sharpening advice for my No. 9 1/2 block plane
eastdavisres
I recently acquired a bevel up (BU) No. 9 1/2: bed is 20* and iron
has an approximate primary front 30* bevel and the back is ok flat.
To implement back bevels and provide at least a minimal clearance, I
would request and appreciate advice.
1) I shouldn't bother with trying to "expertly" flatten the back of
this iron. Correct?
2) Next, should I regrind the primary and if so, to what angle? If
I regrind the primary, I guess I'd purchase a water stone and build
the grinding jig. In fact, I'll for sure acquire/build the jig.
3) Hone 3 micro bevels on the face using a Brent Beach jig and glass/
sand paper?
4) Hone a single 2* back bevel? This results in a 18* clearance (20*
bedding angle less the 2* back bevel). Or, can I hone a larger back
bevel?
5) Should the back have more than a single back bevel?
6) Any other comments or suggestions?
Brent Beach
Generally, a 20 degree block plane is much easier to keep sharp than a
12 degree block plane - because you can use back bevels and still have
lots of clearance - the equivalent of a bevel down plane in fact.
On 2011-12-18 13:30, eastdavisres wrote:
> Help with my Stanley Block Plane
>
> I recently acquired a bevel up (BU) No. 9 1/2: bed is 20* and iron
> has an approximate primary front 30* bevel and the back is ok flat.
> To implement back bevels and provide at least a minimal clearance, I
> would request and appreciate advice.
>
> 1) I shouldn't bother with trying to "expertly" flatten the back of
> this iron. Correct?
Back bevels is the MOST expert way to flatten all of the back that makes
contact with the wood.
> 2) Next, should I regrind the primary and if so, to what angle? If
> I regrind the primary, I guess I'd purchase a water stone and build
> the grinding jig. In fact, I'll for sure acquire/build the jig.
If you use planing end grain on a hard wood, you may need a final honed
angle over 30 degrees. If you are using the block plane along the grain,
a final honed angle of 30 degrees is enough. Primary 6 or 7 degrees
less than the final honed angle.
> 3) Hone 3 micro bevels on the face using a Brent Beach jig and glass/
> sand paper?
But of course.
> 4) Hone a single 2* back bevel? This results in a 18* clearance (20*
> bedding angle less the 2* back bevel). Or, can I hone a larger back
> bevel?
15 degrees of final clearance is more than enough, so a final honed back
bevel angle of 5 or 6 degrees is more than enough. When sharpening for
bevel down with with final honed angle of 32 or 33 the clearance angle
is 12 or 13 degrees and that works just fine.
> 5) Should the back have more than a single back bevel?
With a 20 degree bedded bevel up iron you can use the 3 microbevel model
with excellent results - no need to settle for less than the full 3
microbevel model.
> 6) Any other comments or suggestions?
It is important to not let the back microbevels get too wide. Hunt
around the pages for the sketchup diagrams that discuss keeping the back
microbevels small.
Front microbevels get wide then you redo the primary and get rid of them.
Back microbevels are not so easily reduced. You have to make sure you
never hone them too wide or you will gradually have increasing honing
time to remove the back wear bevel. So, minimal back honing - just
enough to remove the back wear.
Brent
--
Victoria, B.C., Canada
eastdavisres
delivery of a Norton SiC coarse bench stone and it should only take an
hour to cut and assemble the grinding jig. I have the 3 honing glass/
paper stations. I have to make a slanted jig. Then I can grind and
hone my first iron. I'll report back my experiences.