Thanks for this Colin, I have recently purchased an older Stanley 5 ½ Plane and need to get to grips with the sharpening element, so this will be useful… 👍🏻 I have purchased a fairly decent honing guide, not hugely expensive as Veritas are, but not too cheap and shabby either, I’m hoping it will revive the old blade (I have a new one in reserve jic!)… ✅
Hi Nial. Great question. I was first taught using a Japanese water stone. Some time later, a colleague showed me a diamond stone setup and I tried it on several blades. Perhaps this is a personal opinion, but I found the Japanese water stone gave a far superior result. The wet slurry created by rubbing the blade on the stone creates a super fine cutting action that is virtually free of burrs. I also found it faster for creating that sharp mirror finish. It’s a bit messier with the water, but I think it’s worth it. And I guess I’ve stayed with that method ever since. Thanks for watching, and have a great day.
Bought a number 4 years ago and could never get it to perform. I had no knowledge of sharpening or set up or even the skill to use it so I have sadly let it be lost. It's a shame, I think I've come far enough now to care about the set up and sharpening. If only I could find it.
Hi Adam, thanks for your comment. I hope you do find it. Once you get a sharp blade working nicely, a jack plane becomes such a useful and satisfying tool to use. Thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate it. Have a great day. 😀
Ditto, my dad bought a new plane when I was a teen and I could not get it to work., and never thought to ask someone, how to u se the plane Now I have a few planes and still don't really know how to sharpen. Hope you find your plane.
The problem I have with this method is by only honing the micro bevel, the primary bevel will become increasingly obtuse, thus resulting in the need for frequent regrinding to restore the primary bevel. In order to avoid this, work is required on the primary bevel each or most nearly each time the blade is resharpened. I would simply like to avoid frequent grinding as it will result in the loss of considerably more material than a convex edge produced by hand sharpening.
Hi Jeffrey. Thanks for your comment. Interesting to hear different views on this. I use the wet stone grinding wheel to create a 'hollow grind'. It doesn't look that obvious in the video, but it means that when the sharpened edge is damaged or dulled, I only need to resharpen that section. Yes, that will mean there will be a tiny reduction in the hollow grind each time, and eventually the angle will become too steep. But I can usually get several 'resharpens' before needing to do another hollow grind. And that's usually a quick process. Have a great day. 😀
I like waterstones too. The new mk2 veritas honing guide is an amazing bit of kit.
Good to know! 😀
Thanks for this Colin, I have recently purchased an older Stanley 5 ½ Plane and need to get to grips with the sharpening element, so this will be useful… 👍🏻
I have purchased a fairly decent honing guide, not hugely expensive as Veritas are, but not too cheap and shabby either, I’m hoping it will revive the old blade (I have a new one in reserve jic!)… ✅
Glad you found it helpful. It really is worth spending a bit of time getting it right. Otherwise using a plane is just irritating. 😀
Many thanks Colin and Merry Christmas to you!
My goodness, it’s been a year. Merry Christmas, again.
Colin, is there any particular advantage using a whetstone rather than a diamond stone, or is it just that's what you've always used?
Hi Nial. Great question. I was first taught using a Japanese water stone. Some time later, a colleague showed me a diamond stone setup and I tried it on several blades. Perhaps this is a personal opinion, but I found the Japanese water stone gave a far superior result. The wet slurry created by rubbing the blade on the stone creates a super fine cutting action that is virtually free of burrs. I also found it faster for creating that sharp mirror finish. It’s a bit messier with the water, but I think it’s worth it. And I guess I’ve stayed with that method ever since. Thanks for watching, and have a great day.
Bought a number 4 years ago and could never get it to perform. I had no knowledge of sharpening or set up or even the skill to use it so I have sadly let it be lost. It's a shame, I think I've come far enough now to care about the set up and sharpening. If only I could find it.
Hi Adam, thanks for your comment. I hope you do find it. Once you get a sharp blade working nicely, a jack plane becomes such a useful and satisfying tool to use. Thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate it. Have a great day. 😀
Ditto, my dad bought a new plane when I was a teen and I could not get it to work., and never thought to ask someone, how to u se the plane Now I have a few planes and still don't really know how to sharpen. Hope you find your plane.
The problem I have with this method is by only honing the micro bevel, the primary bevel will become increasingly obtuse, thus resulting in the need for frequent regrinding to restore the primary bevel. In order to avoid this, work is required on the primary bevel each or most nearly each time the blade is resharpened. I would simply like to avoid frequent grinding as it will result in the loss of considerably more material than a convex edge produced by hand sharpening.
Hi Jeffrey. Thanks for your comment. Interesting to hear different views on this. I use the wet stone grinding wheel to create a 'hollow grind'. It doesn't look that obvious in the video, but it means that when the sharpened edge is damaged or dulled, I only need to resharpen that section. Yes, that will mean there will be a tiny reduction in the hollow grind each time, and eventually the angle will become too steep. But I can usually get several 'resharpens' before needing to do another hollow grind. And that's usually a quick process. Have a great day. 😀