Thread: Problem sharpening first plane blade

I'll suggest a bevel angle of 30 degrees.

First, paint the bevel with black felt marker.
You may not have yet run your sharpening process out to the actual edge.
With some sort of magnifier and bright light, you'll know what's happening as you go.
Don't hesitate to reapply the marker, it can't harm anything.

I change the bevels on farrier's hoof knives from 30 degrees to 12 degrees to make carving tools called crooked knives,
a fairly standard and versatile pattern here in the Pacifici Northwest. Many, many times, they don't cut worth a darn.
As above, I just didn't quite go the last 0.25mm and really get to the edge. Can't trust my old eyes any more
so have a geologist's 10X loupe magnifier to see what's happening.

It could be a few issues working against you.
Planes can be finicky thinks when your first starting out but you will pick it up pretty quick. If you can't find a local to walk you through it, jump on line. Their are a lot of videos on youtube.


First things first, test the edge for sharpness while the plane is disassembled. That way you will isolate the the plane from the blade and your sharpening may be perfectly serviceable.

I still use magic marker pens from time to time and it's a great sharpening tool. I have been sharpening for a long time now and I still pretty consistently look and feel for a wire edge.

If your happy it's sharp, then the issue is further on down the line.
How comfortable are you with setting up and using a handplane?
Some timbers can be frustrating to plane and if you new to it, even more so.

Maybe a bit more info would be helpful so we can point you in the right direction.

Their are probably 4 areas you are trying to get working all to geather at the same time.
Sharpening ( to an acceptable level for the work)
Tuning and setting up a plane
Using a plane ( holding, grain direction, cut then lift on the way back etc..)
The condition of the timber ( eg.. twisted grain hardwood with knots vs old growth Oregon)

You build on that info over time.

Getting a plane to shave is not that far away! Don't let this speal put you off!

Ben is correct = try the blade, by itself, as you go through your sharpening process.
I have a "try-stick" in every kind of wood that I carve = test the edge.
There are many days when I can't figure out why my knives won't carve.
Hindsight tells me that I just have not been thorough enough to finish the job.
I tried to rush it and as you would say, I'm out for a Duck.
a) you can't wreck it
b) it's no different that any kind of buck-naked, bare-edged carving tool.

All good advice above, but add a 6000 waterstone - a 1000 is not sufficient to get a good edge for anything more than rough work on soft wood.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Sorry woodwork123,
I must have missed that in bit in your question.
I just re read it.

If it's not cutting paper at 1000grit, I don't think you took it down to the wire edge on the 250grit side.

Very basic rundown on the order:

First, lightly run the flat back of the iron on the 1000grit side to see if that side has been flattened by the last owner. You are looking at polishing about 1inch from the edge back. About 5 strokes back and forth then take a look. You should see a fine scratch pattern all bright steel across the back of the edge.

Next you work on the bevel with the 250grit until you feel a bur forming across the whole length of the edge.
Repeat with the 1000grit on the bevel then flat on the back for about 12 strokes.
You will need to get that wire edge off!
Youtube will have a video of how to strop a chisel/plane blade with the palm of your hand.

It should be roughly shaving hairs and cutting paper sharp at 1000grit. It's a perfectly serviceable stone/grit to start out with.
The finer stones really make a huge difference. If your just getting started you can pick them up down the line.
When you want to experiment with getting them sharper. The cheap stepping off point to get your feet wet is the black automotive sandpaper.
Look up some of RV's older posts on that. He has written a few good step guides on it.
Stropping compounds are the next cheap step up!

Don't overcomplicate the sharpening process.

Paul Sellers - How to sharpen a handplane - YouTube

He bought the plane in a yard sale.
Many factors in the judgement process to restore the bevel and develop the edge.
Hindsight clearly shows me what I have learned over the years
to select a starting point.
I would never use 250 unless inspection showed a dramatically blunted
and/or chipped edge. Then square it off and start over.
I always hope and pray that I'll only ever have to do that once!
Later in maintenance, maybe start at 600 - 800
then either 1500 or 4K waterstones before honing.

It's a bit of trial & error. There's heaps of YouTube movies on the subject. That's how I learnt.

1000 grit is definitely not a fine enough grit. I go to 13000.

Try toolsfromjapan.com. Stu is quite well priced & very knowledgeable on sharpening. He's Australian, so easy to ask questions without needing google translate.

Depending on who does the counting, I finish with chromium (II) oxide, laced with alumimin oxide,
which is in the range of 25,000 - 40,000 grit.
When you watch the scratch patterns at 10X or 20X, the chromox can deal with
the remains from a 4K waterstone (no matter who made it or mined it.)

Coming from the full time, professional wood carver who taught me, one-on-one,
sage advice, methinks.

Thanks to everyone. I'll give all the advice a try.

Originally Posted by Woodwork123

I just bought my first plane at a yard sale. I've tried sharpening it on a combination #250/1000 waterstone with a honing guide. It looks sharp now but doesn't work well - it won't even cut paper. What could I be doing wrong?

Hello,
Before doing anything with the plane or iron go to utube and watch the following, it will be time well spent.
1.Sharpening plane irons with Denab Puchalski
2.Hand plane restoration: flattening with Chris schwarz
3.Set up a hand plane with Chris Schwarz
4.Super-tune a hand plane with Chris Schwarz.
They have good sound info and not the rubbish that you often find on youtube. You choose what you want to use and how far you want to take the sharpening.

You mention that you have sharpened to 1000 grit. That grit is fine for shaping the edge in preperation for sharpening but you need to get a finer stone of 5 to 8000 grit. Shapton pro series are a good stone. I have had issues with porosity in the Norton stones.

The best description of sharpening I found was a bloke on utube who described the sharpening process as creating an ever smaller burr at a set angle useing progressively finer stones until the burr is so fine it can be wiped away on a strop.

I hope this helps.
All the best
Jeff