# Help for handplane newbie



## Tenfingers58 (Jan 25, 2011)

A friend gave me a handplane that was his fathers. It was in sad shape. Rust , dirt and so on. I would like to get it working again if it's worthwhile.

The plane is a Craftsman. The base is about 10 inches long and 2 3/8 inches wide. The blade is just shy of two inches wide.

I disassembled it and derusted the parts with electrolosis, then cleaned the base and sides with emery paper glued to a flat piece of plate steel.

Everything seems to work now with one exception. You would need to warm the blade with a torch to cut butter.

The bevel is not straight and it has a convex grind. I'm guessing many "sharpenings" by an unguided hand.

I sharpen my chiseles with sandpaper and emery paper using a jig. To sand this iron to a straight and flat bevel would take a large amount of time/paper. Is there a better way? I really don't want to invest in a power tool that I will only use once. Sandpaper keeps my chisles sharp and I don't mind the time it takes to keep them that way.

I wonder if it would be worth the time for a Caftsman plane iron? I have no idea of the age or quality of the tool. Should I just go for it and hope for the best? Since I am new to hand planes How do I know if I'm doing it right?

I haven't used a handplane since seventh grade (around 40 years ago).

What angle should I sharpen it at? The angle of the frog is 45 degrees.

I thank you for your feedback


----------



## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

If you have a belt sander, invert it in a vise and use it to re-work the bevel.

Craftsman plane irons are as good as any to learn on; very much later models had vanadium (sp? a chrome-type additive) included and that made them somewhat softer than traditional O1. But that'd be stamped on the iron if I recall.

A hand grinder is usually found in the $20 range at flea mkts; those are good alternatives, in that they only need a tool rest set at the right angle to create the right primary bevel of 25 degrees.

More folks on here much more qualified than I should be chiming in, but this is a start. You'll get there!.


----------



## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

Investing in a bench grinder is a good idea. They have lots of uses, not just sharpening. Get a good coarse wheel for rough work and a white stone wheel for finer sharpening.

Especially if you ever plan in turning, a bench grinder is pretty much essential.


----------



## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Is it a scrub plane by any chance ? Are you saying that the blade is curved , or just not sharpened properly ? 
If I was going to use the plane , I would buy a new blade and practice sharpening the old one in my spare time.


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Sharpening station I use









Right side of the grinder: Rest is tipped at 25 degrees. used to grind the primary bevel first. as for the Sander









I set the iron in the honing guide @ 25 degrees. I run the belt away from me. I use the fingertips to check for too much heat in the iron. I can also lay the back of the iron on the belt to help flatten the back. When there is a decent bevel all the way across the iron, and the back shines up all the way across due to it being flat, I take the beltsander out of the vise









and install a series of oil stones. After using the stones, I will go back and wrap some 1000 grit sandpaper around the stone, nice and tight. A few drops of 3in1 oil, and hone. I follow that up with a 2000 grit paper. The results









Not too bad, for a hardware store plane.

Tools: A grinder can be picked up at harbor freight. Might not be a "precision" tool, but it can do plane irons. Be sure to get a "dressing tool, to keep the wheels square. Adjut the tool rest on the grinder to match the angle you want to grind the bevel to.

Beltsander: Again, go to Harbor freight. As long as it can be clamped into a vise, and the power locked "On", so be enough. get a few 100 grit belts while there, and maybe a finer one. Does not matter if the sander is a 18" long one or even larger, what matters is the area where the sanding action will be. Needs to be flat, and large enough the do the bevel, AND hold the honing guide.

Honing guide: Can be a home-made one. Veritas has a couple. I have the Veritas Mark I version. Works for me.


----------



## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

*bandit571* , are you getting any wear on the roller in your guide from the belt ?


----------



## Tenfingers58 (Jan 25, 2011)

Dusty, 
I believe it just wasn't sharpened properly. It's like he pushed harder on the right side when grinding.

So as i undestand it I can reshape the bevel to 25 degrees with the belt sander, then continue to sharpen my normal way with sandpaper.


----------



## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

O'k , so it is just an uneven bevel then. I was just wondering how much of the plane iron you would lose to bring it back to square if someone had made a curved blade out of it : )


----------



## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

I used my HF belt sander and tied the blade off on a walnut wedge cut to the angle I wanted and put about 1 lb on top of it and turned it on. After about a half hour I came back to a perfect straight grind. From there it's a breeze to clamp it to the Rockler wedge and but an edge on it.


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Don't forget to polish the back. Above is all good advice. The bevel only needs to be small. It doesn't need to be full width all across the width.


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Wear on the roller? none as of yet. Of course, it has only been in use that way for about a year, or so. As long as i oil the roller up, and keep it clean, it just rolls along. The main pressure is out on the edge of the blade, anyway.


----------



## Tenfingers58 (Jan 25, 2011)

To get rid of the curve I'd only lose maybe 3/32 at the most, but thats a lot if sanding by hand.

I'm going to try the belt sander with a 120 grit belt.

I don't want scratches to too deep that need to be sanded out by hand.

How polished does the back need to be? When I was taking the last of the rust off the back, I was down to 600 grit with an orbital sander. You can see yourself but fuzzy.

THANK YOU everyone for all the information.


----------



## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Thanks *bandit* , and best wishes to you *TenF : )*


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

How polished does the back need to be? http://lumberjocks.com/donwilwol/blog/33653


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

How polished?









Maybe about like this? Just a block plane's iron. Same stones I use for the bevel.









Do not neglect the chipbreaker. It has to sit tight all across the edge, without any gaps between it and the iron. I usually run the chipbreaker on the sander, and do a back bevel. That way, it is thinner where the two meet. When the bolt holding the two together is tightened down, no gap should form.


----------

