Thread: Any sharpening services in Brisbane?

Hi Chris
In terms of your time, sharpening a plane blade takes very little time compared to tuning just one old plane.
The steps in tuning an old plane include:
1. flattening the sole -- probably best done using 80 grit paper on a 600mm long piece of 35 mm thick piece of MDF. Leave the frog in place and work through the grits and stop when you get to about 180, though 240 might be a better stopping point.
2. adjust the frog so it sits flat and doesn't rock -- even a little bit.
3. make sure that the face of the frog is uniform so that the blade -- once fitted -- doesn't rock.
4. smooth the curved face of the chip breaker so that it is smooth.
5. work on the underside of the chip breaker so that it meets the blade without any gaps.

only after you have completed the above 5 steps are you ready to start working on sharpening the blade.
1. Flatten the back of the blade. The flatness of Veritas blades is what to aim for. For some Ebay sourced blades you may need to use a hammer to help flatten out the hollow.
2. only start working on the bevel once the back of the blade is flat.
3. Micro bevels are your friend.




PS
Starting with just one already set up Veritas or Lie Nielsen plane is valuable as an example.
Often times the "example" plane can be sold with little or any loss in value

Thanks Ian

I am roughly doing those steps with some differences. It is time-consuming but satisfying. I do have a couple of Veritas planes of more specialised varieties (eg one with a right-angle fence built-in and a skew blade, for squaring up edges with ease and precision). The quality is uniformly excellent!

My post was just about really hitting what feels like a hump on removing material.

Two questions if I may about steps 1 and 2 in the first list. Is leaving the frog in while flattening the sole just a "it's no problem" point, or is there an advantage? I would understand that having the frog screwed in would mean the sole is being presented more with how the plane will be used, but wouldn't have thought the weight of the frog or it being screwed in would be having any appreciable effect on the presentation of the sole to the abrasive? Or do you think there is an appreciable effect (perhaps particularly on planes where the frog is relatively larger)? (I may of course be missing the point entirely!)

Other one is adjusting the frog so it sits flat, how would you go about this? A diamond file on whichever part the frog is pivoting on (if it is rocking)? I hadn't actually seen that point covered on videos I've watched and tried to follow.

PS if you have any tips on flattening the back of planes I'm all ears! It's such hard work even after a good whack with a hammer. And gets harder the closer you get to finishing (as more material is meeting the stone). I have seen photos of some jigs made for the purpose that are essentially a block of wood with handles, with bolts that hold the blade in. I was thinking of doing that as a hefty piece of wood might add some weight for "bearing down", but the placement of nuts on the underside to secure the body of the blade limits you. I and think I saw a website showing someone using a large magnet effectively as a handle (which would let you bear down directly over where the edge is)... but still one of the steps that feels like an unpleasant "chore" and leaves one with sore arms. I am pondering a CBN wheel with a large face on the side but that is a huge space investment for a single task.

Originally Posted by Cgcc

Two questions if I may about steps 1 and 2 in the first list. Is leaving the frog in while flattening the sole just a "it's no problem" point, or is there an advantage? I would understand that having the frog screwed in would mean the sole is being presented more with how the plane will be used, but wouldn't have thought the weight of the frog or it being screwed in would be having any appreciable effect on the presentation of the sole to the abrasive? Or do you think there is an appreciable effect (perhaps particularly on planes where the frog is relatively larger)?

The issue is presenting the sole of the abrasive in the condition that the plane will be used.
The frog, blade and cap iron should be inserted and tensioned because doing so results in a slight change in the deformation of the plane's sole. The deformation induced by tensioning the frog and cap iron may only be a few 10s of thou, but you want to achieve a flat sole when you finish tuning the plane, not one that rocks ever so slightly.

Originally Posted by Cgcc

Other one is adjusting the frog so it sits flat, how would you go about this? A diamond file on whichever part the frog is pivoting on (if it is rocking)? I hadn't actually seen that point covered on videos I've watched and tried to follow.

It all depends on how well the tool was set-up initially.
You are working with older planes -- and I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to plane dating -- if you are lucky much of the initial tuning will have been done by a previous user. If not, you will need to check that the frog is sitting at 90 degrees to the plane's sole, and that the face of the frog is all in the same plane.

Originally Posted by Cgcc

PS if you have any tips on flattening the back of planes I'm all ears! It's such hard work even after a good whack with a hammer. And gets harder the closer you get to finishing (as more material is meeting the stone).

the tool you really need is a "pecking hammer". I don't own one but have seen one wielded by an expert. The key to using one is eye-hand coordination -- the "pecks" needs to land in just the right place -- if you can achieve that flattening the blade should be straight forward.

Originally Posted by Cgcc

I am pondering a CBN wheel with a large face on the side but that is a huge space investment for a single task.

Ponder on, but remember that a CBN wheel only has abrasive on the circumference of the wheel. The face of the wheel has no abrasive. So no time saving when it comes to flattening the back of a blade.

Tormek has a diamond wheel that's designed to be sharpened on the side. But you have to invest in the whole setup.