Reply by pendledad

I recently watched a clip from Ask This Old House and Tom Silva said this:

I take the blade (from a plane) and let it hang by its own weight. I then let the blade rest on my thumbnail by its own weight … if it slides off, it needs a sharpening. If it sticks and won’t slide off, it is sharp enough.

I like his take on being a direct measure kind of guy. This way, he has a “feeler gauge” to see if it sharp enough for his standards.