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Sharpening: Bench Planes

Hand Tool SIG on 10/24/2020 at 10:00 (register here).

In our last sharpening session I demonstrated an effective way to sharpen and tune up a chisel blade. Now we shift our focus to bench plane blades.

This coming Saturday we will look at sharpening and setting up an old Millers Falls smoothing plane. If there is time it will be used to start making a set of stool legs octagonal.

A Stanley #4, one of the most popular sizes ever sold. 

When I started using planes I found that getting the tool to work properly was often as big a challenge as sharpening the blade. This meant that, even though I could do the sharpening, I was unwilling to sharpen a dull blade, largely because it would take me up to half an hour of trial and error to get set for cutting. 

I still sometimes encounter set up problems these days but a few years of trying different methods have helped me to work out a system that works for me. I can usually sharpen and reset a blade and get back to work in a few minutes and I hope to help you get there too!

Tune in on Saturday and bring your questions and Ideas. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Paul Duffield, Hand Tool SIG