Modernist":3a5tljjx said:
You must have the ability for delicate paring with a bench chisel which, as stated above, requires a shallow angle. With planes that is also also largely true but there is also the issue of ease of use. I use 57 deg EP on my LN 62 with my high angle blade and it produces a fine result on difficult grain but I wouldn't like to push it all day.
Agreed...a shallow honed angle on the blade is more effective for a delicate paring cut, in
softer timbers The same angle in a much harder timber will cause the edge to collapse, so somewhere a compromise needs to be reached, which is around a honed bevel of 30deg for an O1 steel chisel edge. In my experience, A2 will collapse at 30deg, hence the reason for a slightly higher angle of 32deg.
Having looked at Larry's site, the quality of the planes is outstanding, but I assume they're all made in beech, which is off moderate density so that a lower pitch on the chisel edge blade would be fine...try the same trick on some of the timbers that Philly uses (African Blackwood for example) and you'll find a very different story
When I did the test on chisels, the edges were brutally tested to destruction (12 very heavy blows with a lignum maul into greenheart) and some did indeed collapse very swiftly :shock: and there were some surprises as well. The A2 steel blades held up best of all, but the AI and others weren't far behind. After re-honing (and in some cases a lot of regrinding) they were tested using paring cuts on soft (pine) and hardwood (oak) and again, there was very little to choose between the actual blade performance, but the LN had it on overall performance
Edit - TLN says this on his site, regarding plane blades:
Lie-Nielsen O-1 Tool Steel Blades
Our A-2 Steel blades will hold an edge extremely well, especially when sharpened at an angle of 30 degrees or higher. Some folks however prefer O-1 Tool Steel blades. An O-1 blade will take a slightly finer edge when sharpened at 25 degrees or lower, making them useful for slicing or paring. So in response to customer requests, we are making our most popular blades available in O-1.
- Rob