Plane Irons and ProEdge

[Trafalgar]

that's when I still had all my hair!
Thing is though - back then we were sharpening perfectly well and just as quickly as any of the slaves to modern sharpening.
Probably quicker in fact.
Nothing new has been discovered or invented except the commercial potential of dubious gadgets!
Back then it was more about dubious magic spells and witchcraft. Waste of money - bin there dunnit, plus ça change!

I have a Washita but don't use it that much. A well worn-in fine India and a charged strop do it for me.

 

[TRITON]

I've always felt that these belt sanders in the regular sharpening routine are way overkill and more metal will be ground away than by just getting the oilstone out on the bench.

Just keep in mind that a chisel is just a working tool, and one that should be easily replaced when it wears out.

When I worked as a Butcher, we had a sharpening thing called a Sharpenset, and when I worked in a bacon curing factory, we went from the work table to the sharpener a couple of times a day to keep the top 1" or so(the business end) as sharp as a razor.

This meant that we went through boning knives pretty quick.
Knives of choice in trade were almost exclusively Victorinox brand and cost about a tenner wholesale.

So maybe transferring that to the furniture making line chisels from Stanley, would be a far better choice than tools from Lie Nielsen.
Take it to the sharpener, give it a tickle, then back to work. Rinse and repeat.

 

[imageel]

Just keep in mind that a chisel is just a working tool, and one that should be easily replaced when it wears out.

When I worked as a Butcher, we had a sharpening thing called a Sharpenset, and when I worked in a bacon curing factory, we went from the work table to the sharpener a couple of times a day to keep the top 1" or so(the business end) as sharp as a razor.

This meant that we went through boning knives pretty quick.
Knives of choice in trade were almost exclusively Victorinox brand and cost about a tenner wholesale.

So maybe transferring that to the furniture making line chisels from Stanley, would be a far better choice than tools from Lie Nielsen.
Take it to the sharpener, give it a tickle, then back to work. Rinse and repeat.

I have a Sharpenset that I picked up 2nd hand very cheaply and locally when I lived in High Wycombe - they are brilliant for knives which I surmise was their principle target market but also for chisels when rapid grinding is called for. The water cooling system works so well I have on occasions gotten quite nasty abrasions to my finger tips whilst sharpening garden shredder blades which are quite difficult to hold steady by hand - thing is you don't know you've ground your flesh until it's too late
I didn't know the company was still in business - according to Companies House it looks like it closed in 2022..

 

[sploo]

I think the trade in replacement blades is entirely due to over enthusiastic sharpening. They'd last for years otherwise.

In terms of wearing down a plane iron? Agreed. The amount of material removed when sharpening by hand is tiny.

Turn the blade 90degrees and you don’t have to worry about the width of the belt, just grind the bevel vertical. Means you can see the angle easily too.

I use a belt grinder to remove the bulk and then set the edge bevel on stones. Once the edge bevel gets too wide I re grind on the belt.

Quick easy and if you try to not hit the actual edge can use a 36 or 60 grit belt which doesn’t build much heat in the steel due to the rate of removal.

Happy to take some pics to show what I mean

I'm not 100% sure that a plane iron on its side would still be supported by the platen (behind the belt) on the ProEdge though. When I next get out to the garage I'll take a look at mine.

 

[TRITON]

I have a Sharpenset that I picked up 2nd hand very cheaply and locally when I lived in High Wycombe - they are brilliant for knives which I surmise was their principle target market but also for chisels when rapid grinding is called for. The water cooling system works so well I have on occasions gotten quite nasty abrasions to my finger tips whilst sharpening garden shredder blades which are quite difficult to hold steady by hand - thing is you don't know you've ground your flesh until it's too late
I didn't know the company was still in business - according to Companies House it looks like it closed in 2022..

I've a sharpenset at home too, and got it pretty cheap £90, which is seriously cheap given their retail price is £900. Mine came with the planer blade attachment. Does up to 12" blades.
I made a simple block to hold chisels square that runs down the same track the planer uses. Bloody godsend, especially if you have the long knife(planer) attachment.

 

[imageel]

I've a sharpenset at home too, and got it pretty cheap £90, which is seriously cheap given their retail price is £900. Mine came with the planer blade attachment. Does up to 12" blades.
I made a simple block to hold chisels square that runs down the same track the planer uses. Bloody godsend, especially if you have the long knife(planer) attachment.

I can't remember what I paid for mine, it was so long ago but I suspect likely £40 or less. I don't have any jigs for it but I might try fabricating one for my 10inch planer blades.
I only use it for removing major chips out of chisels since it is so fast at gross material removal without risk of heating etc, and in the main I use an eclipse jig and roll grit paper glued to a piece of float glass for most of my sharpening.

 

[steve355]

I bought a Pro-Edge for sharpening plane irons. In particular, it’s good for mortise chisels and plough plane irons which have a very long bevel, which you really don’t want a hollow grind for. Also it is good for putting a bevel on round plane irons - you can sweep the tip of the iron on the belt and get a very consistent bevel. It’s fine for standard straight irons also, although as someone said earlier it’s not very wide - although wider than any grinding wheel I’ve ever used.

And then it’s a dream for consistent wood turning chisels. I wish I had time to do more turning.

It’s a bit of a faff to change the belt IMO.

These days my setup is the Pro-edge for grinding, a medium Arkansas stone, and a strop.

I’m generally not a jig person and like hand grinding, I grind my metal lathe cutters by hand for example. But the Pro-Edge is very consistent for woodworking tools and creates results that look professional. Expensive but solidly built and good if you can afford it.

 

[Corset]

I have pro-edge, its been really handy as it works as a linisher too. I tend to use it on my plane irons to bring the bevel back after lots of freehand sharpening. Its aggressive so you only need to use it for a second or it overheats blades. I have got excellent results using the very fine belts. I like it very much for angled blades like 78s etc. i have had a tormek, worksharp, veritas powered sharpener and a fee grinders. This is the only one i have stuck with. Small footprint, multiuse and simplicity have made it a keeper. This with a few oilstones and a diamond stone for back flattening seems to be my preffered method aftet 27 years of faffing with different systems. However everyone is different and my happy place wont be others