Stanley #4 plane blade help

25 degrees. Also you need the back flattened and polished. Here is a link to on-line sharpening instructions.

http://www.hocktools.com/sharpen.htm

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Well, correct blade bevel angle is a bit of a tough one with a #4. In a bench plane like this the bevel is down so the bevel angle has no bearing on the cutting angle. The iron angle is 45 degrees with that plane. So, I tend to use a 30 degree bevel with about a 3-5 degree microbevel to make honing easier and faster. The cool thing about a 45 degree blade angle is that you can incorporate back bevels into the iron to gain steeper cuts for different planing situations. As I don’t particularly have a great understanding of those situations, I go with the 30 degree primary with a microbevel as stated for honing ease. I believe that, based on what I’ve read, that 10 degree of relief is pretty much a general purpose angle. Now, my answer is based on things I’ve read and I make no claims to be a hand plan officianado. I use them with delite, but with a healthy dose of awe and wonder. I sharpen everything with jigs in order to maintain the bevel that I’m familiar with.

I hope that helps a bit. I’d wait for Wayne to chime in here though!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

LOL our posts passed on the wire. 25 is more of the factory grind. I agree with Mots post as well.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Not exactly on topic, but I sharpened my three planes yesterday. I have a guide that secures the angle. Not sure what angle it is, however. Anyways, I have never even remotely gotten a shaving when using a plane. THe plane would mostly “chatter” and skip down the wood. Now that they are sharp, I got shavings without effort. The was very gratifying! I was in the shop about 4 hours after that and kept turning for a plane for this or that. So, setup is paramount!

Now if I could only get a good burr on my card scraper. I have seen how to sharpen these numerous times. Pretty simple, right? Not for me apparantly. I used a screwdriver as a burnisher. The card was squared prior to trying to get the burr. I hold the screwdriver at a 15degree angle and stroke the scraper that is in the vise. I think I should just buy a burnisher.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Thanks for the help, guys. I messed around with mixed results without a jig, and before I grind the blades down to little nubbins, I’m going to set up a jig to get a proper result. I know they can be purchased, but what’s the fun in that? -Shopsmithtom

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

Lol – Enjoy the fun….

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov