REVIEW David Charlesworth DVD Part 1: Plane Sharpening

[Manny]

Sorry Manny, didn't mean to come over all "foaming-at-the-mouth"

Philly - Thanks for the advice, no need for apologies, guess the best thing for me is to try one myself.

Alf - Thanks for the advice also

 

[Midnight]

It's funny how 2 people can look at the exact same thing and come to totally opposite conclusions. The Veritas guide was one of my first handraulic purchaces; for me it meant liberation, not restriction. Being born with the ability to transform any cutting edge into a can opener simply by trying to sharpen freehand, suddenly being liberated of all the frustrations was a breath of fresh air, not to mention being responsable for the dramatic improvement in my hand tool results. Net result was a snow ball effect. The better my blades were, the more I wanted to try them, resulting in a slowly expanding range of tools to use, each and every one maintained in prime condition with the aid of that guide.
For me, it represents accuracy, repeatability, speed and reliability. To date, the only blades I have that it canna handle are the spoke shave blades, but ya canna blame a system for not handling stuff it was never designed to cope with.... right..??

<still trying to figure how to hone the blade on the Millers Falls cigar shave.

 

[Manny]

It's funny how 2 people can look at the exact same thing and come to totally opposite conclusions.

Mike I think it's the difference between trade and non trade practises. When I worked in joiners shops I never saw a honing guide being used and I think that if someone had used one, there would have been some serious leg pulling going on to say the least :wink:. But that was quite a few years ago, so perhaps things have changed.

Anyway if it makes life easier why not

 

[Midnight]

I donno if things have changed all that much Manny... the carpenter at work pulls my leg constantly about my "flashy tools that probably never get used".... mind you, that quit the day I planed out the blade marks left behind by his hand plane, flattening this piece of real fragile mahogany to within 1 thou... I canna remember what kinda mahogany it was but it was real brittle stuff... horrible to work... prone to some wicked splinters...

The leg pullin lasted all the way through sharpening... quit with the 3rd shaving...

<shrugs....

I got no probs with fessin up to needing to use em.... turning beveled edges into screw drivers.... that was embarrassing....!!!

 

[Chris Knight]

still trying to figure how to hone the blade on the Millers Falls cigar shave

Mike,

It is a tricky little pipper isn't it? I used my Tormek with the small knife sharpening jig to hold the blade. It worked very well in the end and I was able to get a nicely formed bevel which I then polished and enhanced with slipstones.

Slipstones by themselves will work of course - just takes longer and you need a couple of extra grits.

With a steady hand, filing, or the use of a Dremel and small grinding wheel would also work.

 

[Alf]

<still trying to figure how to hone the blade on the Millers Falls cigar shave.

Funny you should mention that: Recent Old Tools query

To date, the only blades I have that it canna handle are the spoke shave blades, but ya canna blame a system for not handling stuff it was never designed to cope with.... right..??

Too true. But the day my hand can't hold a spokeshave blade in order to hone it, I'm writing straight to the manufacturer to complain.

Mike, just out of interest, where you trying to freehand hone from a hollow grind, or a flat grind? Inquiring minds...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Midnight]

Chris Wrote

It is a tricky little pipper isn't it?

sheesh...... tell me about it. I've studied that sucker for hours... damned if I could figure how it's done. I thought I'd just about covered every base there was getting damn near every water stone there is between 150 and 12,000 grit... all of em flat, straight and square... nothing in the round variety...

still... Alf's links (TY Alf....<tugging the fore-lock>) have given me an idea or two. I was thinking about e-mailing Tools for Wood to see if their replacement blades for their reproductions are backwardly compatable with the originals too; although there's plenty life left in this one, it's been much abused before it got to me, and a spare blade's never a bad thing.

Now that I think about it, I've an old miniature grinding wheel that just might be suitable for creating that hollow ground sole. Radius is a bit on the small side.. but still.. might be worth a try.


Ohhhhh....while I remember....

<says he giving she with the vice like grip in her fingers a gentle nudge>..

I'll send ya the blade from my woodie spoke shave to work yer magic on... my routers canna take much more.... but my sliding dovetails are peachy... so far
Ahem...

 

[bugbear]

When I worked in joiners shops I never saw a honing guide being used

I have a friend, who's a full time, 10 year time-served joiner.

He takes pride is sharpening by hand, aiming for a 25 degree, single beveled edge.

Unfortunately, he's ended up with strongly rounded bevels, with the final edge at around 40 degrees!

And he still thinks honing guides are somehow "wrong".

There is indeed a massively prevalent macho anti-jig attitide amongst joiners, regardless of evident facts...

But, he was absolutely stunned at what some of my planes and chisels were capable of. He'd never (in his 10 years of working with other joiners) seen edges like that.

Perhaps us amateurs know something ater all.

BugBear

 

[Midnight]

Alf Wrote

Mike, just out of interest, where you trying to freehand hone from a hollow grind, or a flat grind? Inquiring minds...

forgot to cover this last night..

ummm.... probably both at the same time.... cheap bench chisels of dubious parentage....

 

[Manny]

Unfortunately, he's ended up with strongly rounded bevels, with the final edge at around 40 degrees!

Bugbear - Sounds like you've got the hump, sorry about that I'm not trying to wind anyone up, also sounds like your friend needs to buff up his sharpening skills (or keep quiet about them)

There is indeed a massively prevalent macho anti-jig attitide amongst joiners, regardless of evident facts...

I don't think it's that (I've been in workshops where female joiners have taken pride in the skills they have like sharpening a blade or saw) As in a lot of occupations there are skills you're expected to have aquired. I don't know about these days but if you went for a job in a joiners more often than not they couldn't care a less what qualifications you had, you'd get a small job to do and if you were ok you were in and were judged on what you did and the way that you did it (I feel a song coming on).

Perhaps us amateurs know something ater all.

No doubt about it

As I said before I'm not knocking the use of honing guides