sharpening plane blades

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Milton

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Facing sharpening five neglected plane blades and realising my stones weren’t wide enough to hone on the sharpening stones I had, I used readily available wet/dry paper in various grades on a flat surface. Plexiglas or glass works to maintain a flat surface beneath sheets of sandpaper. The sandpaper is easily rinsed and wetted down to prevent loading and easily replaced when worn. Using sandpaper on a flat surface bypasses the need to resurface a stone to maintain that flat surface. And it gives you more room for longer strokes without running off the edge.
 
I do much the same, except.......

I stick wet and dry to mdf. This makes the wet and dry last longer and easier to use.
When the wet and dry is almost worn out I still use it as a rough touch up/strop.
 
A narrower stone can be useful if you get the hang of it.
Especially handier, if you don't want much camber on your iron.

Tom
 
Deadeye":1slo9kn8 said:
How do you fix the paper to the glass so that it's solid but also removable?

3M Spray Mount works well. If you're using a jig just wetting the glass works too.
 
Milton":31mis0og said:
Facing sharpening five neglected plane blades and realising my stones weren’t wide enough to hone on the sharpening stones I had ...
According to Walter Rose in the Village Carpenter (an excellent book, btw, if you've not read it) it is better to use stones that are narrower than the plane irons, as the blade has to be worked across the whole stone. I haven't mine to hand, but maybe someone will oblige with the paragraph verbatim. :D
 
OP... you're new here aren't you.

Two things we don't talk about - fight club, and sharpening.

Both usually end in tears and bloody noses. Yes it's ironic that one of the most important aspects of woodworking, keeping tools sharp, causes so much aggro - but it usually does, go figure.
 
Deadeye":20o4t21s said:
How do you fix the paper to the glass so that it's solid but also removable?

I find with a spritz of water on the back side of the paper and a couple of clamps to grab the front edge of the marble tile and paper it all stays in place fine. Only use it for planer knives in a jig but it’s a good solution if you don’t have stones/ diamond plates wide enough.

F.
 

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