Sharpening a plane iron

[Jensmith]

My secret santa gift was a block plane and shooting board adapted for my small scale work which I have been using today - it's brilliant - thanks santa!

The plane iron was provided sharpened and I want to keep it correctly sharpened. My Dad told me to get a honing guide and he gave me a sharpening stone (water type) but I'm not sure which honing guide to get.
The plane is set to use at 38 degrees and the iron is a Ray Iles 004 so roughly 1.5" wide.

I'm guessing that the Veritas Mk II will come top of everyones list but at £50 this is too expensive for me so I've been looking at the cheaper end.

Of the models suggested below could you tell me which would be best and will do the job correctly?

Axminster honing guide £5.70 - not terribly good reviews so prob not.
Axminster deluxe honing guide £7.25 - sounds better

Rutlands Dakota honing guide ~ £20

Or is there a better alternative in a similar price range?

Thanks,

Jennifer,

 

[Alf]

The first one, Jennifer. It's one of the many clones of the Eclipse and should do the job admirably.

 

[Fromey]

I have been using the Axminster deluxe honing guide for some time (it came bundled with a sheet of float glass and wet-and-dry).

It's rather finicky to use and I just don't get on too well with it. It's difficult to get the iron square to the grinding surface, even when using an bevel setting jig.

Becaue I've not been able to secure an original Eclipse honing guide as of yet, I bought a B&Q cheapy and gave it a go for the first time today. Compared to the Axminster guide, it's chalk and cheese to set up and I much much prefer sharpening with it. If I'd known Axminster sell their version (looks a little better than the B&Q guide and identical to the Rutlands guide) I'd have bought that one. Rutlans look over priced as usual.

Thus, I'd go with the Axminster basic guide. In fact, since I want to get some gimlets tonight before the VAT increase, I think I'll add in an Axminster guide!

 

[Jensmith]

Ok, thanks guys, I'll go with the basic one then!

 

[Jacob]

You don't need one at all if you can be bothered to spend 20 minutes or so getting the hang of freehand sharpening. Saves hundreds of hours in the long term.

 

[woodbloke]

The first one, Jennifer. It's one of the many clones of the Eclipse and should do the job admirably.

Alf is spot on here Jen, I used on of these for years and they (and the original) are probably the best of it's type on the market. Just be aware though that if you're going to use a Jap waterstone (which is what I think you may be using?) the roller may cause a groove to be worn in the quite soft material of the stone. I don't know if this is the case (maybe someone could shed further light on this) but it's somat that I'd have at the back of my mind. If it does, then you'll have to be sure to flatten the stone fairly often to keep the surface true - Rob

 

[Harbo]

Jennifer do you know which grade of stone you have 'cause sadly you will need more than 1.

To my mind, a better beginners method is to go the scary sharp way - using abrasive papers or film - certainly a cheaper initial outlay?
Workshop Heaven sells 3M Films and his website gives good advice.

There's been lots of stuff on the Forum about sharpening - try a search?

Rod

 

[LuptonM]

I've got the axminster basic honing guide and I have a Richard Kell no 2. The axminster guide is rubbish for chisels (will not clamp it square and will not do thin blades) and I find that no matter what u do with the axminster guide it will give u a fair chamfer due to the narrow wheel in the middle- this maybe be a good feature (though again rubbish for chisels)

The richard kell guide is much better built, but if u want the guide just for plane irons the axminster guide should be ok.

WRT to sharpening the cheapest way would be using 3m lapping paper, stuck onto mdf or plywood (would probably be better with a sheet of float glass). I'd quite like to try water-stones some when but the high grits are very expensive and water stones are quite messy

You should also consider what your going to do about grinding the primary bevel once the secondary one becomes too large.

 

[CroppyBoy1798]

I tried this last week for the first time and got the best result I ever got!

I have me one of them eclipse type guides with the roller wheel (any number of knock offs about now)

Got a piece of polished granite and stuck three patches of Halfords wet&dry sandpaper on them, 240, 600, and 1500. Got the initial 25 degree first on the 240......cleaned it up with the 600 and then adjusted the blade in the jig and honed the 30 degree on the 1500. Finished it off then with a polish of Autosol (car metal/chrome polish does a fantastic job of polishing the edge as its a polished edge thats required, if not, it might seem sharp but is gonna make for extra friction when slicing through timber.) Given that the blade is clamped and its just a matter of pushing it back and forth means you gen a nice clean, square edge.

That was my method and as I said, its the sharpest I've ever seen my planes! Gave me a better result that using my expensive Norton oil stone I'm ashamed to say....dont know how, or why, its a really smooth stone. Have a bench grinder of course for heavier work.


Actually I should add a disclaimer to the above.....thats just the method I started using, there is any number/combination of methods that produce even better results I'm sure, but I was pretty surprised as how I was able to get blades so sharp that they'd give nice slices through end grain, so....I'm happy!

 

[Jensmith]

Jennifer do you know which grade of stone you have 'cause sadly you will need more than 1.

To my mind, a better beginners method is to go the scary sharp way - using abrasive papers or film - certainly a cheaper initial outlay?
Workshop Heaven sells 3M Films and his website gives good advice.

There's been lots of stuff on the Forum about sharpening - try a search?

Rod

Thanks Rod, Lupton & CB.

I've purchased some of the abrasive sheets and float glass from WH so I'll give that a go. I've no idea what the grade is of the stone but don't think it's japanese. It's in a very old looking box but seems quite fine grade.

I'll get the Axminster guide to keep the correct angle.

 

[Fromey]

RE: 3M lapping film.

I've found using camellia oil is much better than water (also helps keep the humidity down in my shed and oils the metal at the same time). I remove the oil/swarf using kitchen paper (better than a rag as it's disposable so I don't have to worry about contaminating finer 'grip' films with swarf from courser 'grit' films).

Remember to put pressure on the blade only on the back stroke. Pressure on the forward stroke tends to cut into the lapping film. It's actually quite easy to get a technique/rhythm where you pivot the guide up (blade off the film) on the return stroke.

Remember to wipe down the roller wheel before moving to a finer 'grit' film.

Unlike wet and dry paper, the lapping film keeps cutting and cutting, even when you think it's been used for some time and is no longer as rough to the touch as previously. i.e., the stuff lasts a long time.


RE: honing guide

Because it has a relatively narrow and centrally located roller wheel, it's easy for the guide to lean one way or the other. Thus, it's important to keep even pressure across the blade when honing. However, it also means it's very easy to put asymmetric pressure on the blade in order to hone a curve into the cutting edge.

Jennifer do you know which grade of stone you have 'cause sadly you will need more than 1.

To my mind, a better beginners method is to go the scary sharp way - using abrasive papers or film - certainly a cheaper initial outlay?
Workshop Heaven sells 3M Films and his website gives good advice.

There's been lots of stuff on the Forum about sharpening - try a search?

Rod

Thanks Rod, Lupton & CB.

I've purchased some of the abrasive sheets and float glass from WH so I'll give that a go. I've no idea what the grade is of the stone but don't think it's japanese. It's in a very old looking box but seems quite fine grade.

I'll get the Axminster guide to keep the correct angle.

 

[Jensmith]

Thanks Fromey. I really appreciate the advice and I did buy the camellia oil.

 

[Alf]

RE: honing guide

Because it has a relatively narrow and centrally located roller wheel, it's easy for the guide to lean one way or the other. Thus, it's important to keep even pressure across the blade when honing. However, it also means it's very easy to put asymmetric pressure on the blade in order to hone a curve into the cutting edge.

'Zactly. With the narrow roller you have to remember it's really just making sure you maintain the correct angle - for keeping square, you'll need to provide the wit. I like that, because it means you retain control and can manoeuvre the guide around the abrasive to even out wear; wide rollers give me fits in that respect. S'like the difference between riding a bicycle and a tricycle. Have a go at freehand though, if the mood ever takes you, Jennifer. You might like it. I suppose that's like riding a unicycle... :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

Thanks Fromey. I really appreciate the advice and I did buy the camellia oil.

I use Matt's 3M film's on 10mm glass and you'll find them excellent...and they do last a very long time. However, Camilla Oil in my view is the wrong stuff to use as it's a thick, gloopy oil which will inhibit the cutting qualities of the film (I know, I've tried it) It will still cut, but will take ages. Much better is to use a really thin lubricant (central heating oil is excellent) lamp oil, paraffin (what I use) or WD40, all of which will allow a much more vigourous cut with the films. Keep the Camilla Oil for wiping on steel surfaces to keep the dreaded rusticles at bay! - Rob

 

[Jensmith]

I use Matt's 3M film's on 10mm glass and you'll find them excellent...and they do last a very long time. However, Camilla Oil in my view is the wrong stuff to use as it's a thick, gloopy oil which will inhibit the cutting qualities of the film. It will still cut, but will take ages. Much better is to use a really thin lubricant (central heating oil is excellent) lamp oil, paraffin (what I use) or WD40, all of which will allow a much more vigourous cut with the films. Keep the Camilla Oil for wiping on steel surfaces to keep the dreaded rusticles at bay! - Rob

Ok, thanks Rob. I have WD40 so I can use that.
I have had a few small rust spots on a couple of things with the cold weather so I'll do that with the oil. Thanks.

 

[studders]

Another vote for WD40, it also is very good for cleaning the film after use, just spray a goodly amount on and wipe with a rag, comes up good as new.

 

[jimi43]

A plus one for 3M film...it is brilliant stuff and a piece of thick glass will help as well although MDF is fine.

I use Camelia oil on my sheets and find it prevents tearing.....I don't find it gloopy at all but you have to use a thin film and wipe off the oil and residues afterwards to make it clean. I use WD40 on my car and it says in the garage!

Jim

 

[bugbear]

S'like the difference between riding a bicycle and a tricycle. Have a go at freehand though, if the mood ever takes you, Jennifer. You might like it. I suppose that's like riding a unicycle... :lol:

Do I get brownie points for having ridden all three?!

(nice analogy, BTW...)

BugBear

 

[Jeff Gorman]

For the price of a decorator's roller and a bit of time, Jennifer could make herself a honing jig - please see http://tinyurl.com/2wwzgyr

If she's thinking of learning hand honing, a glance at http://tinyurl.com/2bzrvrb might be worth a few moments.

Jeff
http://www.amgron.clara.net

 

[dh7892]

On the subject of oils, I use baby oil and that works very well (smells nice too). Plus it's a good conversation starter as to why I keep a bottle in the workshop!