives it a skew look) ...



3/16" thick LN #3 blade ...



1" wide chisel (but think also of a plough blade, and other similar dimensions) ...



A short block plane blade in the lower position ...



Perfectly square ...



There are two blades I do not recommend for this guide. The first is a short Japanese chisel blade. There is not enough length to achieve an extension for a 30 degree bevel angle. This is duplicated in the second example, a Veritas block plane blade, which does not have the extension owing to the tapered rear ...




Comparing the side-clamping guide to the small blade accessory on the Veritas Mk II .....

I will use one with parallel-sided BU blades. When used together with a shop made projection jig (for the bevel angle), it results in a far faster set up that the top clamping guide. The small blade accessory is also designed for narrow blades, and the side clamping guide can easily manage double the blade width ...




this guide is not designed for mortice chisels. However, many can work!



There are two provisors. The first is that the back of the blade is flat, and the second depends on the size and shape of the primary bevel.

Some mortice chisels, such as these Japanese Fujikawa mortice chisels (this one is 9mm), are small enough to fit into the cavity of the guide.



None of these chisels will fit into the


They cannot fit into the registration corners for bevel edged chisels, but a flat back can rest and register against the bars, and the side clamps will tighten with enough force (with finger pressure alone) to prevent movement.





The Veritas mortice chisels have deep blades and will not fit inside the body. However, the back is flat, and the clamp will still hold it securely ...





You do need to ensure that the taper of the blade is forward of the guide, otherwise it can cause it to cant (Ray Iles mortice chisel) ...





In addition, the Ray Iles has a rounded back and, while it can be set square, the rounded back does not have the ease of setting up as do those with square backs.




Regards from Perth

Derek

In the end, I decided to make a cheap blade extension piece that will fit in the Tormek jig and in the Veritas MkII jig.
Got a piece of 3mm thick steel, 55 x 200, the same width as the Stanley blade. Drilled 3 holes to position the blade securely on the steel extension, and away we go. The main bolt with the wing nut is 8mm stainless steel 8mm. I had to grind the hex head down so it did not interfere with the Tormek wheel or the Japanese waterstone with the blade in position.
The smaller bolts are 3.5mm diameter to match the holes in the Stanley blade, with machine screw thread.

The blade is a new Stanley blade, and you can see from the markings on the last photo that the back is not flattened after a couple of hours on the 140 and 220 diamond plates. Lots more work to do on that. I have come to really hate flattening of chisels, plane blades and now spokeshave blades. Other than Veritas blades of course which do not need flattening

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I really liked Derek's display of the latest jigs for small blades. Thanks for taking the time to post that, Derek.

P1370254 Large.jpgP1370257 Large.jpgP1370258 Large.jpgP1370259 Large.jpg

Nice concept, Dengue, elegantly simple.

Turns out that the maximum angle I can get using the Veritas Mk II honing jig is 27 degrees, configured for its steep angle setting. That is when the Veritas jig is hard against the spokeshave blade which is bolted to the steel extension piece, and cannot travel any closer to the bevelled edge to get a steeper angle. And the angle of the blades I am using are 30 degrees.

Back to the drawing board

Originally Posted by Dengue

... Back to the drawing board

All is not lost; two possible approaches -


Quick and Dirty Solution:

Just change your sharpenning angle to 27°.


Better Solution:

The Veritas webite says -

"... Veritas Mk II Standard Honing Guide

• Accepts blades ... up to 15/32" thick. ..."

That thickness limit of 15/32" is about 11.9 mm - quite a thick blade! If you add a spacer exactly the same thickness as the spokeshave blade, then it should act like a blade extension, and work equally as well in the Veritas Mk II. Veritas Mk 2 Spacer.jpg

Thanks Graeme. I think I may have a problem with your 2nd solution Graeme. How would I fix the blade to the 3mm thick plate I am using as a jig? The Veritas Mk II will hit the screws positioning the blade. And, the other problem is the blade thicknesses vary, especially after I have flattened the backs of them on a diamond plate. They are all over the shop to start with, from 1.6mm to 3.2mm

I found that I could get above 30 degrees using my son's old Tormek 2000, but I have no way of honing that hollow ground bevel on a waterstone later on during use. Unless I do it freehand, of course

I thought you may run into problems with all the nuts and bolts getting in the way. And as for hanging onto a lump of wet steel in the middle of winter I am sure would be less than pleasant. May I suggest a little more blade protrusion, particularly for honing the back.

Thanks rustynail. Winter in the tropics here is a lot less onerous than winter in the mountains at Bilpin I can assure you. But by the same token it still gets down to 5° here of a cold morning. We classify that week as winter for the year.

The problem with the jig, you rightly pointed out, is that I need to move the Veritas Mark II jig closer to the cutting edge and you cannot do that with my arrangement due to the two locating screws.

So basically for any spokeshave blades with a bevel angle greater than 27 degrees I cannot sharpen using the Veritas mk2 honing jig. But I can on the Tormek, but not sure of the maximum angle. Will play with it tomorrow. Aiming to get 35°, as the Veritas spokeshave blades have a primary level of 30° with a micro-bevel of 35°. If I can do a hollow grind of 35°, this will end up with the same result.

I am quickly coming around to Derek’s method posted on one of his overseas threads where he does a hollow grind on a wheel, presumably a Tormek waterwheel for such a wide blade, then manually hones it during use on a workpiece until such time as a new hollow grind is necessary.